A story of two families navigating scandal

It’s 1977 and an air of restlessness has settled on the residents of Cambridge Road in Rochester, New York, a place long fueled by the booming fortunes of Kodak and Xerox and, for some, the mores of the Catholic church. When Nina Larkin is given a copy of The Joy of Sex by her newly divorced friend, she can no longer dismiss the nearly nonexistent intimacy of her marriage. Just as her oldest child, Clara, is falling in love for the first time, Nina finds herself longing for the forbidden: a midlife awakening. An intoxicating fling with a prominent neighbor brings Nina a freedom she never thought possible—but also risks the reputations of both families and unravels Clara’s world, just as she stands on the threshold of adulthood.

Years later, Clara, now a successful food stylist in New York City, has never been able to move past the long-ago scandal. Drawn back home by the pull of a family wedding and wrestling with her own demons, she makes a pivotal decision that turns her life upside down. Written with Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s signature humor and insight, Lake Effect is a wise and probing look at love and desire, mothers and daughters, loss and grief, and what we owe the people we love most. 

I’ve been a fan of Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s novels since her debut, The Nest, and she has been a Must Read author ever since. In the author’s excellent third novel, we get another engaging and moving portrait of a complicated family. Absolutely met my high expectations. I really enjoyed this.

In Lake Effect, readers are introduced to two families whose histories are inextricably entwined after a fateful decision. Nina, going through the motions of a marriage lacking in intimacy, has an affair with a neighbour. One night, the two despite to run away together. What follows is the story of the fallout of this decision. We learn about the decision’s impact on all of the family members, adult and children, over the decades to come. The two families are now inextricably linked, and a pall of shame and gossip hangs over them.

The novel is told mainly from Nina’s and Clara’s perspectives, but also from that of their betrayed partners, their spouses, and also children. The author does a great job of making all of the characters sympathetic and relatable in equal measure. We come to understand their decisions and reactions to the scandal. As time passes, we see their different perspectives change and evolve as time either calcifies or softens any resentments. From Nina’s early depression and later conflicted guilt, to Clara’s anger, the characters feel real and human throughout. The novel tells a pretty complete, nuanced story, covering years of familial tension and also compassion, as the elder and younger generations navigate their changing situation and lives. (I’m really trying to avoid spoilers, so apologies if that reads rather vague…).

If you haven’t read any of Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s novels, yet, I can’t recommend them highly enough. The Nest, Good Company, and now Lake Effect — each offers an incisive and moving portrait of family, the ties that bind its members together, the challenges and connections, all told in excellent prose and populated by well-drawn, relatable, and compelling characters.

*

Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s Lake Effect is published by Ecco Books in North America (March 2nd) and The Borough Press in the UK (March 12th).

Also on CR: Review of Good Company

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Review copy received via Edelweiss