As an infant, Alice Thorton is found abandoned in a canoe. Adopted by a young childless couple, she is raised with no knowledge of her family’s history, especially that of her strong female forebears-Eleonora, Signe, and Sophie-who hold a special place in the history of their small town of Kettleborough, New Hampshire. Still, as Alice grows up aching for an acceptance she can’t quite imagine, she feels a mysterious pull to Kettleborough’s lake and the island at its center, both of which will help provide the key to unlocking the truth of her past.

Resonant with atmosphere, Lake People is a memorable and luminous debut about criss-crossing lives, the interweaving of family history and individual fact, and the intangible connections we feel to the place where we were born.