"Lake Effect" | Reviewed by Chris Stuckenschneider

Two couples who live across the street from each other in Rochester, New York, become enmeshed in a situation that threatens the happiness of their families, impacting them and their children for years to come.

The affair occurs early in “Lake Effect,” by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, rendering the novel unputdownable, pages flipping as we try to understand the why behind the end of two marriages and the beginning of a new one.

This immersive story is told in three parts, beginning in the late 1970s, before shifting to the mid-1990s and 1998. The 20-plus time period offers readers the opportunity to see how the characters adapt and accept their fates, or don’t.

Nina and Sam Larkin seem happily married at the onset, Nina, with a passion for cooking that leads to a job as a food and the arts columnist for a local newspaper. Sam is employed in a career he enjoys as an executive, though he works late more often than not. The couple has two daughters, Clara, in her teens, and Bridie, the younger of the girls, who’s devoted to Nina.

Clara is just developing physically and emotionally, and has her first crush on a boy she’s in theater with. Dune is the son of the couple across the street, Honey and Finn Finnegan, trapped in a marriage everyone knows is unhappy. Honey is a lot for Finn and their daughter, Fern. She constantly harps about Fern's weight, leading to a problem that self-absorbed Honey doesn’t see coming.

Honey and Finn married hastily, Finn having no idea of the past trauma Honey has suffered. Honey keeps Finn at bay, only agreeing to sex if the couple wants to have a child.

Finn's discontent begins to mirror Nina's, who's feeling restless in her marriage. Though Sam is a good provider shouldn’t there be more to a relationship, more intimacy in and out of the bedroom? Sam has his own demons and struggles in silence, not sharing himself fully with Nina.

Nina's marital disappointment awakens fantasies about having an affair just as Finn is feeling attracted to Nina. Gradually, what started as a “tiny gnat of an idea wouldn’t let (Nina) go…She wanted to transgress. She wanted something brief and intense and hassle-free. Maybe more than once.” Dabbling in an affair isn’t what Finn has in mind. He has grown to love Nina and wants to marry her. So begins a chain of heartbreak that threatens bonds for years to come.

One of the strengths, and there are many, in this passionate, beautifully written novel, is how careful plotting and brilliant character development can cause our alliances to shift. While we may judge mid-life Nina and Finn for hurting so many people with their indiscretion, were they doomed to remain in unfulfilling marriages?

Time, in some cases heals, and allowing both couples’ children to age and see their parents mistakes with maturity is another theme that makes “Lake Effect” so honest, poignant, and emotional. This is a novel readers may want return to again, and certainly suggest as a book club pick. It truly owns my heart.

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