When the free-spirited grandmother of sisters Dahlia, Iris, Violet, and Rose dies, she leaves them her dilapidated home on Lake Clare, with the stipulation that they spend 3 months living together at the house. All of the sisters accept the challenge, deciding to rehabilitate the property to sell at the end of the summer. The sisters are all in their fifties. Dahlia is a ballerina turned dance teacher, the favorite of her grandmother, Cissie, and is now divorced and desperate to hang on to her house and reunite with her 18-year-old son, who has moved to the South Pacific with his father. She and Iris, the only non-blonde sister, have always clashed over anything and everything, and this summer is no exception. The sisters gradually learn to overcome rivalries and find the value in each other in this comic novel. Among the more memorable incidents in the book are the discovery and disposal of 2 mummified corpses in their grandmother's cellar, the evening that sisters decide to skinny-dip in the lake. and the discovery that Ernest Hemingway might possibly be their grandfather.
Despite being a comedy, Ladies of the Lake is a richly textured study of sibling rivalry, generational angst, class consciousness, love, and community. Haywood Smith's novels are always entertaining, but this one is exceptionally thought-provoking as well. I recommend it!
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