Torn between giving this 3 or 4 stars. I decided on 3 as this is not a book that drew me in, or a book that I would recommend to anyone. Overall, the concept is good, but the characters just didn't "flesh out" to me. I like the general family dynamic, but the book doesn't really explain how everyone got to be the way they are. References to the past (especially the sister) seemed aimed at helping to understand the characters, but not enough background is provided to understand them. This was not an unpleasant ready, but I would not go back for another book from this author. Overall, the story lines grew tiresome and the ending left everything unresolved. I was left feeling like I was hanging out in space waiting for something more to happen or some resolutions to be revealed.

How do you enjoy a book where all the characters are unlikable? I did. This is not a light fluffy summer vacation read. The characters are all deeply flawed and sometimes hard to read about. But the author sucks you into the story and you really want to know what will happen to the family.

So here we are with the old conundrum: What to do with a book full of unlikeable characters who are relatable when we face our worst instincts? There's Lisa, who smothers her sons with love, even after they are in their 30s. Richard, the distant father who lives in his head and, of course, got a genius grant at some point. Michael and Thad, the sons whose goal in life is blotting everything out. Moored by these unsurprising folks, the book, although well written and engaging, is ultimately predictable. I'd have loved to have seen Michael deal more directly with the neighbors' tragedy. Clearly he can't tolerate them. What if he, in his darkest thoughts, wished them ill and it happened? Don't we all have those nasty thoughts that float in before we push them away, that the loud woman at the airport would just choke on her apple or the guy on the phone would get hit by a falling brick? I had hoped that's where this was going, that Michael's evil wishes came true, but no, it was just another story about people with privilege defending and denying it in themselves and resenting it in others, about flawed parents producing even more flawed children. The tragedy that begins the book remains a bit of a side story. And the deep family secret has no earthly reason for being a secret. It finally comes out and the family has a brief period of fallout and then moves on, inexplicable, supposedly, better than before. Poissant is a good writer. I hope he pushes himself a bit more next time.

This is a book that will stay with me. One that I'll be recommending to family and friends. Beautifully written character study taking us into the lives, warts and secrets included, of a typical family and shows us the "why" of the word family.

Family drama at it's best. Loved all the different characters and their stories. Well developed and timely. Highly recommend.

Thanks to author,publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free,it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

I will remember this book for a very long time and live for books like this. The characters had such amazing depth and texture and seemed so real. In the book, the Starlings are enjoying their last week at the lake before they sell the location. The lake has been such an integral part of their family's lives and events through the years and it is the end of an era. The week starts with the drowning of a child in the lake. One of the starling boys is unable to save the boy and it just opens up so many feelings for everyone and what is going on in their lives. You have the father who has retired and is unsure whether his marriage will last. You have a mother who is just hurting and has many reasons to. There are two sons who have things going on in their lives that have reached a precipice. I will be recommending this book to others and hope that it is the success that it deserves to be. Thanks for the ARC, Net Galley.

Extremely well written novel with clearly defined characters in a lifelike plot. Secrets are everywhere and as they unfold, the characters become even ore believable. As a family gather for what is to be a final visit to their cottage when the parents decide to sell it and retire to Florida, their time together is marred y a tragic accident which they observe but are unable to stop. Depending on his or her secret, each one brings a different background to the table by which to digest what has happened. Although high-functioning, professional adults, the parents seem to have missed the mark as parents and their two adult sons are not exactly traditionally successful: one is an alcoholic shore salesman who is almost bankrupt, with over-extended credit cards, a house he cannot afford, and a newly-pregnant wife. Unable to deal with his own life he is unwilling to accept adding another to it. The other son is embedded literally in a homosexual relationship which has stalemated in an open marriage location with which he is not happy. He loves his mate but wants a monogamous relationship with him.
The characters are so delicately handled that this reader found it difficult to dislike any of them completely - each had very likeable and human feelings and characteristics that become evident at crucial times.
The lake house itself falls into that same category - described as a a falling-down wreck of a place, with a base of a double-wide trailer - the buyer will likely demolish it and use the property to create a modern statue to himself. But the family has a hard time leaving the place whose mold and mildew, dry rot and crumbling foundation mean nothing to those who carry so many fond memories of the happy years they spent there each season.
Once the secrets are aired and bared, is each one of them able to walk away and face a tougher, different life based in honesty, rather than the almost romantic lake life each has been living?
Finely written with grace and delicacy for the most part. My only personal criticism is that the chapter written about Asheville seemed to lack the same care as the rest of the book and felt gratuitous to me in how it handled the situation.
I strongly recommend this book. and will send the review to Amazon when permitted and put it in my personal WordPress blog.

An introspective and well-written novel exploring the lives of various family members vacationing for the last time at a beloved lakeside home. If you don’t like character studies, this is not the book for you...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44243489

"Lake Life" a great novel by author, David James Poissant. A last weekend at the family lake home, on Lake Christopher. The parents, Richard and Lisa, are retiring and the sons, with problems of their own, are there . Michael with wife Diane and Thad with partner, Jake. A tragedy that deeply affects all of them deeply, in different ways. Secrets kept for years and secrets shared with the most surprising people. The novel is woven wIth art, desires, nature, death and longings. The author has developed very strong characters and and a lasting story. Publication is scheduled for July 2020. I recommend this novel and thank the publisher, Simon Schuster and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this advanced reader's copy.

Excellent novel. A week at the family lake house uncovers family secrets. Two adult sons with their many flaws, their partners, and their intellectual parents. Six well develop characters. Great interpersonal relationships. This is a character driven novel, yet there is still a great story here. Thank you for my advance copy. I plan to look for other books by this author, and will recommend it highly to my friends and family.