Friday, July 8, 2011

Book Passage/The Lake of Dreams

When we reached the driveway, low-hanging branches of the apple tree scraped the truck roof. The grand house, Italianate, with two wide porches and a cupola, sagged a little, as if it had exhaled a deep breath. Paint was peeling on the trim and the porch. My mother's moon garden had run completely wild. It had once been a magical place, white crocuses, daffodils, and freesia poking from the mulch, the angel trumpets and night-blooming water lilies carried outside once the air had grown as warm as skin, everything fragrant and luminous, the blossoms floating in the dusk. Now, the trellises were broken and leaning at crazy angles; the moonflower vines cascaded over the fence and tangled in the overgrown roses. The peonies were in full bloom, extravagant and beautiful, and the lavender and lamb's ears had spread everywhere, straggly in the center, ragged at the edges.
p. 24, The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards

22 comments:

  1. I think I have been to this place.
    Have a wonderful weekend.

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  2. Lisa, that's just what it felt like to me. I thought it was a wonderful description.

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  3. I do have a thing for neglected, overgrown places - so this description instantly makes me want to go there and explore!

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  4. I really enjoyed the book. It made me want to go explore upstate New York.

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  5. I don't know if I've ever read such a good description, Librarian. In the book, the mother (who is probably around my age) is trying to figure out whether to sell the house.

    Sarah, do you know just where it is set? I haven't read too much of the book yet. Finger Lakes? Or Adirondack area?

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  6. I love taking pictures of old doors and windows. This passage makes me want to go there -- with a camera.

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  7. From the fact that it has an Italianate main house, I would guess the Finger Lakes area. It sounds wonderful.

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  8. Hey, this sounds a like a good book... but wait, isn't this a book of FICTION? Oh Nan, what are you doing to me?
    Kay

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  9. I love the image of the house exhaling and the overgrown garden that in my mind is a riot of color.

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  10. gorgeous passage. Is this describing an actual place?

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  11. I really enjoyed that book, and if I remember correctly it's the Finger Lakes area in which it's set.
    Have you reached the 'Alfred Hitchcock moment' yet, Nan? ( http://www.cornflowerbooks.co.uk/2011/03/dreamtime.html )A nice touch, I thought!

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  12. There are so many beautiful passages in The Lake of Dreams, Nan.

    In the background information about the book on her website, Kim Edwards calls the Finger Lakes district of upstate New York "the landscape of my childhood." Seneca Falls is a half-hour drive from where she grew up. So that is the area the movie in my mind went to as I was reading The Lake of Dreams.

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  13. What a lovely description! Something about it reminds me of Anne of Green Gables. I wasn't thrilled with Edwards' first novel, but I may have to give this one a try.

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  14. Col, and the inside descriptions are great, too!

    Barbara, please see what Marcia left as a comment. You are right!

    Kay, it is indeed fiction, and so far, excellent.

    The Book Girl, there's a feeling of sadness because the woman who lives there isn't keeping it up.

    Susan, the book is fiction but the place sure feels real. From what others have said, the setting is the Finger Lakes area of New York, and the author grew up there.

    Cornflower, I'll read your post after I get to that point in the book. Most intriguing!!

    Marcia, your 'Sunday Snippet' in May is what led me to this book! Thank you for the info about the setting. I don't know anything about that area, and am finding it most appealing.

    Les, I couldn't get into the first one. Not my subject matter. :<) I am thoroughly enjoying this book. The characters, the descriptions, the pace is just perfect so far.

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  15. I must look this book up.
    I love the description and sounds like two old homes in my past...

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  16. So far, I'm really liking the book, Ernestine.

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  17. So far, it is, Carole. As this passage illustrates, there is a strong sense of place.

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  18. I don't know this book, but the description makes me feel the kind of melancholy of going back to a beloved place in your past.

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  19. Pat, that's the exact thing- a daughter has come back home for a visit.

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  20. The book is full of such passages, Colleen.

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