Sometimes I read a book that’s not a recent release but which I like so much I have to review it here. A number of years ago, I picked up Kim Edwards’ novel The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, which was then making quite a splash as a literary debut. After reading her first novel, I knew I would read anything else Edwards wrote. Had to wait awhile…It was another five years before The Lake of Dreams released in 2011. But that’s something to admire about this author. She takes her time crafting her stories, and it shows in her richly nuanced characters and intricate plotting.

Kim Edwards grew up in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York and attended Colgate University and The University of Iowa, where she earned an MFA in fiction and an MA in linguistics. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, her first novel, was a Barnes and Noble Discover Award pick and became a word-of-mouth best-seller, spending 122 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list, 20 of those weeks at #1.  It was also chosen as Book of the Year for 2006 by USA Today.  Her new novel, The Lake of Dreams, an Independent Booksellers pick, has already been published in sixteen countries and has been a best seller in the USA, Canada, Australia, Italy, Brazil, and India. You can visit Edwards online at kimedwardsbooks.com.

From the back cover. At a crossroads in her life, Lucy Jarrett returns home to upstate New York from Japan, only to find herself haunted by her father’s unresolved death a decade ago. Old longings stirred up by Keegan Fall, a local glass artist who was once her passionate first love, lead her into the unexpected. Late one night, as she paces the hallways of her family’s rambling lakeside house, she discovers, locked in a window seat, a collection of objects that first appear to be idle curiosities, but soon reveal glimpses of a hidden family history. As Lucy explores these traces of her lineage—from an heirloom blanket and dusty political tracts to a web of allusions depicted in stained-glass windows, both in her hometown and beyond—a new family history emerges, one that will link her to a unique slice of the suffragette movement, and yield dramatic insights that will free her to live her life to its fullest and deepest.

The Lake of Dreams is a notch above. I liked it, in fact, even better than Edwards’ first. In this novel I found delicious tension on every page: in every beat of every scene, some small mystery or unresolved conflict kept me turning pages, often long after the clock told me I should stop. The characters are deeply complex, altogether fascinating in believable ways. The unpredictable plot turns kept me looking ahead for each new twist. I also loved the biblical references laced throughout. This is a mainstream novel in every way, yet it portrays Bible stories as relevant and real. Nicely done.

I also enjoyed Edwards’ moment of fun, her little inside joke, in the oblique reference to her bestselling The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. It’s subtle–only those familiar with the book will catch it–woven seamlessly yet purposefully into the story.

The Lake of Dreams took me to unexpected places, and I am very glad I went.

5/5 stars. Luminous and lovely.