The Room by the Lake by Emma Dibdin
Published: 10th August 2017
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Pages: 310
Available in Hardcover and on Kindle
Rating: 4/5
Blurb
When Caitlin left London for New York, she thought she'd left her problems behind: her alcoholic father, her dead mother, the unrelenting pressure to succeed. But now, down to her last dollar in a strange city, she is desperately lonely. Then she finds Jake. Handsome, smart, slightly damaged Jake. And he wants her to meet his family.
He takes her to a lake house in the middle of the woods – in the middle of nowhere. The community there live off-grid. They believe in regular exercise and group therapy. And they're friendly. Really friendly.
Turns out they're not Jake's real family – but isn't family exactly what she's running from?
But as the days drift by, Caitlin starts to feel uneasy. Now that she's no longer running, does she risk getting lost forever?
Review
Emma Dibdin’s debut novel The Room by the Lake is a cleverly written and chilling insight into cult life experienced through our main character Caitlin’s eyes.
Caitlin has arrived in New York after fleeing London and her
troubles. Her mother has recently died and she can’t bear to fight with her
father over his alcoholism anymore. So she leaves her house, throws her phone
in the river and gets on a plane to New York. But now she’s here she
desperately lonely, bored and starting to run out of money. Then one night she
meets Jake, handsome rugged and slightly damaged she’s instantly drawn to him.
After spending a week together Jake asks her to come and visit his family’s
lake house a few hours away. Reluctantly Caitlin agrees but she’s not sure more
family is what she needs. When she arrives she realises they are not his actual
family but a group of people living off-grid and following a regime of
exercise, mind therapy and special diets. They seem friendly enough so Caitlin
agrees to stay for a while but it’s not long before she starts to get an uneasy
feeling about exactly what is going on in this lakeside community.
Right from the start this book made me feel a little
unnerved and I felt worried for Caitlin, who seems very lost. She tries to
strike up random conversations with strangers in order to become part of their
world but this doesn’t work and leaves her more desperate. When she meets Jake
she feels like she’s struck gold he seems perfect as he gives her the affection
she’s been longing for. I found it very scary just how easily Caitlin was
convinced to stay at the lakeside community. She doesn’t seem to question any
part of the authority which leader figure Don has instilled in her almost
instantly, but then this is what Caitlin has been craving from her father,
someone to set boundaries and give punishments.
The majority of the other characters in this book remain a
little vague but this works well in the setting they are in, all their
personalities seem to mould together and form a united view of the world. The
only character other than Jake and Caitlin that I liked was Tyra. There are
moments when we see the fun loving cheeky girl she used to be, I wish there had
been more of these moments.
There is an eeriness to this book which slowly builds
throughout the book making it a very gripping story as you want to read more to
find out what this bad thing you’re dreading is. Emma Dibdin has created the perfect
atmosphere for this genre and created a very intense read which you won’t be
able to put down. As a debut novel I think The Room by the Lake is brilliant
and I’m looking forward to what Emma Dibdin has to offer next.
Thank you to Head of Zeus for sending me this copy to review
and for inviting me on this blog tour.
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