The House on Black Lake

Plot summary

Set in an enclave of summer homes for the power elite in the outskirts Montreal, the story follows world-weary American Alexandra Brighton as she travels with son Samuel to the home of Ruth and Ramey Sandeley. On the night of their arrival the mother and child stay in a dilapidated Victorian set on an island on Black Lake. Alexandra’s night of terror there sets her on a quest to learn its secrets. However, she is unaware that her provocative hosts have their own agenda. Inside the French Canadian underworld the fragile beauty is pampered and groomed in the finest salons of Old Montreal, advised by mystics and gypsies, and begins a journey of self-discovery. As the secrets of Black Lake are revealed Alexandra is lured into a web of deceit and betrayal where her own hidden truths emerge, including an obsession with charismatic Ramey Sandeley. Her identity crisis is mirrored by the increasing instability of Ruth and recklessness of Ramey, and ultimately threatens the safety of her child.

An unspeakable legacy is at stake for the covert clan of Black Lake and Alexandra is challenged to confront the forces that have shaped her life's path.

Themes

Though on the surface it appears a novel of romance, on a deeper level the novel undertakes an analysis of numerous themes including, truth versus beauty, social constraints and desire for liberation, patriarchal dominance, the power of faith, judicial injustice, female disempowerment and repression, legacy of violence passed to children, maternal responsibility vs. female sexuality, spirituality vs. organized religion, supernatural intervention, notion of predetermined destiny, repression of nature/pagan/magic/psychic knowledge in mainstream society.