I really enjoyed the mystery behind this book and how Marjorie shows how one incident can affect so many people’s lives. Definitely an interesting and very quick read

I absolutely loved this book!! I couldn’t put it down.
I just loved all the characters. I highly recommend this book.

RATING: 3 STARS
2020; Hamish Hamilton/Penguin Random House Canada

How a Woman Becomes a Lake is a slow burn mystery, that is heavier on literature side than mystery. If you are looking for a pop-suspense, I would skip this one. Celona is a beautiful writer, and the story is at times lyrical, but I was finding it hard to concentrate on what was happening at times. The story sometimes veers too much in the lyrical side. I did enjoy the complex realistic characters, but it is a book I would reread or recommend readily so that is why I rated it just three stars.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

2 STARS

It's New Year's Day and the residents of a small fishing town are ready to start their lives anew. Leo takes his two young sons out to the lake to write resolutions on paper boats. That same frigid morning, Vera sets out for a walk with her dog along the lake, leaving her husband in bed with a hangover.

But she never returns. She places a call to the police saying she's found a boy in the woods, but the call is cut short by a muffled cry. Did one of Leo's sons see Vera? What are they hiding about that day? And why are they so scared of their own father?

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One word to describe this novel: BLEAK. None of the characters had any redeeming qualities and I couldn't scrounge up sympathy for any of them. I do believe this was intentional, as its not a "happy" story by any means, but I wish that there had been something more to connect to. Honestly the only reason I finished this was because I wanted to know what happened to Vera.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for my ARC!

This book pulled me in right away, with an intriguing mystery revealed at the outset. As things went along it became more about the people involved and less about the mystery itself, which was revealed rather early on. It wasn’t quite the suspenseful page-turner I’d expected, but it was well-written, quite beautifully at times, and the characters were interesting, if not terribly likeable or relatable.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for an egalley of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

How a Woman Becomes a Lake by Marjorie Celona

Synopsis: The story is told in multiple perspectives between the main characters of the book. On New Year’s Day, Leo takes his two sons out to the lake. That same morning, Vera, sets out for a lone walk in the woods with her dog. Vera later makes a call to the police saying she found a boy in the woods however; the call gets cut off… Vera never made it home. Did the boys see Vera? If they did see something, what are they hiding?

Review: How a Woman Becomes a Lake is a great, slow paced thriller. Usually, slow burns aren’t for me however, the pace worked in this books favor. Marjorie’s writing is captivating and beautifully detailed, it also has a classic vibe. The multiple perspectives flowed very well, and the character development was strong. I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to see what else the Author has in store for us!

I’m not sure what genre to call this book. It is intriguing and beautifully written with what starts as a mystery and then becomes a murder mystery yet it also has a heavy classical literature feel to it. The story flows smoothly and the characters are quickly developed but in a manner that I couldn’t describe to you exactly what any of theses people looked like with the exception of Vera. I like how their physical descriptions are not made an important part of the book. It helps you to concentrate on the main storyline along with the subtext. I did have the plot of the book figured out from the beginning but that surprisingly did not detract from the book at all. I have read another book by this author and this one is as excellent of a read as the other. I find I can’t really tell you many details of the book as I believe you should read it and learn everything for yourself. I would say this is a story of a sad and frightened little boy and the people that made him into the person that he is. I felt so many emotions while reading this and I was a bit disappointed with parts of the story but in general it is a wonderful book

How a Woman Becomes a Lake is a hauntingly beautiful novel that’s main focus is not about the mystery of how a woman, Vera, disappears but about the relationships and people who are affected by her disappearance. Vera is at the heart of the novel; she binds and connects these characters together through her disappearance. How Vera disappeared and the reason why is the mystery-thriller portion of the novel, although I guess what happened within the first couple of pages.

I found Leo to be the most interesting character. He keeps promising his two sons that he will do better, that it’s a new year, new day and that he won’t fall back into his old habits. Denny is dealing with the loss of his wife, and also with the guilt he feels that he should have been a better husband, that he should have went with Vera that morning.

It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a novel that wasn’t concentrated solely on the plot. I gave this book a 4/5, the only reason why it was not a 5 is because I wanted and expected more thriller aspects.

In the small town of Whale Bay it is New Years Day. Leo takes his two sons out to the lake. They are going to write down their resolutions on paper boats and set them free.
Despite the chilly weather Vera decides to take her dog for a walk at the same lake. Vera comes across a little boy on his own and calls the authorities. After the call is cut short Vera disappears. Her husband is at home. He has no idea what has happened to his wife.
The story is told from multiple points of view. As the story progresses the lives of the characters are revealed. The events of the fateful New Years Day comes to light.
I found HOW A WOMAN BECOMES A LAKE an intriguing story. The characters were engaging and were well drawn.
The suspense built nicely and the mystery of Vera’s disappearance was resolved in a plausible manner.

a strong 3.90 stars
A captivating look into each character and what makes each of them (us?) behave as we do. Secrets and fears that hold on to a person for their entire life even when we think we've left the damage behind.
I typically prefer a nice clear ending, this one left some mystery which I feel was somehow well warranted. Wherever we are on the spectrum of healing is how we will finish this book in our minds. A book that will haunt you because we all know people who have been tainted by their past, and this book might clarify some understanding of them.
This is not a book to read if you are feeling vulnerable, sad, victimized. It is a quick read but had the ability to twist you into a pretzel of emotion.

Recently, Jia Tolentino described, in a 2018 New Yorker essay, a peculiar form of longing, a longing deeply pertinent to our times. Recalling recent political decisions in the United States and other depressing news items, she writes, “It’s been a long time since I’ve felt lake-like–cool and still.” The desire to feel not only a stillness, often associated with trendy mindfulness techniques, but also a sense of detachment, a separation from one’s own nature and the accompanying social conditions, carries with it a particularly cynical undertone.

Invoking a myth popularized in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Tolentino reflects on the emotional state of the pursued woman, the dominated woman. How peaceful, then (and this is where the cynicism shows through), to be like Arethusa. To be still, to turn into a cool spring, to rest. Of course, as Tolentino reminds us, Arethusa’s pursuer ultimately transforms himself into a river, penetrating Arethusa, despite her shapeshifting.

This essay, from which Marjorie Celona derived the title of her forthcoming novel, carries with it a subtle but important significance to the novel.

In the novel, Vera, the character missing under suspicious circumstances, is exceedingly productive, with “powersuits,” a luxury car, an enviable and predictable daily routine. Her job as a film professor at a local university is, on the surface, a marker of success and status. At one point, she narrates what appears to be a standard meeting with “a flushed-faced eighteen-year-old” in her office. “So often she wanted to take her students by the shoulders and shout: Do you have any idea how hard I worked to get where I am?” she recalls, emphasizing that she “dulled the feeling” with her perfectly choreographed life.

Vera has a sign in her office saying, “Work harder than everyone else, but never feel like you’re working.” And isn’t this the epitome of a 21st-century woman’s predicament? Work harder, but also be the perfect wife, mother, friend. It’s a trap, in a sense, and Vera has succumbed. Wouldn’t it be a relief, then, to simply become “still”.

The shocking undertone of this novel is the bubbling up of violence, the allusions to suicide, the abuse of the most vulnerable among us. An underlying question of this novel seems to be, what happens to the vulnerable when they are suddenly in a position to inflict violence?

The readabilty and captivating qualities of this novel come from its frame as a crime novel feel. While the publisher has chosen not to categorized it as such (rather, a “literary novel with the pull and pace of a thriller“), Celona’s text resembles qualities of the very best of Scandinavian crime novels.

The traits that set Scandinavian crime fiction apart from that of other regions are twofold: 1) a preoccupation with landscape and with the idea of place, how tragedy is informed and ultimately overwhelmed by the surrounding landscape, and 2) a focus on the deeply human flaws of the characters, particularly the moral considerations and confusions of the individual investigating the crime at hand. How a Woman Becomes a Lake benefits from both of these qualities, but Celona goes much further to show how these characteristics can be paired seamlessly and productively with an emphasis on literary excellence.

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for the advance copy of this title.