East Grand Lake

Wow, this book. I was not expecting to be drawn in and left wet-eyed contemplating life, family, all the choices that have brought us here and the things we pass down and expect our own kids to carry.

— Lindsay (Birdkinsreads)

Shayne won’t get out of the car. It’s the summer of 1972 and the whole family has come up to Grandpa Murphy’s cottage for their annual trip. Three generations are out on the property, swimming, wandering through the forest, fixing up the clubhouse, getting ready to sing around the fire, and having a lovely time. And Shayne won’t get out of the car.

A novel in fourteen stories, East Grand Lake captures the many tiny, important dramas that occur simultaneously, sometimes invisibly, when everyone gets together. A pair of brothers hunt frogs. The girl cousins make a bid for supremacy. A boy is afraid of the end of the dock. Over one sun-soaked day, the Murphy family wrestles with grief, aging, betrayal, mental illness, and the many small fictions that occur when people share their lives.

Written with humour and authenticity, East Grand Lake welcomes readers into the complex inner world of a large and loving family. This is a book for everyone who misses or wishes for summer vacation.