A Week at the Lake

By: Wendy Wax

Narrated by: Amy Rubinate

Twenty years ago Emma Michaels, Mackenzie Hayes, and Serena Stockton bonded over their New York City dreams. Then, each summer, they solidified their friendship by spending one week at the lake together, solving their problems over bottles of wine and gallons of ice cream. They kept the tradition for years, until jealousy, lies, and life's disappointments made them drift apart.

It's been five years since Emma has seen her friends, an absence designed to keep them from discovering a long-ago betrayal. Now she's in desperate need of their support. The time has come to reveal her secrets and hopefully rekindle their connection. But when a terrible accident keeps Emma from saying her piece, Serena and Mackenzie begin to learn about the past on their own. Now, to heal their friendship and their broken lives, the three women will have to return to the lake that once united them and discover which relationships are worth holding on to.

©2015 Wendy Wax (P)2015 Tantor

OK

Though I haven't been the biggest fan of this author I've usually liked her characters and the manner in which she presents conflict. This particular effort presented plenty of conflict but the lack of likability inherent in this book's characters presents no heroes. Serena's obsession with her high school boyfriend came off as totally ridiculous for a woman in her forties. Mackenzie was a whiny wuss who pouted whenever things didn't go her way. Emma the third of the friends, and the central player in this story came off as generic and nondescript for the most part. There wasn't the same flawed, but still likable human beings in this work that made her previous works so listenable. The author is usually an expert at drawing the listener into the story and having us buy in, not this time.

Liked It!

Yes it was predictable and they gave away the mystery way too early ... But I enjoyed it. It didn't make me want to laugh or cry and still it was satisfying in a chick lit kinda way. I really enjoyed the characters and felt like I knew them. Well done!

Bechdel Testing Wendy Wax

I realize that the Bechdel Test is only a the tip of the iceberg in bringing attention to how women are portrayed in works of fiction. Basically the Bechdel test asks three questions:
1. There are at least two female characters. (Preferably they each have a name.)
2. They have a conversation with each other
3. About something other than a man.

Admittedly this is a pretty low standard, and one would think that most books written by women would pass this test. But surprisingly many come close to falling short.

Wendy Wax passes with flying colors!

I truly appreciate books with multi-faceted women, who are not totally wrapped up with the men in their lives. Men can be a large part of their lives, but not everything. The women in the books I love have many interests, and have strong well developed characters.

I only recently started reading Wendy Wax's books. To date, I have everything of her's available on Audible except Downton Abbey.

If you appreciate an excellent story, female characters who aren't all between 18 and reaching the nearly old age of 29, heaven forbid they hit 30 without a man, you will find that in Wendy Wax's books.

A Week at the Lake is the story of three women who are best friends, but one of them has pushed the other two away. They haven't seen each other in five years, an accident brings them back together. There is the love of true friendship, shared experiences, reconciliation and even a little romance! The characters are imperfect and believable. The story line doesn't tie up all of the loose ends and solve everyone's issues by the last page. Isn't that pretty much like real life?

Even though I wanted the story to continue, this book was long enough to allow me to feel that I wasn't cheated out of anything.

I won't say that I only read books that pass the Bechdel Test, I mean, how do you know before you start the book? But I always appreciate it when they do! I have discovered that when I read Wendy Wax's books, I find what I'm looking for. Her writing - her characters - make me think. I don't want to be friends with all of the women, but I find someone to identify with in each of her books. I only wish they were all available at Audible!

Only so so.

Did not enjoy as much as her other books. Story and characters didn't ring true.

Loved it!

The story was predictable but great. I very much enjoyed it. Perfect chick book. #friendship

Waste of Time

What was most disappointing about Wendy Wax’s story?

This is a horrible story line that is so corny. I only finished it in hopes that the story line would get better.

Would you be willing to try another one of Amy Rubinate’s performances?

No

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from A Week at the Lake?

The whole book.

Boring, Slow moving

boring!!! slow paced, boring plot,!!! I usually like Wendy wax but this was not her best work, boring!!! I got to chapter 36 and couldn't even finish it.