HAVEN LAKE
New from the author of Beach Plum Island… A natural-born storyteller presents a gripping story about grief, anger, and the healing power of love.
Sydney Bishop hasn’t returned to Haven Lake, her idyllic childhood home, since a pair of shocking, tragic deaths shattered her family when she was only sixteen. Now a child psychologist engaged to marry a successful surgeon, Sydney has worked hard to build a relationship with Dylan, her fiancé’s teenage son, so she feels nothing but empathy when he runs away—until she discovers that his hitchhiking journey has led him to Haven Lake and her mother Hannah’s sheep farm.
New from the author of Beach Plum Island… A natural-born storyteller presents a gripping story about grief, anger, and the healing power of love.
Sydney Bishop hasn’t returned to Haven Lake, her idyllic childhood home, since a pair of shocking, tragic deaths shattered her family when she was only sixteen. Now a child psychologist engaged to marry a successful surgeon, Sydney has worked hard to build a relationship with Dylan, her fiancé’s teenage son, so she feels nothing but empathy when he runs away—until she discovers that his hitchhiking journey has led him to Haven Lake and her mother Hannah’s sheep farm.
Sydney returns to Haven Lake for the first time in twenty years to coax the boy home. Against her daughter’s wishes, Hannah offers to take Dylan in until he’s ready to reveal his own troubling secrets. Now, for Dylan’s sake as well as their own, Sydney and Hannah must confront the devastating events that tore them apart and answer the questions that still haunt their family—and the suspicious surrounding community—about what really caused two people to die on their farm those many years ago.
- NAL
- Paperback
- April 2015
- 464 Pages
- 9780451471499
Buy the Book
$15.00
About Holly Robinson
Novelist, journalist and celebrity ghost writer Holly Robinson is the author of several books, including The Gerbil Farmer’s Daughter: A Memoir and the novels Beach Plum Island and Haven Lake. Her articles and essays appear frequently in The Huffington Post, More, Parents, Redbook and dozens of other newspapers and magazines. She and her husband have five children and a stubborn Pekingese. They divide their time between Massachusetts and Prince Edward Island, and are crazy enough to be fixing up old houses one shingle at a time in both places.
Praise
“Robinson handles numerous plot threads deftly, alternating between her characters with finesse. Fans of Barbara Delinsky and Diane Chamberlain will enjoy this moving family drama.” — Booklist
“Who and what make us who we really are? In Robinson’s luminous novel of buried secrets, she explores how the past can jump-start the future, how motherhood can be more than genetics, and why finding yourself sometimes depends on discovering the truth in others.”—Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Is This Tomorrow
“Holly Robinson is a natural-born storyteller and her tale of three mismatched sisters and the lost brother they search for will keep you turning those pages as she quietly but deftly breaks your heart. I loved every single one of her characters and you will too; here is a novel to savor and share.”—Yona Zeldis McDonough, author of You Were Meant for Me
Discussion Questions
Vietnam serves as an important backdrop for Haven Lake, affecting the lives of many of the characters. What is your understanding or experience of the war?
When Allen and Hannah leave college, they start an organic farm and become early members of the WWOOFing community. This is an extremely popular movement today. Had you ever heard of World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms before reading this book? Can you imagine traveling around the world and working on farms in the way the residents of Haven Lake did?
Dylan is a troubled teen who has lost his mother. Many of the events in his life have led him to try to control the one thing he can: how much he eats. Have you encountered anyone in your life with anorexia or another eating disorder?
Gary is keen on Dylan spending less time on video games. For Dylan, video gaming is a way for him to connect socially and relax. What’s your view on video games? Do you feel like they prepare young people with the computer skills they need, or are these games an unhealthy addiction?
Both Hannah and her daughter, Sydney, are torn between two men: Hannah between Allen and Rory, and Sydney between Gary and Marco. Why do they experience these conflicts? Do you think they followed the right paths in their personal relationships?
Hannah lives nearly off the grid, growing her own food and spending little time watching television or using the computer and her cell phone. Do you think it would be better if more of us spent time unplugged? Have you ever tried doing it? What was the result?
In some ways, the ending of Haven Lake is left open. What do you imagine happening to the characters as they go on with their lives from here?