⋙ Read Free The Lake of Dead Languages A Novel Carol Goodman 9780345487155 Books

The Lake of Dead Languages A Novel Carol Goodman 9780345487155 Books

Download As PDF : The Lake of Dead Languages A Novel Carol Goodman 9780345487155 Books

The Lake of Dead Languages A Novel Carol Goodman 9780345487155 Books

The book I had purchased had such small print that I needed a magnifying sheet to read it. Finally broke down a bought it for my Kindle about half way through. Good mystery and story line. Well developed characters. Told with flash backs and somewhat disjointed chronology, so a bit hard to follow at times (especially keeping track of the students' Latin nicknames as well as their given names). Therefore, I gave it 4 stars. But all in all, I really enjoyed this book. May want to read another one by Carol Goodman.


Tags : The Lake of Dead Languages: A Novel [Carol Goodman] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. In the evocative tradition of Donna Tartt’s first novel, The Secret History</i>, </i>comes this accomplished debut of youthful innocence drowned by dark sins. Twenty years ago,Carol Goodman,The Lake of Dead Languages: A Novel,Ballantine Books,034548715X,Thrillers - Suspense,Fiction,Fiction - Psychological Suspense,Fiction - Suspense,Fiction Literary,Fiction Thrillers Suspense,General Adult,Literary,MASS MARKET,MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE FICTION,MysterySuspense,Psychological,Suspense,United States

The Lake of Dead Languages A Novel Carol Goodman 9780345487155 Books Reviews

If you're looking for a good scary story, and you're willing to suspend disbelief, 'The Lake of Dead Languages' is a satisfying read and is really quite well done for a first novel.
Newly separated Jane Hudson, child in tow, returns to isolated Heart Lake School to teach Latin. Jane is an 'old girl' - a Heart Lake graduate with a remarkable past - both her roommates drowned in the lake their senior year. Jane is the survivor, complete with survivor's guilt and an untold story haunting her life.
But once at Heart Lake Jane's past appears to resurface - is she the victim of a cruel hoax or the instigator as her current students seem to toy with suicide?
Goodman has a remarkably smooth novelist's voice - the book glides along much as the skaters on Heart Lake. Her plotting is a little less sure, and the book is best enjoyed in a wonderful marathon read or two [perhaps on a dark, cold, windy night alone with a nice bottle of red]. Warning for the best enjoyment, don't look too deeply beneath the surface!
Her youthful past shattered by tragic loss and a recent divorce, the solace of routine drives Jane Hudson back to the Heart Lake School for Girls, in the Adirondacks of upstate New York. The school has its own mythological past, the legendary drowning of three sisters, daughters of the family who establish the school. Rumors pass from ear to ear over the years, until the myth itself takes on the ring of truth and will not be denied.
Attending Heart Lake as a scholarship student, Jane finds inclusion with two roommates, Lucy and Deirdre. But each of these young women meet untimely deaths, feeding the gossip mill regarding the Lake's unquenchable thirst for more sacrifices. Twenty years later, Jane returns as a teacher of Latin Classics, drawn back into a world she's never quite forgotten. As a teacher, her favorite Latin students are enthralled by the Heart Lake drowning legend and obsessed by their own life struggles, dressing all in black like Goths, self-cutting and a perverse attraction to suicide. When pages from Jane's senior year journal appear, along with other mysterious events, it is clear that Jane's new life is plagued by unfinished business.
The story moves forward, alternating past and present, the classical Latin studies lending authenticity to the unique perspective of misdirected youthful passion when taken to extremes. A variety of characters introduce clues, although the clues become quite transparent. However, Goodman's sense of place is excellent, permeated with the hovering shadows of danger and menace. The current students are precociously rendered, with their nervy bravery and unconscious vulnerability, wildly colored hair and outrageous personal habits.
Jane's best friends at Heart Lake are a less successful endeavor. Lucy and Deirdre are actually Jane's only friends at school, and Jane does appear to be a gullible pawn for the two of them. The lonely Jane aches for acceptance by her peers without ever making a case of her attraction for the roommates. This slightly unformed image of Jane and her subtle lack of definition unleash a dissonance in the novel. Yet Goodman does well in tying up the story line at the end, when the mystery is unveiled as yet another tragic consequence of the past.
This book has been blurbed as being comparable to Donna Tartt's Secret History, and indeed, there are some distinct similarities. Both books enter the world of New England private schools, particularly the world of classics students obsessed with their teachers. Both books involve students entranced by the rites of the ancients, and in both the students perform clandestine rites with tragic consequences. All of these similarities aside, the two books have different purposes. Goodman's novel follows Latin teacher Jane Hudson, a teacher and alumna of the Heart Lake school in upstate New York. Hudson had a horrible experience at Heart Lake, and when mementos from her past start washing up in the lake, she has little idea who or what could be responsible. Deaths and accidents in and around the school make it clear that Jane is being pursued by a malevolent force, and she is in real danger. And that danger makes this a gripping book. The story sucked me in quickly and held me to the end. Though I had determined the responsible party and the twist at the end before Goodman revealed it, the book was still engaging, and I couldn't wait to get to the end. In this book Goodman has woven a complex narrative with multiple layers of characters and relationships. The story jumps back and forth between Jane's past and present, and culminates when the two parts of her life collide. Suspense builds quickly in this book. Full of suspense and psychological intrigue, I couldn't put the book down. I'll certainly be reading other of Goodman's books soon.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story, the characters were well developed, and believable.I found the flashbacks an effective way to tell the story. My only complaint was my difficulty in keeping the many characters straight. The teachers from then and now, the students from then and now, and the fact that the current students went by two names, added to my confusion. Still this did not lessen the impact of the story.
While I thoroughly enjoyed this book, in part because I was required to take three years of Latin when I was in high school in the late 1940's, I found the alternating use of the girl's names in Latin and in English, most confusing. Had I been warned about this device I would have written out a codex to keep them all straight! As is was, my reading pleasure was repeatedly interrupted while I sorted out who was whom. That said, the book was well worth the effort and I will certainly read more of Carol Goodman's books.
The book I had purchased had such small print that I needed a magnifying sheet to read it. Finally broke down a bought it for my about half way through. Good mystery and story line. Well developed characters. Told with flash backs and somewhat disjointed chronology, so a bit hard to follow at times (especially keeping track of the students' Latin nicknames as well as their given names). Therefore, I gave it 4 stars. But all in all, I really enjoyed this book. May want to read another one by Carol Goodman.