Media Center: 'Lake People' by Abi Maxwell

WHO: Abi Maxwell

WHAT: LAKE PEOPLE, a debut novel

WHEN: Published by Knopf February 22, 2013

WHERE: Set in New Hampshire.

WHY:
“A compelling work.
“Full of missing family, Abi Maxwell’s debut novel begins and ends with Alice, who was abandoned by her birth mother, grandmother, and adoptive mother. They are Jennifer, the poor unwed teen; Sophie, so class conscious that she denied that baby Alice was her son’s; and Clara, whose life goes off track on a family vacation in Canada.
“In a small town in New Hampshire in the shadow of Mt. Washington, Alice is raised by her adoptive father, Paul. She spends her childhood adrift, emotionally unmoored, unknowingly seeking the family she does not know she has lost. Though the reader knows the secret of Alice’s birth from the start, recognizing hints throughout her childhood, Alice doesn’t find out she was adopted until her mid-twenties. Yet she feels the relentless pull of the lake and the boathouse where she was first found.
“Maxwell’s writing has a whispery, brooding, atmospheric feel that conveys Alice’s fragility while capturing both the lushness of the region and its claustrophobic effect on Alice. Literary fiction readers will be moved by this quiet yet compelling work.” —Pamela Mann, LIBRARY JOURNAL

“Luminous.” —Allison Block, BOOKLIST

Media Resources:
About the book | Author bio | Read an excerpt | Download the jacket or the author photo

Publicist for this title:
Erica Hinsley | 212-572-2018 | ehinsley@randomhouse.com