The Lake House

Alice Edevane, a 16-year-old girl, is sitting in the upstairs bathroom in her family’s estate, Loeanneth, looking down at the lake. She spots Mr. Llewellyn, an old family friend, near the stream with his easel. She’s looking for someone specific but can’t see him. There is a lot of action as musicians and caterers set things up for the party. Suddenly, she spots who she was searching for. She waves to him, but he doesn’t see her. They both know they shouldn’t exchange such conspicuous greetings.

The man is Benjamin Munro, a 26-year-old from London who was hired a year ago to help the gardener on the grounds. Alice is infatuated with Ben. She has learned a lot about him from being very observant, because Ben is not one to blather on about himself. She has learned that Ben was born in Sussex to archeologist parents and that he grew up in the Far East. While she watches Ben, Alice reminisces about her past years at Loeanneth, her favorite place; about her older sister Deborah, who would rather be in London; and about her precocious younger sister Clementine and baby brother Theo. Her father is a naturalist and spends a lot of time writing and reading. Alice is working on a novel. She wants to show Ben the beginnings of her manuscript. He supports her writing. She wants to especially show him the dedicatory page: “For B. M., partner in crime, accomplice in life” (15).

Alice’s Mother (Eleanor Edevane) is looking for her; she wants Alice to pick flowers for the floral arrangements for the big party, the Midsummer Eve’s party, an annual ritual and major festivity for the Edevane family. Alice doesn’t like how high-strung and stressful her mother can be. But going to get flowers will give her a chance to meet with Ben.

Alice takes a basket with her and begins picking flowers. She waits on the bank of the lake for Ben. Mr. Llewellyn comes up behind her, startling her. He is carrying his easel and wants to talk to Alice about something. Even though they were very close when she was a little younger (he is a storyteller and wrote a beloved children’s book called Eleanor’s Magic Doorway, which was inspired by the grounds of Loeanneth), she does not have patience for him at the moment; she only wants to talk to Ben. Mr. Llewellyn insists that what he has to say is important. Alice hastily agrees to meet with him at half past 11 that evening.

Sadie is running through the woods near her grandfather Bertie’s house with his two dogs, Ash and Ramsey. While she runs, Sadie thinks back to the Bailey case a few weeks before. Sadie is a detective from London. The Bailey case, about a missing mother, became very personal for her, and she let slip to the newspapers that her department didn’t handle the case very well. This incensed her boss. Her partner Donald told her that she needed to take some time off. Reluctantly, Sadie took a month’s leave of absence.

During the run, Ramsey gets lost. Sadie calls and calls for him but doesn’t hear anything. Eventually, Ash stops and growls. Sadie, unsure of herself, thinks she sees a little girl, but the apparition quickly fades. She hears Ramsey bark. Because of the forest’s immense overgrowth, Sadie didn’t see the lake nearby. She finds Ramsey with his leg stuck in the wreckage of an old jetty. Off in the distance is a house. Sadie walks up to investigate the house and peers in through a dusty window. The building is decrepit, overgrown, and abandoned.

When she leaves, Sadie has a gut feeling, the kind a detective gets when they know something isn’t right. Sadie has a strong impression that something terrible happened in that house.

Alice and the rest of her family are out on the lawn at Loeanneth. Clemmie (Clementine) is playing with a model glider plane their father got her for her birthday. Eleanor doesn’t think the gift is appropriate for a 12-year-old girl, but Clemmie isn’t like normal girls, and the gift is perfect for her.

Clemmie wants to climb a tree from which she can release her plane (it has a wind-up propeller to pull it through the air). Mother (aka Eleanor) is against her climbing the tree, but Mr. Llewellyn intervenes and convinces Eleanor to allow Clemmie to play. Clemmie’s excitement and enthusiasm are infectious, and Deborah, pulled into the fun, helps her younger sister up the tree. At the top of the tree, Clemmie releases the plane to the enjoyment of all who clap as the glider performs a loop before landing.

Deborah shouts for Alice, telling her to hurry up and that Mr. Llewellyn is going to take them out on the lake in the boat. Alice remarks that today is “the best day ever!” (41).

Sadie walks into her grandfather’s house where she meets him and a local woman named Louise Clark. After a few introductions, Sadie mentions her run and the house she found in the woods. Louise reveals that it is the old Edevane house, Loeanneth. She also mentions that a child went missing and the family left afterward, never to return.

In the evening, Sadie is upstairs in bed mulling over the contents of an envelope: a letter and a photograph. It was 15 years ago, when she was 16, that her life changed, when she left home for good. And now her past has caught up to her present. Sadie does not want to acknowledge the envelope and wishes she had never received it. Sadie looks at a painting of an enormous sea wave curling over three small fishing boats and thinks about what to do with the envelope.

While Sadie is remembering her grandmother and the painting, Bertie knocks on her door and enters. He has one of Sadie’s old puzzle books, which she had meticulously completed in that first year she came to live with her grandparents. It is a reminder of her tenacity and intelligence. Bertie leaves the book for her and exits.

Sadie awakens from her sleep just at the point when her recurring dream about “the little girl backlit in the doorway, holding out her hands and calling for her mother” resurfaces (53). She now knows what to do with the envelope. She gets up and writes on the envelope: “No longer at this address. Return to sender.” The epiphany is a great relief. Sadie feels that she can now relax and return to work.

In the morning, Sadie calls her partner Donald and informs him that she’s ready to come back. Donald tells her that the deal was that she take a month off. It has only been a week. He won’t let her return. Sadie is frustrated. She goes to the local library. She is surprised by a window advertisement for mystery novels by A. C. Edevane. It is only now that Sadie realizes the connection between the novelist and the name Louise mentioned when discussing the abandoned house in the woods. Sadie asks for the librarian’s help in gathering information about the house and the librarian’s recommendation for one of A. C. Edevane’s novels.