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The Room by the Lake
When Caitlin moved from London to New York, she thought she had left her problems behind: her alcoholic father, her dead mother, the pressure to succeed. But now, down to her last dollar in a foreign city, she is desperately lonely.
Then she meets Jake. Handsome, smart, slightly damaged Jake. He lives off-grid, in a lakeside commune whose members practise regular exercise and frequent group therapy. Before long, Caitlin has settled into her idyllic new home.
It looks like she has found the fresh start she longed for. But, as the commune tightens its grip on her freedom and her sanity, Caitlin realizes too late that she might become lost forever...
Then she meets Jake. Handsome, smart, slightly damaged Jake. He lives off-grid, in a lakeside commune whose members practise regular exercise and frequent group therapy. Before long, Caitlin has settled into her idyllic new home.
It looks like she has found the fresh start she longed for. But, as the commune tightens its grip on her freedom and her sanity, Caitlin realizes too late that she might become lost forever...
368 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2017
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1231 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
April 15, 2018
4☆ Builds up unease and suspense as the story progressed.
Room by the Lake is a thrilling read, with lies, secrets, and a sinister uneasy tone throughout the book.
Caitlin comes to New York to escape her grief, her alcoholic dad and her life in general.
With the hustle and bustle of New York Caitlin still feels lonely.
That is until she meets Jake.
They have an instant attraction.
After several days of dates Jake wants to take Caitlin to meet his parents.
Caitlin agrees.
So they set off on a journey to meet his parents.
When they finally get there Caitlin falls in love with the gorgeous house and it's surroundings. But something just doesn't feel right.
Who is the ghostly figure she sees by the lake!
You see Jake is keeping secrets too. He hasn't been entirely honest with Caitlin.
It isn't entirely true that she will be meeting his family... more like his extended cult family.
He comes across as a recruiter for the cult. Preying on the vulnerable and insecure whilst luring them in with his boyish charms.
The cult is full of different ages, sex and races. They do exercise, personal sessions and group sessions. But is all as it seems?
You hear so much about cults and how they get into your mind and prey on the vulnerable.
I warmed to Caitlin her vulnerability draws you in. She is just lost and lonely and has a craving to belong.
The room by the Lake was an eerie read that Definetly had a dark sinister side that you just couldn't put your finger on.
It delves into the lifestyle of a cult and it focuses on the psychological side.
This is not a fast paced Thriller it builds up unease and suspense as the story progressed.
Definetly worth a read if your looking for something a little different.
Thank you to Head of Zeus for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
My Review is also on my blog website:
https://dashfan81.blogspot.com/2018/0...
Room by the Lake is a thrilling read, with lies, secrets, and a sinister uneasy tone throughout the book.
Caitlin comes to New York to escape her grief, her alcoholic dad and her life in general.
With the hustle and bustle of New York Caitlin still feels lonely.
That is until she meets Jake.
They have an instant attraction.
After several days of dates Jake wants to take Caitlin to meet his parents.
Caitlin agrees.
So they set off on a journey to meet his parents.
When they finally get there Caitlin falls in love with the gorgeous house and it's surroundings. But something just doesn't feel right.
Who is the ghostly figure she sees by the lake!
You see Jake is keeping secrets too. He hasn't been entirely honest with Caitlin.
It isn't entirely true that she will be meeting his family... more like his extended cult family.
He comes across as a recruiter for the cult. Preying on the vulnerable and insecure whilst luring them in with his boyish charms.
The cult is full of different ages, sex and races. They do exercise, personal sessions and group sessions. But is all as it seems?
You hear so much about cults and how they get into your mind and prey on the vulnerable.
I warmed to Caitlin her vulnerability draws you in. She is just lost and lonely and has a craving to belong.
The room by the Lake was an eerie read that Definetly had a dark sinister side that you just couldn't put your finger on.
It delves into the lifestyle of a cult and it focuses on the psychological side.
This is not a fast paced Thriller it builds up unease and suspense as the story progressed.
Definetly worth a read if your looking for something a little different.
Thank you to Head of Zeus for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
My Review is also on my blog website:
https://dashfan81.blogspot.com/2018/0...
July 11, 2025
You meet a hot guy and after a few dates he wants you to meet his family, what could go wrong?
August 12, 2017
My thanks to Head of Zeus who sent me an advanced copy to read and enjoy. I really did enjoy this book, it was an adventure that I went on with the young girl Caitlin.
It starts out like party time meeting new people, enjoying the life.
When Caitlin meets Jake in a bar, he takes her to her to his parent's place, but all is not what it seems with Jake, there are hidden depth and all are lies.
Being in a remote part of Upsstate New York is not the best place to be for her as we find she is vulnerable, not very worldly wise and so you fear for her.
She doesn't know who to trust.
Soon we realise there is a cult going on, stalking around which makes the book pick up fast. Coupled with Caitlin's emotional state and where she is in her life right now we can see why she became easy prey.
We follow her right through.
This lead me to a few questions, what makes people join a cult? Why do they stay? How did they escape and fair afterwards? Did they need help, therapy?
It was a book that was slow in the start up, bit like revving an engine but once the power picked up so did the speed of the read.
What I particularly liked was the lurking of something dark and sinister behind that scenes, it was like something or someone was going to 'jump' out at any minute.
Very enjoyable read.
It starts out like party time meeting new people, enjoying the life.
When Caitlin meets Jake in a bar, he takes her to her to his parent's place, but all is not what it seems with Jake, there are hidden depth and all are lies.
Being in a remote part of Upsstate New York is not the best place to be for her as we find she is vulnerable, not very worldly wise and so you fear for her.
She doesn't know who to trust.
Soon we realise there is a cult going on, stalking around which makes the book pick up fast. Coupled with Caitlin's emotional state and where she is in her life right now we can see why she became easy prey.
We follow her right through.
This lead me to a few questions, what makes people join a cult? Why do they stay? How did they escape and fair afterwards? Did they need help, therapy?
It was a book that was slow in the start up, bit like revving an engine but once the power picked up so did the speed of the read.
What I particularly liked was the lurking of something dark and sinister behind that scenes, it was like something or someone was going to 'jump' out at any minute.
Very enjoyable read.
August 11, 2017
I’ve had a long fascination with cults, it’s always so interesting to see why an average person would ever join one. Was it just because they were at a vulnerable time in their life? Were they targeted and stalked like a hunter circling their prey? And how were they roped in to a place where they have to cut off contact with the outside world?
Caitlin was definitely in a tough time in her life and I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her. She was fragile and very easily manipulated and cult leaders are generally very adept at spotting this and using it to their advantage. Don is the leader of the group Caitlin joins and she is instantly mesmerized and intrigued by him, he has a charisma that speaks to her. The cast of characters here were well drawn and complex with histories and backgrounds that made it easy to see why they were drawn to “The Group”.
This was a slow burn with a lot of psychological insight as group members all participate in both individual and group therapy sessions. The bulk of this novel focuses on Caitlin and her sessions and as human psych interests me, I liked it. Things do get intense the further you read, there is a sense of discomfort and uneasiness because you know sinister things are lurking just beneath the surface. If you like books that explore cults and the behavior of their members, this is a solid read.
All of my reviews can be found on www.novelgossip.com
Caitlin was definitely in a tough time in her life and I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her. She was fragile and very easily manipulated and cult leaders are generally very adept at spotting this and using it to their advantage. Don is the leader of the group Caitlin joins and she is instantly mesmerized and intrigued by him, he has a charisma that speaks to her. The cast of characters here were well drawn and complex with histories and backgrounds that made it easy to see why they were drawn to “The Group”.
This was a slow burn with a lot of psychological insight as group members all participate in both individual and group therapy sessions. The bulk of this novel focuses on Caitlin and her sessions and as human psych interests me, I liked it. Things do get intense the further you read, there is a sense of discomfort and uneasiness because you know sinister things are lurking just beneath the surface. If you like books that explore cults and the behavior of their members, this is a solid read.
All of my reviews can be found on www.novelgossip.com
August 22, 2017
**RATING 4.5**
From the very beginning of this story there is an aura of desolation and sadness and as we become embroiled in Caitlin's life it is completely understandable. Having lost her mother the year before, Caitlin can no longer face living with her father and his lies that he will stop drinking and in a fit of desperation, she grabs some clothes, money, and her passport and heads to New York where she hopes that the loudness and craziness of the city will help her find some peace. But Caitlin soon realises that you cannot outrun your problems and as she begins to panic and feel suffocated, a handsome American called Jake appears like a knight in shining armour.
The next thing she knows, Caitlin finds herself in the countryside with Jake, who makes her heart melt, about to meet his family. But Jake has not been completely honest about himself or his intentions, for this family is made up of a crew of different people from different places who have shunned the outside world and vow to stay at the lakeside cabin to find their peace. Initially furious at his lies, as Caitlin sticks around she begins to see the positive signs of this place and its people, and time slowly fades away as she becomes immersed in its culture. But when Caitlin starts to fear that she is becoming like her mother and getting ill, she clings to Jake and begins to doubt what is happening around her. Can she really trust herself after all that she has been through? And can she trust these strangers who do not want her to leave? And when a body turns up, Caitlin may be in more danger than she ever thought possible...
THE ROOM BY THE LAKE by Emma Dibdin is a dark story about sadness, grief, fear, and the lure that cults can bring. Caitlin is a character who is desperately seeking to belong, who is so afraid that she will someday become ill like her mother, and yet cannot rely on her only other family, her dad. She wants to feel safe and taken care of, and I wanted to reach out and give her a hug (and a shake) many times in this book. This story is not an action-packed thriller but rather a slower-paced, dramatic unfolding as pieces slowly start to fall in place and we wonder how Caitlin will find her own strength, instead of waiting for someone else to give her strength. Emma Dibdin hooked me from the beginning with her own style and flare, and I didn't come up for air until I had turned the last page.
THE ROOM BY THE LAKE is a sinister, haunting, and warning tale about how far people will go when they are lost and lonely, and I highly recommend it.
*I voluntarily reviewed this book from the Publisher
From the very beginning of this story there is an aura of desolation and sadness and as we become embroiled in Caitlin's life it is completely understandable. Having lost her mother the year before, Caitlin can no longer face living with her father and his lies that he will stop drinking and in a fit of desperation, she grabs some clothes, money, and her passport and heads to New York where she hopes that the loudness and craziness of the city will help her find some peace. But Caitlin soon realises that you cannot outrun your problems and as she begins to panic and feel suffocated, a handsome American called Jake appears like a knight in shining armour.
The next thing she knows, Caitlin finds herself in the countryside with Jake, who makes her heart melt, about to meet his family. But Jake has not been completely honest about himself or his intentions, for this family is made up of a crew of different people from different places who have shunned the outside world and vow to stay at the lakeside cabin to find their peace. Initially furious at his lies, as Caitlin sticks around she begins to see the positive signs of this place and its people, and time slowly fades away as she becomes immersed in its culture. But when Caitlin starts to fear that she is becoming like her mother and getting ill, she clings to Jake and begins to doubt what is happening around her. Can she really trust herself after all that she has been through? And can she trust these strangers who do not want her to leave? And when a body turns up, Caitlin may be in more danger than she ever thought possible...
THE ROOM BY THE LAKE by Emma Dibdin is a dark story about sadness, grief, fear, and the lure that cults can bring. Caitlin is a character who is desperately seeking to belong, who is so afraid that she will someday become ill like her mother, and yet cannot rely on her only other family, her dad. She wants to feel safe and taken care of, and I wanted to reach out and give her a hug (and a shake) many times in this book. This story is not an action-packed thriller but rather a slower-paced, dramatic unfolding as pieces slowly start to fall in place and we wonder how Caitlin will find her own strength, instead of waiting for someone else to give her strength. Emma Dibdin hooked me from the beginning with her own style and flare, and I didn't come up for air until I had turned the last page.
THE ROOM BY THE LAKE is a sinister, haunting, and warning tale about how far people will go when they are lost and lonely, and I highly recommend it.
*I voluntarily reviewed this book from the Publisher
May 1, 2017
The main character is a young Englishwoman named Caitlin who runs away from her life in London. She boards a plane and ends up in NYC. Her mother is dead and her father is an alcoholic. She is anxious and upset and is starting to get short on funds. Long story short she meets a man named Jake and falls for him quickly. Little does she know that when he brings her to meet his parents she will be falling into her own little rabbit hole. I won't say anything else about the story as I don't want to give away too much. It was well written and fast paced - you really want to see what happens to Caitlin. Emma Dibdin writes a taut suspenseful tale for the most part. The only con is that some parts of the story are little too unbelievable. I would recommend to readers who are interested in psychological stressors and the strength a person can find within themselves that they did not know existed.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read and give an honest review.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read and give an honest review.
August 19, 2017
There will probably never be a time when cults stop being utterly fascinating. How do they work? What drives people to join them? How are they manipulated into staying? What happens if they decide they’d like to leave? These are all questions that make an excellent premise for a thriller.
Caitlin is lost. She’s left her homeland, England, without a clear plan and has ended up in New York. She is lonely, has no job, no goals and barely any money. Then she meets Jake and there’s an instant attraction so when he says he’d like to introduce her to his family, Caitlin agrees. But Jake’s family isn’t your typical set-up and before she realises it, Caitlin finds herself in a truly dangerous situation.
Caitlin’s mother was a schizophrenic and Caitlin constantly worries she may suffer the same fate. Practically stranded in this big and busy city with nobody to turn to, she seems to make the perfect “victim” for cult members to zero in on. Caitlin seems quite vulnerable and maybe slightly naive at times, but she’s actually a lot stronger than she realises. The story truly shows how easily someone can be “broken” when you deprive them of the bare necessities like decent food and sleep. How things that at one point sound rather innocent, can suddenly come across as incredibly threatening. In that respect, this tale is quite scary and thought-provoking.
I found this book to be quite slow for the most part until the final chapters, where the pace picked up considerably. I think I would have preferred something a tad more thrilling and gripping. I needed some more tension to truly keep me hooked. But the author does succeed in adding a threatening vibe throughout and even managed to make me wonder if Caitlin was a reliable narrator or not. Overall, I enjoyed this one and it’s a great debut by Emma Dibdin, whose writing was almost as mesmerising as the cult members themselves.
Caitlin is lost. She’s left her homeland, England, without a clear plan and has ended up in New York. She is lonely, has no job, no goals and barely any money. Then she meets Jake and there’s an instant attraction so when he says he’d like to introduce her to his family, Caitlin agrees. But Jake’s family isn’t your typical set-up and before she realises it, Caitlin finds herself in a truly dangerous situation.
Caitlin’s mother was a schizophrenic and Caitlin constantly worries she may suffer the same fate. Practically stranded in this big and busy city with nobody to turn to, she seems to make the perfect “victim” for cult members to zero in on. Caitlin seems quite vulnerable and maybe slightly naive at times, but she’s actually a lot stronger than she realises. The story truly shows how easily someone can be “broken” when you deprive them of the bare necessities like decent food and sleep. How things that at one point sound rather innocent, can suddenly come across as incredibly threatening. In that respect, this tale is quite scary and thought-provoking.
I found this book to be quite slow for the most part until the final chapters, where the pace picked up considerably. I think I would have preferred something a tad more thrilling and gripping. I needed some more tension to truly keep me hooked. But the author does succeed in adding a threatening vibe throughout and even managed to make me wonder if Caitlin was a reliable narrator or not. Overall, I enjoyed this one and it’s a great debut by Emma Dibdin, whose writing was almost as mesmerising as the cult members themselves.
October 15, 2017
I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley from the author/published in exchange for an honest review.
When Caitlin runs away from her alcoholic father shortly after the death of her mentally ill mother, she goes to New York to be somewhere new and alone. When she meets Jake, everything falls into place until he brings her to his 'family' - a strange commune in the countryside, and she's immediately sucked into their strange reclusive way of living and listening to their charismatic leader.
This is a really well-written twisty turny thriller that I throughly enjoyed from start to finish. Caitlin is definitely a bit of a lost case from the start and as a reader I really felt for her and while at the same time I was slightly embarrassed by how desperate she was for friends, I also really wanted to her find someone and Jake was perfect.
So much in this book feels off but right at the same time. The camp is almost like a fitness camp for a majority of the book, and I mean who wouldn't want to go somewhere where you get thin and eat healthy. It didn't seem so bad until it did. I loved how much I just wanted Caitlin to get out of there but at the same time understood why she wanted to stay. I find the way cult leaders are written in books really interesting and I think Emma Didin nailed Don in this book. He's very fatherly and just wants to take care of everyone - why wouldn't you confide in him and want to listen to him.
I enjoyed the end but I maybe would have liked a bit more of a thrill. This had more of an uncomfortable feeling. I also would have liked more info on what happened to everyone else - especially Tyra and Mary/Robin.
When Caitlin runs away from her alcoholic father shortly after the death of her mentally ill mother, she goes to New York to be somewhere new and alone. When she meets Jake, everything falls into place until he brings her to his 'family' - a strange commune in the countryside, and she's immediately sucked into their strange reclusive way of living and listening to their charismatic leader.
This is a really well-written twisty turny thriller that I throughly enjoyed from start to finish. Caitlin is definitely a bit of a lost case from the start and as a reader I really felt for her and while at the same time I was slightly embarrassed by how desperate she was for friends, I also really wanted to her find someone and Jake was perfect.
So much in this book feels off but right at the same time. The camp is almost like a fitness camp for a majority of the book, and I mean who wouldn't want to go somewhere where you get thin and eat healthy. It didn't seem so bad until it did. I loved how much I just wanted Caitlin to get out of there but at the same time understood why she wanted to stay. I find the way cult leaders are written in books really interesting and I think Emma Didin nailed Don in this book. He's very fatherly and just wants to take care of everyone - why wouldn't you confide in him and want to listen to him.
I enjoyed the end but I maybe would have liked a bit more of a thrill. This had more of an uncomfortable feeling. I also would have liked more info on what happened to everyone else - especially Tyra and Mary/Robin.
July 21, 2017
Following the death of her mother following years of acute mental illness and her father’s growing alcohol dependency, Caitlin seeks escape in New York, leaving no trace behind of her intended destination. She is intelligent but socially awkward, introspective, a loner by nature, with no previous serious relationships and hypersensitive to any sign she may have inherited the psychoses of her mother.
Caitlin is seeking a sanctuary and after weeks roaming New York alone believes she has found it in the person of Jake. He seems to understand her and it appears Caitlin has at last found someone with whom she can share the thoughts and fears she’s kept hidden. When Jake invites her to travel upstate to meet the loving family he’s told her about, Caitlin readily accepts. What follows will test Caitlin’s resilience, her sense of her own identity, her strength of will and her very sanity.
The author creates a convincing picture of a damaged, traumatised individual making subsequent events believable. This is definitely a slow burner that builds in tension as, with a growing sense of unease, like Caitlin, you are forced to question whether what appears benign is really masking something more insidious and much, much darker.
Caitlin is seeking a sanctuary and after weeks roaming New York alone believes she has found it in the person of Jake. He seems to understand her and it appears Caitlin has at last found someone with whom she can share the thoughts and fears she’s kept hidden. When Jake invites her to travel upstate to meet the loving family he’s told her about, Caitlin readily accepts. What follows will test Caitlin’s resilience, her sense of her own identity, her strength of will and her very sanity.
The author creates a convincing picture of a damaged, traumatised individual making subsequent events believable. This is definitely a slow burner that builds in tension as, with a growing sense of unease, like Caitlin, you are forced to question whether what appears benign is really masking something more insidious and much, much darker.
August 3, 2017
Visit the locations in the novel:The house by the lake
Lots of young girls head out to a new city, new country even for an adventure, you grab at any new opportunity you can, you talk to strangers in bars to make friends, you wander the streets and you are open to new things and new experiences. That’s the fun part of travel and that’s how this story starts but it soon escalates into something all the more horrendous.
Upstate New York has never felt so dark and creepy, a million miles away from the chaos of NYC but here, the forest is suffocating, the silence deafening and the chance to escape impossible.
Full review to follow:
Lots of young girls head out to a new city, new country even for an adventure, you grab at any new opportunity you can, you talk to strangers in bars to make friends, you wander the streets and you are open to new things and new experiences. That’s the fun part of travel and that’s how this story starts but it soon escalates into something all the more horrendous.
Caitlin is vulnerable and not very street wise it seems. A few bad decisions early on catapults her into ‘Ooh I wouldn’t go there territory” but her vulnerability and wish to stand on her own two feet take her places she might not otherwise have gone.
A cabin in the woods with a new boyfriend – or a dangerous remote lake house where you really are in the wilds of nowhere. Somewhere in Upstate New York but far away from civilization and the few buses which run back to the reassuring chaos of the city.
There are some far fetched moments as you might expect but then this is a story of extremes. Why a girl would fall for such a man, do what she does next and explain the unfolding events in her own head make for a shocking story of how your mind can trick you and how a person can fall into a trap of their own making
Upstate New York has never felt so dark and creepy, a million miles away from the chaos of NYC but here, the forest is suffocating, the silence deafening and the chance to escape impossible. A thrilling read that keeps you gulping for air.
August 14, 2017
Novel set in Upstate NEW YORK
3.75*
Caitlin has fled to New York from London, following the death of her Mother who had mental health issues, and from her father, who has been sliding into alcohol excess. She needed to escape. Thus she hopped on a plane to the Big Apple and spent several days just hanging out, walking the streets and trying to get her brain sorted. She is in quite a fragile state and highly suggestible.
At a party she meets Jake and they soon forge a deeper bond, so much so that he offers to drive her up to his family home, near Monticello, in Upstate New York, a mere 5 days after meeting. She agrees, although part of her knows this is an extremely quick turn of events. They hop in a car and speed up North.
“Home” for Jake is a large house, filled with young people, overseen by Don. This is not a family in any traditional sense, there are no biological ties, and she naturally feels she has been taken for a ride (literally). However after fleetingly wanting to leave, she decides to give the group dynamic a try and before long she is immersed in their rituals. Days of intense physical activity, with dubiously nutritious food (based on Paleolithic eating principles), followed by periods of fasting, are interspersed with evening sessions in a circle for emotional catharsis. One-to-one therapy sessions with Don, the resident psychotherapist, are on offer too, and they are much sought after. These take place in a cabin, past the eponymous Lake of the title and through a wood. A packet of Oreos proffered by Don, given the diet in the main house, can tip his clients over the edge into spilling their innermost thoughts and concerns, as he patiently listens and guides.
The writing is fresh, and as the book opens, there is a real crackle and energy to it. It certainly pulled me in and I was fascinated by how Caitlin, soon renamed Kate, finds herself pulled into the ethos of the community. The author is great at portraying an underlying unease and a darkness. But there came a point for me, with much to-ing and fro-ing in the forest by the lake, where the storyline turned in on itself. It was a very promising start, with a well crafted linear trajectory, that, just like the characters flailing amongst the trees looking for ribbons (just like Hansel and Gretel’s breadcrumbs were intended to show the way back home), got lost along the way. I am not a great fan of having an event dropped in summarily and only thereafter being given the explanation – it leaves me feeling that I have missed a beat, perhaps failed to pick up a clue that was essential to understanding. Did I lose concentration somewhere along the way? This often disruptive technique is then used to explain and unpick some events towards to the end of the book.
Overall the balance of the narrative in The Room By The Lake can get weighed down by the telling, rather than the often more effective method of showing. The psychology is of course central to this kind of storyline, but I felt it was generally a bit muddled and needed a little more shaping and insight.
Of Caitlin the author writes: “..she got lost so much more than she thought possible” and as a reader, this also applied to my reading experience. There is, however, clear talent for writing, and there is a good story in here. It will certainly be interesting to see where this author goes next.
3.75*
Caitlin has fled to New York from London, following the death of her Mother who had mental health issues, and from her father, who has been sliding into alcohol excess. She needed to escape. Thus she hopped on a plane to the Big Apple and spent several days just hanging out, walking the streets and trying to get her brain sorted. She is in quite a fragile state and highly suggestible.
At a party she meets Jake and they soon forge a deeper bond, so much so that he offers to drive her up to his family home, near Monticello, in Upstate New York, a mere 5 days after meeting. She agrees, although part of her knows this is an extremely quick turn of events. They hop in a car and speed up North.
“Home” for Jake is a large house, filled with young people, overseen by Don. This is not a family in any traditional sense, there are no biological ties, and she naturally feels she has been taken for a ride (literally). However after fleetingly wanting to leave, she decides to give the group dynamic a try and before long she is immersed in their rituals. Days of intense physical activity, with dubiously nutritious food (based on Paleolithic eating principles), followed by periods of fasting, are interspersed with evening sessions in a circle for emotional catharsis. One-to-one therapy sessions with Don, the resident psychotherapist, are on offer too, and they are much sought after. These take place in a cabin, past the eponymous Lake of the title and through a wood. A packet of Oreos proffered by Don, given the diet in the main house, can tip his clients over the edge into spilling their innermost thoughts and concerns, as he patiently listens and guides.
The writing is fresh, and as the book opens, there is a real crackle and energy to it. It certainly pulled me in and I was fascinated by how Caitlin, soon renamed Kate, finds herself pulled into the ethos of the community. The author is great at portraying an underlying unease and a darkness. But there came a point for me, with much to-ing and fro-ing in the forest by the lake, where the storyline turned in on itself. It was a very promising start, with a well crafted linear trajectory, that, just like the characters flailing amongst the trees looking for ribbons (just like Hansel and Gretel’s breadcrumbs were intended to show the way back home), got lost along the way. I am not a great fan of having an event dropped in summarily and only thereafter being given the explanation – it leaves me feeling that I have missed a beat, perhaps failed to pick up a clue that was essential to understanding. Did I lose concentration somewhere along the way? This often disruptive technique is then used to explain and unpick some events towards to the end of the book.
Overall the balance of the narrative in The Room By The Lake can get weighed down by the telling, rather than the often more effective method of showing. The psychology is of course central to this kind of storyline, but I felt it was generally a bit muddled and needed a little more shaping and insight.
Of Caitlin the author writes: “..she got lost so much more than she thought possible” and as a reader, this also applied to my reading experience. There is, however, clear talent for writing, and there is a good story in here. It will certainly be interesting to see where this author goes next.
July 22, 2017
Having recently lost her mother after a long illness and watching her father drown his grief in alcohol, Caitlin flees England for New York in the hope of escaping her everyday life. Shy in the company of strangers, she finds that loneliness plagues her even in this seductive big city – until she meets Jake, a handsome stranger, in a bar one night. After only a couple of blissful days together, Jake asks Caitlin to come with him to the country to meet his parents. Despite some misgivings, Caitlin agrees, and they set off to a remote “house by the lake”, an old mansion Jake says has been in his family forever. But what Caitlin finds there is not at all what she expected ....
I love discovering a new author who manages to draw me into the story within the first few pages, and Emma Dibdin managed to do just that. Everyone has had periods in their lives when things were not going well, when running away seemed like the only option, and Caitlin is portrayed with insight and feeling, making her an irresistible main protagonist I couldn’t help fear for. After her mother’s lifelong struggle with mental health issues, Caitlin is especially vulnerable to any signs that she, too, will one day succumb to this terrible illness, which makes part of her normal grieving process even scarier for her. Sad, lonely and far away from home, she makes the perfect target for a predator. What follows is a chilling account of a journey gone wrong, and I couldn’t put the book down as Caitlin’s life spiralled out of control in front of my eyes. Dibdin manages to create a constant undertone of menace and confusion, which had me questioning my own interpretation of events several times – I just love it when a book messes with my mind! The setting, too, was irresistibly creepy – a remote old mansion set in a dark forest on the shores of a lake – and gave the additional pleasure of some armchair travel to Upstate NY. There were perhaps a couple of moments when I felt I had to suspend disbelief a little bit, mainly to do with some characters’ motives, but this did not spoil my reading pleasure and I sat up reading late into the night to find out what would happen next.
The Room by the Lake is a gripping psychological thriller by a new author I hope to read a lot more from in future. I really enjoyed it and can wholeheartedly recommend it to all lovers of the genre.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
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I love discovering a new author who manages to draw me into the story within the first few pages, and Emma Dibdin managed to do just that. Everyone has had periods in their lives when things were not going well, when running away seemed like the only option, and Caitlin is portrayed with insight and feeling, making her an irresistible main protagonist I couldn’t help fear for. After her mother’s lifelong struggle with mental health issues, Caitlin is especially vulnerable to any signs that she, too, will one day succumb to this terrible illness, which makes part of her normal grieving process even scarier for her. Sad, lonely and far away from home, she makes the perfect target for a predator. What follows is a chilling account of a journey gone wrong, and I couldn’t put the book down as Caitlin’s life spiralled out of control in front of my eyes. Dibdin manages to create a constant undertone of menace and confusion, which had me questioning my own interpretation of events several times – I just love it when a book messes with my mind! The setting, too, was irresistibly creepy – a remote old mansion set in a dark forest on the shores of a lake – and gave the additional pleasure of some armchair travel to Upstate NY. There were perhaps a couple of moments when I felt I had to suspend disbelief a little bit, mainly to do with some characters’ motives, but this did not spoil my reading pleasure and I sat up reading late into the night to find out what would happen next.
The Room by the Lake is a gripping psychological thriller by a new author I hope to read a lot more from in future. I really enjoyed it and can wholeheartedly recommend it to all lovers of the genre.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
*blog* *facebook* *instagram*
August 26, 2018
The premise of this book is great. After Emma Cline’s ‘The Girls’, I’m always on the lookout for another cult theme.
Caitlyn runs from England to New York and meets Jake, who takes her to meet his ‘family’. A bunch of oddballs living in the woods. It’s obvious to the reader what this is, but it takes Caitlin 20 chapters or so.
I’ve rated this three stars as although I liked he book, it just got so confusing! I understand, as it was in first person, that it sort of needed to be. But the first half was amazing and after that I kept rereading pages.
Caitlyn runs from England to New York and meets Jake, who takes her to meet his ‘family’. A bunch of oddballs living in the woods. It’s obvious to the reader what this is, but it takes Caitlin 20 chapters or so.
I’ve rated this three stars as although I liked he book, it just got so confusing! I understand, as it was in first person, that it sort of needed to be. But the first half was amazing and after that I kept rereading pages.
October 23, 2017
2.5 stars.
The cover of this book says 'extraordinary debut thriller'. This book is not a thriller.
It's so slow paced it took me a while to get through it. I couldn't connect with the main character or any of the characters. One thing the book has in its favor is that it made me feel the sense of disorientation and confusion the protagonist felt most of the book.
The cover of this book says 'extraordinary debut thriller'. This book is not a thriller.
It's so slow paced it took me a while to get through it. I couldn't connect with the main character or any of the characters. One thing the book has in its favor is that it made me feel the sense of disorientation and confusion the protagonist felt most of the book.
January 7, 2019
I found the beginning of this to be both slow and annoyingly sappy. Thankfully, it did kick into a different gear after about a third and from there it became significantly more interesting. The world Jake introduces Caitlin to feels wrong from the get go and yet described with such enthusiasm, even I was left wondering if I was merely being judgemental. It's interesting how Jake honestly doesn't seem to recognise the danger, instead believing that he is taking her to a safe haven and that goes to show just how deceptive our preconceptions and beliefs can be.
The tension in the novel starts almost from the moment Caitlin reaches the house retreat, first with the realisation that this isn't a family in the way Jake had originally described it to her and then with what becomes a regimen that right from the word go had me peering doubtfully at it. Yet under the facade of 'healthy' and 'regimented' it seems somewhat passable even to the reader, who is not undergoing the treatment so you can kind of see how it would be easy enough for the vulnerable to be sucked in. All the way through you are left guessing and wondering at what other influences are being used here and how much of an impact they are having, but it is never quite clear until the final climax.
This is an odd book and it goes in tension very slowly until the final climax where it suddenly picks up speed and hurtles off down the runaway track. Is it a book I particularly enjoyed? No, and I won't rush off to buy more from the author. It's an intriguing look at a different kind of cult to those we normally hear of with the religious fanatic overtones, but no less dangerous for all that. It's got some fascinating insights about the fear of mental illness and how that alone can cause us to react in ways we would not perhaps normally, and further insights into how external factors can cause symptoms that seem very similar to serious mental illnesses. Whilst the first section bored me beyond belief, I did find myself drawn by the mystery and the uncertainty as the novel progressed.
If the entire thing had been as romantically spewing as the first third this would have been two stars. If it had been as fast paced and threatening as the final climax, four stars. As it stands, I can only really award this a slightly uneasy three stars.
The tension in the novel starts almost from the moment Caitlin reaches the house retreat, first with the realisation that this isn't a family in the way Jake had originally described it to her and then with what becomes a regimen that right from the word go had me peering doubtfully at it. Yet under the facade of 'healthy' and 'regimented' it seems somewhat passable even to the reader, who is not undergoing the treatment so you can kind of see how it would be easy enough for the vulnerable to be sucked in. All the way through you are left guessing and wondering at what other influences are being used here and how much of an impact they are having, but it is never quite clear until the final climax.
This is an odd book and it goes in tension very slowly until the final climax where it suddenly picks up speed and hurtles off down the runaway track. Is it a book I particularly enjoyed? No, and I won't rush off to buy more from the author. It's an intriguing look at a different kind of cult to those we normally hear of with the religious fanatic overtones, but no less dangerous for all that. It's got some fascinating insights about the fear of mental illness and how that alone can cause us to react in ways we would not perhaps normally, and further insights into how external factors can cause symptoms that seem very similar to serious mental illnesses. Whilst the first section bored me beyond belief, I did find myself drawn by the mystery and the uncertainty as the novel progressed.
If the entire thing had been as romantically spewing as the first third this would have been two stars. If it had been as fast paced and threatening as the final climax, four stars. As it stands, I can only really award this a slightly uneasy three stars.
December 12, 2017
'All she wanted was somewhere to belong….’
The Room by The Lake is the debut novel from Oxford born writer Emma Dibdin. It tells the story of one girl’s search for a place to call home, a place where she will feel the warmth & welcome of others. But sometimes you get a bit more than you bargained for!!
Caitlin has suffered a very traumatic childhood in London. Her mother had psychiatric issues which Caitlin was very much exposed to from a young age. Yet her love for her mother shines through when Caitlin refers back to those days.
After the death of her mother, Caitlin’s father turns to the bottle. Caitlin struggles to witness this decline in her father and after one too many broken promises, Caitlin packs her bags and leaves.
Arriving to New York for the first time lost and alone, Caitlin books into a hotel. With no one to make contact with, she roams the streets of New York, creating fictitious life stories with strangers. Starved for company, Caitlin decides to accept an invite to a party and it is as this point that Caitlin’s life changes forever.
Caitlin meets Jake.
‘Good looking in a completely American way, bronzed and blondish and broad’
Her attraction to Jake is immediate and over the the next few days she learns more about him. He is a soldier returned from serving in Afghanistan and is very obviously affected by this experience. Caitlin soon finds herself completely under his spell. When he suggests they drive to the country for a few days, away from the city, to meet his family, though a little reticent, Caitlin agrees.
She is blown away by the sheer scale and location of his family home and they spend a blissful first evening together.
But the following day things change….
The Room by The Lake takes a very sinister twist as Caitlin soon realises all is not as she expected. Jake’s family are made up of a group of individuals, all with very similar behavioral patterns, all living a rather simplistic, yet very structured life. Caitlin, although initially quite skeptical of the lifestyle, soon finds herself immersed in the daily exercises. She almost embraces the lifestyle to a certain extent
It would be very easy as a reader to be cynical at this point. Is it possible that someone could be so gullible? I asked it myself. Caitlin has unwittingly being introduced into a cult, and even though she recognises that their behaviour is quite strange, she is attracted by the community vibe of the house. Caitlin was looking for company, for a hug, for a welcome into a group, having been feeling so alone in recent times. Her own life with her Dad has been a constant source of disappointment and worry. These people accept her and encourage her to be true to herself. For Caitlin, she believes she is regaining power and strength.
The Room by The Lake builds the tension up slowly. Caitlin is taken along on the tide and seems to fall under the entrapment of the Cult as the days pass. What she thought was regaining control is actually quite the opposite.
There were parts of the book that I did find a little too far-fetched, with an ending I felt was too conveniently wrapped up but for most of the book I was completely caught up in Caitlin’s journey
The Room by The Lake is a dark book with a very ominous feel throughout. The characters are all very strange and quite frankly creepy. There is quite a foreboding vibe throughout as we are exposed to the extent of the deception and lies among the residents.
An eerie read, The Room by The Lake explores the idea of how a person’s need to belong and to be accepted can be completely abused for the greater cause of The Cult.
The Room by The Lake is the debut novel from Oxford born writer Emma Dibdin. It tells the story of one girl’s search for a place to call home, a place where she will feel the warmth & welcome of others. But sometimes you get a bit more than you bargained for!!
Caitlin has suffered a very traumatic childhood in London. Her mother had psychiatric issues which Caitlin was very much exposed to from a young age. Yet her love for her mother shines through when Caitlin refers back to those days.
After the death of her mother, Caitlin’s father turns to the bottle. Caitlin struggles to witness this decline in her father and after one too many broken promises, Caitlin packs her bags and leaves.
Arriving to New York for the first time lost and alone, Caitlin books into a hotel. With no one to make contact with, she roams the streets of New York, creating fictitious life stories with strangers. Starved for company, Caitlin decides to accept an invite to a party and it is as this point that Caitlin’s life changes forever.
Caitlin meets Jake.
‘Good looking in a completely American way, bronzed and blondish and broad’
Her attraction to Jake is immediate and over the the next few days she learns more about him. He is a soldier returned from serving in Afghanistan and is very obviously affected by this experience. Caitlin soon finds herself completely under his spell. When he suggests they drive to the country for a few days, away from the city, to meet his family, though a little reticent, Caitlin agrees.
She is blown away by the sheer scale and location of his family home and they spend a blissful first evening together.
But the following day things change….
The Room by The Lake takes a very sinister twist as Caitlin soon realises all is not as she expected. Jake’s family are made up of a group of individuals, all with very similar behavioral patterns, all living a rather simplistic, yet very structured life. Caitlin, although initially quite skeptical of the lifestyle, soon finds herself immersed in the daily exercises. She almost embraces the lifestyle to a certain extent
It would be very easy as a reader to be cynical at this point. Is it possible that someone could be so gullible? I asked it myself. Caitlin has unwittingly being introduced into a cult, and even though she recognises that their behaviour is quite strange, she is attracted by the community vibe of the house. Caitlin was looking for company, for a hug, for a welcome into a group, having been feeling so alone in recent times. Her own life with her Dad has been a constant source of disappointment and worry. These people accept her and encourage her to be true to herself. For Caitlin, she believes she is regaining power and strength.
The Room by The Lake builds the tension up slowly. Caitlin is taken along on the tide and seems to fall under the entrapment of the Cult as the days pass. What she thought was regaining control is actually quite the opposite.
There were parts of the book that I did find a little too far-fetched, with an ending I felt was too conveniently wrapped up but for most of the book I was completely caught up in Caitlin’s journey
The Room by The Lake is a dark book with a very ominous feel throughout. The characters are all very strange and quite frankly creepy. There is quite a foreboding vibe throughout as we are exposed to the extent of the deception and lies among the residents.
An eerie read, The Room by The Lake explores the idea of how a person’s need to belong and to be accepted can be completely abused for the greater cause of The Cult.
October 4, 2017
Review originally posted on Rambling Lisa's Book Reviews
Before we get to the review, look at that cover! I was sucked in by it and if that wasn’t enough what about the statement ‘All she wanted was somewhere to belong’, how many of us feel that way? I know I have.
Ok, review time!! I think this should be enough to say what I thought about this book – I was sent a copy for the blog tour and read it, then while perusing NetGalley I saw a book called The Room by the Lake and thought to myself ‘Hmm I have heard of this book it is meant to be good!’ naturally, I requested it. When I was approved and started to read I was thinking how familiar it was, eyed up my hardbacks and, low and behold, there it was…. I continued reading the version sent from NetGalley!
So we now know I am brainless when it comes to the names of books that I read but we also know that it was so good I read it twice.
This book actually hit home with me, big time. Here we have Caitlin whose mother was schizophrenic and she is deathly afraid that she will go the same way. She has left England behind her as her father is an alcoholic and her mother has died and is trying to find herself in America. She meets Jake and he whisks her away to a lakeside cottage and there she finds a new family.
I really loved the idea of this way of life, it really intrigued me. I guess that is how these cults work though, they make you think that everything is perfect but then your mind makes you think you are ill, at least that is how this one went!
We need routine and time to express ourselves, something Caitlin didn’t seem to have at home, and this place offered it. Exercise, clean diet, working together as a group, time with a former councillor and homebrew – what more could one want?! YEAH…. RIGHTO…move along chaps, that is on the surface!
As time progresses, a year or so we are told, poor Caitlin’s mind starts to fracture and she realises that this life is not what she needs. She tries to get away only to be brought back and finds out stuff about herself that she was in no way aware of.
This is a brilliantly written book. It shows how the human psyche can react to situations and deals beautifully with the subject of mental health along with reprogramming that takes place in these cults (I will point out that it is not just cults that this happens in but also within personal relationships and familial relationships).
*This is a must read however you can see from my review that it is regarding forms of mental abuse and mental health so if this is a trigger for you then tread lightly.*
Thank you so much to Head of Zeus for my copy (and NetGalley for my oopsy moment!
Before we get to the review, look at that cover! I was sucked in by it and if that wasn’t enough what about the statement ‘All she wanted was somewhere to belong’, how many of us feel that way? I know I have.
Ok, review time!! I think this should be enough to say what I thought about this book – I was sent a copy for the blog tour and read it, then while perusing NetGalley I saw a book called The Room by the Lake and thought to myself ‘Hmm I have heard of this book it is meant to be good!’ naturally, I requested it. When I was approved and started to read I was thinking how familiar it was, eyed up my hardbacks and, low and behold, there it was…. I continued reading the version sent from NetGalley!
So we now know I am brainless when it comes to the names of books that I read but we also know that it was so good I read it twice.
This book actually hit home with me, big time. Here we have Caitlin whose mother was schizophrenic and she is deathly afraid that she will go the same way. She has left England behind her as her father is an alcoholic and her mother has died and is trying to find herself in America. She meets Jake and he whisks her away to a lakeside cottage and there she finds a new family.
I really loved the idea of this way of life, it really intrigued me. I guess that is how these cults work though, they make you think that everything is perfect but then your mind makes you think you are ill, at least that is how this one went!
We need routine and time to express ourselves, something Caitlin didn’t seem to have at home, and this place offered it. Exercise, clean diet, working together as a group, time with a former councillor and homebrew – what more could one want?! YEAH…. RIGHTO…move along chaps, that is on the surface!
As time progresses, a year or so we are told, poor Caitlin’s mind starts to fracture and she realises that this life is not what she needs. She tries to get away only to be brought back and finds out stuff about herself that she was in no way aware of.
This is a brilliantly written book. It shows how the human psyche can react to situations and deals beautifully with the subject of mental health along with reprogramming that takes place in these cults (I will point out that it is not just cults that this happens in but also within personal relationships and familial relationships).
*This is a must read however you can see from my review that it is regarding forms of mental abuse and mental health so if this is a trigger for you then tread lightly.*
Thank you so much to Head of Zeus for my copy (and NetGalley for my oopsy moment!
February 23, 2018
scary that this can happen so easily and ending wasn't cut and dried which could mean more about the main character
August 23, 2017
The Room by the Lake is an engrossing fictional account of a young women adrift, finding home in the arms of strangers, and the consequences that ensue. The first novel by Emma Dibdin is stylish and well plotted and I found myself questioning whether what our main character Caitlin was experiencing was real, her unreliable memory, or a dream. This made for a very engaging read.
Enduring grief and disappointment, Caitlin makes a desperate escape to New York City from London. The story is mostly narrated from her inner dialogue. Lost and alone and in a very vulnerable state, she finds herself swept into a friendship/potential romance. Where she ends up is not at all in her plan, even with the few that she has. She's in a daily mode of survival and the promise of a respite from this is all too tempting.
The story unfolds as she finds herself more and more captivated by the potential of this new life. Whether or not it's temporary, no one knows. The facts are that she's burdened with a family history of psychosis and addiction but at times she appears to be in deep denial. Her stay by the lake creates the perfect environment toward a path for healing. I'm not sure what it says about me that I found passages of Caitlins' inner thoughts resonated with me. Her observations leaned toward an insightful quality that at times is amusing ( making up backstories for people she "watches") and at times rather sobering "I remember hearing somewhere that as soon as one area of your life begins going well, another will inevitably fall to pieces, and so of course now I have control over my body, I have lost all grip on my mind. My thoughts have become treacherous , double agents whose loyalties remain a permanent mystery, and though I’m sleeping better my dreams feel invaded. "
As Caitlins' time in New York morphs from a place she escaped to a place she needs to escape from, she finds herself challenged to want to return home. Reality hits and things get real real quickly. If you like a smart and thought provoking mystery, this is the read for you. 4.5 Stars and recommendation in the mystery genre.
*I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
Enduring grief and disappointment, Caitlin makes a desperate escape to New York City from London. The story is mostly narrated from her inner dialogue. Lost and alone and in a very vulnerable state, she finds herself swept into a friendship/potential romance. Where she ends up is not at all in her plan, even with the few that she has. She's in a daily mode of survival and the promise of a respite from this is all too tempting.
The story unfolds as she finds herself more and more captivated by the potential of this new life. Whether or not it's temporary, no one knows. The facts are that she's burdened with a family history of psychosis and addiction but at times she appears to be in deep denial. Her stay by the lake creates the perfect environment toward a path for healing. I'm not sure what it says about me that I found passages of Caitlins' inner thoughts resonated with me. Her observations leaned toward an insightful quality that at times is amusing ( making up backstories for people she "watches") and at times rather sobering "I remember hearing somewhere that as soon as one area of your life begins going well, another will inevitably fall to pieces, and so of course now I have control over my body, I have lost all grip on my mind. My thoughts have become treacherous , double agents whose loyalties remain a permanent mystery, and though I’m sleeping better my dreams feel invaded. "
As Caitlins' time in New York morphs from a place she escaped to a place she needs to escape from, she finds herself challenged to want to return home. Reality hits and things get real real quickly. If you like a smart and thought provoking mystery, this is the read for you. 4.5 Stars and recommendation in the mystery genre.
*I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
April 21, 2018
Caitlin flees her life in London quite spontaneously. Her mother just died and her father can not stop drinking. So she drives to the airport and gets into the next plane to New York. There she walks aimlessly through the city. On the one hand, she is happy about her loneliness. At the same time she is almost pathetically trying to find friends. An employee in a supermarket, where she buys more often, invites her to a party in a typically open American style. There she meets Jake. From now on, they are inseparable. Jake wants her to meet his family. They drive out into the country to see them, but Jake's family is very unusual. Not only are they not related, it seems to be a kind of cult. Caitlin is very skeptical at first, but her own insecurities, her fears, make her very vulnerable to this lifestyle.
Strange cults have their own special charm. Caitlin gets pretty fast under the influence of the leader. In hindsight, we also learn why it could go so fast. As a clear-headed reader, I wondered why she did not see the warning signs. But Caitlin desperately tries to belong somewhere. Her past was not that traumatic. Her mother had schizophrenia and her father drank, but her mother still made her feel loved. And her father was not violent when he drank, but rather absent. It could have been much worse.
The story is rather slowly narrated with a strong focus on how Caitlin, who is actually very strong and also educated, slipped into this cult by her own fear of inheriting her mother's illness, and by not very pronounced self esteem. That's interesting to read. But I did not always find Caitlin's character very straightforward. On the one hand she is very insecure, also in terms of her appearance, but the way she addresses Jake when she sees him for the first time across the room is very direct and to the point. Through her studies, she knows about psychology. Nevertheless, she does not notice how suggestively she is treated by Don, the cult leader. Even Jake was a bit too flat for me as a figure.
In the end, unfortunately, a few questions remained open. It was an interesting reading experience, though the story treats her subject superficially.
Strange cults have their own special charm. Caitlin gets pretty fast under the influence of the leader. In hindsight, we also learn why it could go so fast. As a clear-headed reader, I wondered why she did not see the warning signs. But Caitlin desperately tries to belong somewhere. Her past was not that traumatic. Her mother had schizophrenia and her father drank, but her mother still made her feel loved. And her father was not violent when he drank, but rather absent. It could have been much worse.
The story is rather slowly narrated with a strong focus on how Caitlin, who is actually very strong and also educated, slipped into this cult by her own fear of inheriting her mother's illness, and by not very pronounced self esteem. That's interesting to read. But I did not always find Caitlin's character very straightforward. On the one hand she is very insecure, also in terms of her appearance, but the way she addresses Jake when she sees him for the first time across the room is very direct and to the point. Through her studies, she knows about psychology. Nevertheless, she does not notice how suggestively she is treated by Don, the cult leader. Even Jake was a bit too flat for me as a figure.
In the end, unfortunately, a few questions remained open. It was an interesting reading experience, though the story treats her subject superficially.
August 23, 2017
I received a beautiful hardback copy of this book from the publisher which added to my intrigue as I embarked on the journey. It starts when a young girl travels to New York, well as I have made abundantly transparent previously, NYC is my favourite place in the world so the opportunity to explore it via the story and recognise the majority of places was a complete bonus, immediately capturing my attention.
So Caitlin needs a change of life, after the death of her mother and the behaviour of her alcoholic father she reckons a city as far away as possible will miraculously solve her loneliness problems and provide a future.
Entering on a limited visa, with no employment or friends she was on a bit of a road to nowhere before she disembarked the plane. The city that never sleeps can be the loneliest in the world especially when she is given advice on which areas to avoid for her safety.
However she meets Jake and after just a few days accepts his offer to go and visit ‘family’ upstate. From here on the book takes on a more sinister presence, who in their right mind would go into the deepest, darkest woods with strangers! The Room By The Lake explores the inner wranglings of a group, run by the rather charismatic Don, the ‘family’ all follow an exercise, food, healthy lifestyle regime with counselling sessions thrown in for good measure. When Caitlin becomes Kate and she realises the ‘family’ isn’t quite what she anticipated she becomes even more uncertain about her welfare.
This story weaves the inner turmoil of a girls troubled mind, influenced by her mother’s mental health into a cult full of mystery, creepiness and a general sense of peril, dark and thrilling.
I enjoyed this debut and I’m keen to see what Emma Dibdin produces next. My thanks to the author and publisher for my copy and the opportunity to participate in the blog tour. I read and reviewed voluntarily.
So Caitlin needs a change of life, after the death of her mother and the behaviour of her alcoholic father she reckons a city as far away as possible will miraculously solve her loneliness problems and provide a future.
Entering on a limited visa, with no employment or friends she was on a bit of a road to nowhere before she disembarked the plane. The city that never sleeps can be the loneliest in the world especially when she is given advice on which areas to avoid for her safety.
However she meets Jake and after just a few days accepts his offer to go and visit ‘family’ upstate. From here on the book takes on a more sinister presence, who in their right mind would go into the deepest, darkest woods with strangers! The Room By The Lake explores the inner wranglings of a group, run by the rather charismatic Don, the ‘family’ all follow an exercise, food, healthy lifestyle regime with counselling sessions thrown in for good measure. When Caitlin becomes Kate and she realises the ‘family’ isn’t quite what she anticipated she becomes even more uncertain about her welfare.
This story weaves the inner turmoil of a girls troubled mind, influenced by her mother’s mental health into a cult full of mystery, creepiness and a general sense of peril, dark and thrilling.
I enjoyed this debut and I’m keen to see what Emma Dibdin produces next. My thanks to the author and publisher for my copy and the opportunity to participate in the blog tour. I read and reviewed voluntarily.
March 28, 2020
I find cult and religious sects fascinating. How people get drawn into them, what keeps them there? I found this book quite disappointing. There was never any clarity, the whole writing style was very imaginative and psychological, and in a state of constant confusion - literally!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 20, 2023
"We are here for each other, and we are nothing without each other"
...
It's funny how so many Americans mistake the British accent for Australian. I wonder if it works the other way around and the Australian accent is mistaken for British, or if the British accent is so non-descript that it simply doesn't register with many Americans at all! So! I hear you ask. What has that got to do with anything?
Well, Caitlin, the main protagonist in this very creepy and disturbing psychological/cult thriller, is British but mistaken for Australian by just about everyone whose path she crosses, as all the action takes place on the other side of the Atlantic, in New York State, both Cityside and in the rural Catskills.
I discovered this paperback edition on my shelves, whilst I was searching for some hospital waiting room reading. It looks very much as though this was a forgotten competition win somewhere along the road and whilst not a book I would probably have chosen to purchase for myself, I became so engrossed in Caitlin's traumatic few weeks in New York State, I found myself with my fingers well and truly crossed that she would make it safely onto a plane back home to the UK...
...
After recently losing her schizophrenic mother to cancer, Caitlin is once again assured by her alcoholic father, that his days of hitting the bottle and slowly but surely killing himself in front of her, are over for good. So, after a particularly vitriolic confrontation with him, when she finds him drinking to excess once more, Caitlin packs her bags, leaves messages for a couple of close friends telling them not to worry about her, ditches her phone and pitches up at the airport. With little cash, she decides on New York as her destination, fabricating a thin tissue of lies and half truths about herself, should anyone ask her why she is there.
It soon becomes apparent to an increasingly lost and lonely Caitlin, that for her, America is not the place of hopes and dreams she had imagined. That is until, following a random act of kindness which sees her invited to a July 4th street party, she meets the magnetic and hypnotising Jake. The attraction between them seems deeply genuine and instant, so when, with nothing left to lose and within just a few days of knowing each other, Jake suggests that he would like her to meet his family, no strings attached, Caitlin makes the short journey out of the city into the beautiful Catskills, despite the nagging doubt that all might not be as it appears, fuelled partly by the mutual antipathy she and Jake's friend Kris had instantly shared, when he had stopped by to lend Jake his car for the trip.
Despite falling instantly in love with the gorgeous house and its surroundings and notwithstanding Jake's assurances that his parents are on their way to join them, Caitlin is growing evermore uneasy with the entire situation, especially when she discovers that she and Jake are there alone for the first night, with free access to only a handful of rooms which aren't locked. So far, Caitlin hasn't fully given herself to Jake, however, the intrigue and romance of the day's events have broken down her resolve and they spend the night together, only for her to have her faith in him shattered almost immediately, when an older couple, who are most definitely not his parents, arrive with an entourage of mostly younger people, who are obviously familiar with the house, which looks to be run as some kind of commune or retreat. Almost immediately Jake, who has apparently fulfilled his duty in recruiting her, distances himself from Caitlin and her days are mapped out by what soon transpires to be the cult's, self appointed leader Don and certain chosen members of his inner circle . Exercise, diet and mindfulness are the three buzz words around the place and despite Caitlin's assertions that she is going to leave and head back to the city, which she is assured that she is free to do, she finds herself evermore tied to and dependent on Don's counselling sessions in his lakeside log cabin, buried deep in the woods of the estate.
A fragile Caitlin, finds herself losing all track of time, whilst revealing all of her most precious innermost fears and worries to Don. But when she then panics about just how much she has opened up to him and tries to leave, she only makes it as far as the nearest town before two members of the cult catch up with her and almost forcibly return her to the house, where she is treated with contempt, derision and scorn by everyone else. Caitlin's bad vibes about the influence Don is exerting over other members of the cult, particularly the women, grow exponentially and the situation becomes toxic, to the point where death rears its ugly head, not once, but twice and the truth about just how manipulated and conditioned they have all become, is clearly apparent. That it was never really Don pulling the strings, becomes painfully and frighteningly obvious, as much as he may have thought that his word was law, and the new order hierarchy is much worse than Caitlin could ever have imagined.
Can anyone save them all from the horror of this new order of tyranny, or are Caitlin and the others destined to a life of subjugation and near imprisonment?
...
Narrated by Caitlin herself, this well structured, dark and brooding, compulsive and sinister storyline, was presented in short, quite punchy chapters, with the pace of the action although slow, being totally relentless and building to a heart-stopping conclusion for me and a near fatal crescendo for her. Whilst I was partly correct in the early assumptions I had made about this storyline, I was constantly on the edge of my seat, unintentionally holding my breath, as many secrets and even more lies, were fed into the narrative and dialogue, one agonising drip at a time, drawing out and ratcheting up the suspense and tension almost to breaking point. Just when I thought I had worked out the many additional strands to this story, another curved ball was thrown into the mix, with that eventual dovetailing not finally happening until almost the final agonising scene of this mind-bending, rollercoaster ride.
To me, it was obvious from the get-go that Jake wasn't quite the hero he purported to be and as soon as he and Caitlin arrived at the Catskills house, alarm bells were ringing loud and clear and I was willing her to make good her escape from him and run for the hills. However, despite Caitlin's stoic front, she was already so desperately vulnerable and anxious, that on reflection, I could quite understand how she might have got so easily taken in and persuaded by that initial meeting with the group, that they only had her best interests at heart and wanted to help her turn her broken life around. There were so many trigger points, any of which would have led to mental health issues, or exacerbated existing conditions, even amongst the best and most sane of us: The ruthless recruiting of potential new cult members; persuading members to open up about their mental health challenges, then turning those intimate and confidential admissions against them; administering mass medication via food and drink to manipulate perception of time; being forced to change their given names in an effort to finally separate them from all vestiges of their former lives; grooming and abuse of female cult members by Don, who twisted their innermost thoughts and fears to his own advantage. Author Emma Dibdin keeps up the air of unease throughout, whilst bringing to the fore so many issues, with great empathy and in a sympathetic yet unpatronizing way. Some of the sessions Caitlin endured with Don, where painful childhood memories are evoked and drawn to the surface, particularly resonated with me, leaving me trying to calm my own emotions, at the same time wanting to reach out to her with a comforting embrace.
You will probably have already guessed by now, just how much I disliked many of the characters in this storyline, although in all fairness to many of them, they had been relentlessly indoctrinated with so many of their installed beliefs, by some clever, manipulative and malevolent people, who had only sought to capitalise on their already fragile states of mind. Caitlin and maybe Jake, were much stronger than they believed themselves to be, although definitely still only to be admired more than liked, with enough of their own reasoning and strength of mind and will left to realise the level to which they were being 'turned' by Don and his cronies.
As an avid 'armchair traveller', despite being confined to one location, I was quite surprised to find myself relatively satisfied with my journey on this occasion. This story was predominantly all about the characters, their relationships to one another, the events which had drawn them together, and which were destined to rip them apart, so location was never really going to be a dominating factor. The storyline was set almost exclusively in and around the house, woods and lake, in the Catskill area, which was quite isolated and non attention grabbing. However, author Emma Dibdin, used the full palette of words at her disposal to describe the buildings and surrounding vista, in a way which imbued a genuine sense of time and place, no matter how remote or rather depressing, to the point where I could imagine myself getting lost in the wooded labyrinth, desperately searching for the log cabin by the lake, completely immersed in the gloom around me, as later I fought to keep hold of any sense of reality after my sessions with Don. If only those trees could have talked!
What always makes reading such a wonderful experience for me, is that with each and every new book I read, I am taken on an individual journey, by authors who fire my imagination, stir my emotions and stimulate my senses. This rather disturbing and intense storyline definitely had the power to evoke so many feelings, that I’m sure I won’t have felt the same way about it as the last reader, nor probably the next. This is one story which is going to offer disturbing and menacing thoughts to anyone who opens its covers and I can't wait to see where author Emma Dibdin's vivid imagination leads her next.
...
It's funny how so many Americans mistake the British accent for Australian. I wonder if it works the other way around and the Australian accent is mistaken for British, or if the British accent is so non-descript that it simply doesn't register with many Americans at all! So! I hear you ask. What has that got to do with anything?
Well, Caitlin, the main protagonist in this very creepy and disturbing psychological/cult thriller, is British but mistaken for Australian by just about everyone whose path she crosses, as all the action takes place on the other side of the Atlantic, in New York State, both Cityside and in the rural Catskills.
I discovered this paperback edition on my shelves, whilst I was searching for some hospital waiting room reading. It looks very much as though this was a forgotten competition win somewhere along the road and whilst not a book I would probably have chosen to purchase for myself, I became so engrossed in Caitlin's traumatic few weeks in New York State, I found myself with my fingers well and truly crossed that she would make it safely onto a plane back home to the UK...
...
After recently losing her schizophrenic mother to cancer, Caitlin is once again assured by her alcoholic father, that his days of hitting the bottle and slowly but surely killing himself in front of her, are over for good. So, after a particularly vitriolic confrontation with him, when she finds him drinking to excess once more, Caitlin packs her bags, leaves messages for a couple of close friends telling them not to worry about her, ditches her phone and pitches up at the airport. With little cash, she decides on New York as her destination, fabricating a thin tissue of lies and half truths about herself, should anyone ask her why she is there.
It soon becomes apparent to an increasingly lost and lonely Caitlin, that for her, America is not the place of hopes and dreams she had imagined. That is until, following a random act of kindness which sees her invited to a July 4th street party, she meets the magnetic and hypnotising Jake. The attraction between them seems deeply genuine and instant, so when, with nothing left to lose and within just a few days of knowing each other, Jake suggests that he would like her to meet his family, no strings attached, Caitlin makes the short journey out of the city into the beautiful Catskills, despite the nagging doubt that all might not be as it appears, fuelled partly by the mutual antipathy she and Jake's friend Kris had instantly shared, when he had stopped by to lend Jake his car for the trip.
Despite falling instantly in love with the gorgeous house and its surroundings and notwithstanding Jake's assurances that his parents are on their way to join them, Caitlin is growing evermore uneasy with the entire situation, especially when she discovers that she and Jake are there alone for the first night, with free access to only a handful of rooms which aren't locked. So far, Caitlin hasn't fully given herself to Jake, however, the intrigue and romance of the day's events have broken down her resolve and they spend the night together, only for her to have her faith in him shattered almost immediately, when an older couple, who are most definitely not his parents, arrive with an entourage of mostly younger people, who are obviously familiar with the house, which looks to be run as some kind of commune or retreat. Almost immediately Jake, who has apparently fulfilled his duty in recruiting her, distances himself from Caitlin and her days are mapped out by what soon transpires to be the cult's, self appointed leader Don and certain chosen members of his inner circle . Exercise, diet and mindfulness are the three buzz words around the place and despite Caitlin's assertions that she is going to leave and head back to the city, which she is assured that she is free to do, she finds herself evermore tied to and dependent on Don's counselling sessions in his lakeside log cabin, buried deep in the woods of the estate.
A fragile Caitlin, finds herself losing all track of time, whilst revealing all of her most precious innermost fears and worries to Don. But when she then panics about just how much she has opened up to him and tries to leave, she only makes it as far as the nearest town before two members of the cult catch up with her and almost forcibly return her to the house, where she is treated with contempt, derision and scorn by everyone else. Caitlin's bad vibes about the influence Don is exerting over other members of the cult, particularly the women, grow exponentially and the situation becomes toxic, to the point where death rears its ugly head, not once, but twice and the truth about just how manipulated and conditioned they have all become, is clearly apparent. That it was never really Don pulling the strings, becomes painfully and frighteningly obvious, as much as he may have thought that his word was law, and the new order hierarchy is much worse than Caitlin could ever have imagined.
Can anyone save them all from the horror of this new order of tyranny, or are Caitlin and the others destined to a life of subjugation and near imprisonment?
...
Narrated by Caitlin herself, this well structured, dark and brooding, compulsive and sinister storyline, was presented in short, quite punchy chapters, with the pace of the action although slow, being totally relentless and building to a heart-stopping conclusion for me and a near fatal crescendo for her. Whilst I was partly correct in the early assumptions I had made about this storyline, I was constantly on the edge of my seat, unintentionally holding my breath, as many secrets and even more lies, were fed into the narrative and dialogue, one agonising drip at a time, drawing out and ratcheting up the suspense and tension almost to breaking point. Just when I thought I had worked out the many additional strands to this story, another curved ball was thrown into the mix, with that eventual dovetailing not finally happening until almost the final agonising scene of this mind-bending, rollercoaster ride.
To me, it was obvious from the get-go that Jake wasn't quite the hero he purported to be and as soon as he and Caitlin arrived at the Catskills house, alarm bells were ringing loud and clear and I was willing her to make good her escape from him and run for the hills. However, despite Caitlin's stoic front, she was already so desperately vulnerable and anxious, that on reflection, I could quite understand how she might have got so easily taken in and persuaded by that initial meeting with the group, that they only had her best interests at heart and wanted to help her turn her broken life around. There were so many trigger points, any of which would have led to mental health issues, or exacerbated existing conditions, even amongst the best and most sane of us: The ruthless recruiting of potential new cult members; persuading members to open up about their mental health challenges, then turning those intimate and confidential admissions against them; administering mass medication via food and drink to manipulate perception of time; being forced to change their given names in an effort to finally separate them from all vestiges of their former lives; grooming and abuse of female cult members by Don, who twisted their innermost thoughts and fears to his own advantage. Author Emma Dibdin keeps up the air of unease throughout, whilst bringing to the fore so many issues, with great empathy and in a sympathetic yet unpatronizing way. Some of the sessions Caitlin endured with Don, where painful childhood memories are evoked and drawn to the surface, particularly resonated with me, leaving me trying to calm my own emotions, at the same time wanting to reach out to her with a comforting embrace.
You will probably have already guessed by now, just how much I disliked many of the characters in this storyline, although in all fairness to many of them, they had been relentlessly indoctrinated with so many of their installed beliefs, by some clever, manipulative and malevolent people, who had only sought to capitalise on their already fragile states of mind. Caitlin and maybe Jake, were much stronger than they believed themselves to be, although definitely still only to be admired more than liked, with enough of their own reasoning and strength of mind and will left to realise the level to which they were being 'turned' by Don and his cronies.
As an avid 'armchair traveller', despite being confined to one location, I was quite surprised to find myself relatively satisfied with my journey on this occasion. This story was predominantly all about the characters, their relationships to one another, the events which had drawn them together, and which were destined to rip them apart, so location was never really going to be a dominating factor. The storyline was set almost exclusively in and around the house, woods and lake, in the Catskill area, which was quite isolated and non attention grabbing. However, author Emma Dibdin, used the full palette of words at her disposal to describe the buildings and surrounding vista, in a way which imbued a genuine sense of time and place, no matter how remote or rather depressing, to the point where I could imagine myself getting lost in the wooded labyrinth, desperately searching for the log cabin by the lake, completely immersed in the gloom around me, as later I fought to keep hold of any sense of reality after my sessions with Don. If only those trees could have talked!
What always makes reading such a wonderful experience for me, is that with each and every new book I read, I am taken on an individual journey, by authors who fire my imagination, stir my emotions and stimulate my senses. This rather disturbing and intense storyline definitely had the power to evoke so many feelings, that I’m sure I won’t have felt the same way about it as the last reader, nor probably the next. This is one story which is going to offer disturbing and menacing thoughts to anyone who opens its covers and I can't wait to see where author Emma Dibdin's vivid imagination leads her next.
October 30, 2017
“‘You are running away from something.’
The woodwork looks like a galaxy to me, gentle loops and dark curlicues spreading outwards from deep-brown planet shapes, disappearing into the paler wood.
‘You could say that.’
‘You ran all the way across an ocean, but you’re still not safe.’’
Caitlin runs away from her alcoholic father after the death of her schizophrenic mother, and ends up in New York, where she spends her days wandering the streets and wearing different personas until one day she meets Jake, and all of a sudden the masks she’s donned up until this point slip off to reveal deeper vulnerability. After a few days of rendezvous, he takes her to a house in the woods to meet his “family.”
From the very beginning she’s skeptical. Caitlin is educated. She is able to sense anomalies and see through bullshit and think for herself. She comes to her own conclusions; she doesn’t have a sheep mentality. It’s one of the reasons that makes it so easy to root for her, and resonate with her. She did not fall into that cult because she was stupid, or ignorant. But nevertheless, she did fall, by a mix of sleep deprivation, manipulation, drugs, and this illusion of safety and belonging and genuine wholeness that make her feel like everything made sense.
Even when things were going right, it was not right, and the story simmers with sinister undertones. Sinister, menacing, confusing. A part of me was yelling - get out of there girl!! THEY’RE DRUGGING YOU AND THEY’RE TRYING TO CONTROL YOUR NARRATIVE WITH LIES. And yet I saw the power of collective manipulation, this subtle way that mind games created boundaries that weren’t there and boxed people into a set mentality. It’s scary, and it made me think - we all think we are beyond something like this, but everyone carries hurts that can be manipulated. In many ways, the book spoke about therapy, healing, and loss, about the lengths we go to hide our hurt, and yet how deeply we long to be understood. It blurred the line between what is perceived and what is real, and highlighted how important it is for those two to align. I’m glad our protagonist had enough of herself to still recognize (in a seriously drugged state) that this was not right.
At the end there were still questions left unanswered, but even as the book came to a close, I knew it wouldn’t be the kind to wrap up all the loose ends into neat little bowties for me to understand. What really happened to Kris? What was the relationship between Kris and Jake? What happened to Robin? What is her story? And what about those damn ribbons that kept moving??
But I enjoyed it.
Twas a good read.
The woodwork looks like a galaxy to me, gentle loops and dark curlicues spreading outwards from deep-brown planet shapes, disappearing into the paler wood.
‘You could say that.’
‘You ran all the way across an ocean, but you’re still not safe.’’
Caitlin runs away from her alcoholic father after the death of her schizophrenic mother, and ends up in New York, where she spends her days wandering the streets and wearing different personas until one day she meets Jake, and all of a sudden the masks she’s donned up until this point slip off to reveal deeper vulnerability. After a few days of rendezvous, he takes her to a house in the woods to meet his “family.”
From the very beginning she’s skeptical. Caitlin is educated. She is able to sense anomalies and see through bullshit and think for herself. She comes to her own conclusions; she doesn’t have a sheep mentality. It’s one of the reasons that makes it so easy to root for her, and resonate with her. She did not fall into that cult because she was stupid, or ignorant. But nevertheless, she did fall, by a mix of sleep deprivation, manipulation, drugs, and this illusion of safety and belonging and genuine wholeness that make her feel like everything made sense.
Even when things were going right, it was not right, and the story simmers with sinister undertones. Sinister, menacing, confusing. A part of me was yelling - get out of there girl!! THEY’RE DRUGGING YOU AND THEY’RE TRYING TO CONTROL YOUR NARRATIVE WITH LIES. And yet I saw the power of collective manipulation, this subtle way that mind games created boundaries that weren’t there and boxed people into a set mentality. It’s scary, and it made me think - we all think we are beyond something like this, but everyone carries hurts that can be manipulated. In many ways, the book spoke about therapy, healing, and loss, about the lengths we go to hide our hurt, and yet how deeply we long to be understood. It blurred the line between what is perceived and what is real, and highlighted how important it is for those two to align. I’m glad our protagonist had enough of herself to still recognize (in a seriously drugged state) that this was not right.
At the end there were still questions left unanswered, but even as the book came to a close, I knew it wouldn’t be the kind to wrap up all the loose ends into neat little bowties for me to understand. What really happened to Kris? What was the relationship between Kris and Jake? What happened to Robin? What is her story? And what about those damn ribbons that kept moving??
But I enjoyed it.
Twas a good read.
August 9, 2017
So one day you pack your bag, get on a plane and go to New York. New York, new start. New York, new start. Say it enough and it might happen, but how easy is it to run away from your problems and grief and start somewhere new?
Not that easy, especially when you are Caitlin and you've never done anything like this before. But then she meets Jake and feels like suddenly there might be a reason to stay after all. He even wants to take her away to the Lake to meet his family. So why not? I mean, it does sound like something out of a horror movie but Caitlin tells him this and quizzes him on whether she is his final victim. He claims this is not the case in his quiet, withdrawn but seemingly harmless manner. .......
This isn't a horror movie and Caitlin isn't Jake's final victim - well, that's not strictly true..... but the fate awaiting Caitlin isn't anything like the fate she feared. It's a lot lot worse.
I enjoyed this story and I enjoyed Caitlin's character. She appears strong and savvy but actually is broken and vulnerable. She yearns for the peace, solace and space that the commune Jake has brought her to by the lake appears to offer. She is even willing to take part in some therapy and confront some of the issues that are haunting her night and day. But as the days continue, it becomes clear that actually Caitlin is not safe here and it is not going to be 'fine'.
The author has really exploited the idea of control, sleep, nightmares, waking dreams, fugues and psychosis here. I knew that I couldn't quite trust what was going on and I had suspicions about what might be going on but I was entranced by the spell binding power of the writing in the same way that the members of the commune are caught up in the power of their leaders. The use of flashback, memories and mantras to emphasise Caitlin's fragile state of mind, and her familiarity with mental health, are cleverly interwoven into the story so that the reader feels they are losing a grip on their sanity as much as Caitlin is.
This is a quick read, thankfully, as it is pretty intense and I think reading in one go meant I was really immersed in the mind of Caitlin. I thought this book raised a lot of questions about therapy, healing, what is real, what is perceived to be real and how we try to find ourselves when we are lost.
It's a menacing tale and the author has created a novel full of suspense, tension, with tautly controlled moments of anxiety, fear and threat. A chilling read and also a thought provoking one.
Not that easy, especially when you are Caitlin and you've never done anything like this before. But then she meets Jake and feels like suddenly there might be a reason to stay after all. He even wants to take her away to the Lake to meet his family. So why not? I mean, it does sound like something out of a horror movie but Caitlin tells him this and quizzes him on whether she is his final victim. He claims this is not the case in his quiet, withdrawn but seemingly harmless manner. .......
This isn't a horror movie and Caitlin isn't Jake's final victim - well, that's not strictly true..... but the fate awaiting Caitlin isn't anything like the fate she feared. It's a lot lot worse.
I enjoyed this story and I enjoyed Caitlin's character. She appears strong and savvy but actually is broken and vulnerable. She yearns for the peace, solace and space that the commune Jake has brought her to by the lake appears to offer. She is even willing to take part in some therapy and confront some of the issues that are haunting her night and day. But as the days continue, it becomes clear that actually Caitlin is not safe here and it is not going to be 'fine'.
The author has really exploited the idea of control, sleep, nightmares, waking dreams, fugues and psychosis here. I knew that I couldn't quite trust what was going on and I had suspicions about what might be going on but I was entranced by the spell binding power of the writing in the same way that the members of the commune are caught up in the power of their leaders. The use of flashback, memories and mantras to emphasise Caitlin's fragile state of mind, and her familiarity with mental health, are cleverly interwoven into the story so that the reader feels they are losing a grip on their sanity as much as Caitlin is.
This is a quick read, thankfully, as it is pretty intense and I think reading in one go meant I was really immersed in the mind of Caitlin. I thought this book raised a lot of questions about therapy, healing, what is real, what is perceived to be real and how we try to find ourselves when we are lost.
It's a menacing tale and the author has created a novel full of suspense, tension, with tautly controlled moments of anxiety, fear and threat. A chilling read and also a thought provoking one.
May 9, 2017
I enjoyed this book about Caitlin, a young vulnerable English woman who tries to escape her problems by going to New York, where she meets the young, good-looking Jake in a bar. She recognises him as a bit of a kindred spirit, but when he takes her to his parents’ place, she discovers he’s lied to her.
Although she is soon sucked into the place and the people there, she quickly realises that all is not at all as it seems and she is unsure who to trust.
I read this book very quickly as it grabbed my attention and held onto it, with its intriguing characters and suspenseful story. I will certainly be looking out for Emma Dibdin’s next book.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC.
Although she is soon sucked into the place and the people there, she quickly realises that all is not at all as it seems and she is unsure who to trust.
I read this book very quickly as it grabbed my attention and held onto it, with its intriguing characters and suspenseful story. I will certainly be looking out for Emma Dibdin’s next book.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC.
April 24, 2019
Caitlin gets on a plane for New York from London to escape her problems. Her mother has died and her dad is drinking. In New York she is alone until Jake comes along. Jake take Caitlin to the house by the lake to meet his family.
I heard about this book and was interested because it was about a cult. Having an interest in the Manson family and cults in general I thought this book was for me.
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I wanted to. I found the book quite average and at times very predictable. There were times in the story where my interest was piqued and I became invested in the story but other times I was becoming bored.
This book had lots of promise but at times was a little slow and needed something beyond the predictable to give it an edge.
I heard about this book and was interested because it was about a cult. Having an interest in the Manson family and cults in general I thought this book was for me.
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I wanted to. I found the book quite average and at times very predictable. There were times in the story where my interest was piqued and I became invested in the story but other times I was becoming bored.
This book had lots of promise but at times was a little slow and needed something beyond the predictable to give it an edge.
September 7, 2017
Incoherent, dragging book with a million plot holes. How did this get passed an editor?
Such a good premise which is badly developed and it's time line is totally stupid, which is then "forgiven" by saying the main character was "on drugs".
Ugh. Lazy. Such a massive shame. This could have been excellent but was just so sloppily put together that it felt like an editor's inability to hone the writer's vision.
Such a good premise which is badly developed and it's time line is totally stupid, which is then "forgiven" by saying the main character was "on drugs".
Ugh. Lazy. Such a massive shame. This could have been excellent but was just so sloppily put together that it felt like an editor's inability to hone the writer's vision.
September 15, 2018
An original take on the genre (psychological thriller) depicting the ease at which cult practices can take root. The protagonist is 'recruited' into the cult so subtly and brilliantly that even I began to believe the lies the founders were claiming. The twist was excellently brought to life, and the ending perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed this debut and look forward to reading the second title by Dibdin, just released.
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