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Mother Walked Into the Lake
Fiction. Horror. Women's Studies. MOTHER WALKED INTO THE LAKE, Alana I. Capria's second novel, merges fantasy, feminism, and horror into a brilliant but disturbing allegory on motherhood and mental illness. The story follows three children who come face-to-face with the consequences of their Mother's drowning. The novel explores the complicated nature of Motherhood and how women uniquely carry this onus of self- sacrifice, responsibility, and all- consuming love.
97 pages, Paperback
Published December 5, 2017
32 people want to read
About the author
Alana I. Capria
11 books5 followersAlana I. Capria is the author of "Mother Walked Into the Lake," "Wrapped in Red," and "Hooks and Slaughterhouse." She resides in Northern New Jersey with her husband and rabbit. Her website is http://alanaicapria.com
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 5, 2022
I bought this book last year when Kernpunkt Press was having a sale. I'd heard the author read from it and knew it was something I wanted to read.
It's uniquely written and narrated - the characters are only known as Mother, Father, Sister, and Brother. The protagonist, the eldest sister, explains that Mother walked into the lake and disappeared. After searching high and low for her, she suddenly reappears but is not who she was. Mother has changed... is changing... and the children are both frightened and enthralled. Mother hides and chases, she smiles and sneers, she's watchful and wary.
I wrongly assumed it would be a quick one-sitting read since it clocks in at just under 100 pages. Instead, I digested it over the course of four days. The prose is lush and quite literarlly breathtaking, requiring frequent breaks to allow its words to wash over you. It's psychological, trauma-ridden, body horrific fiction that's haunted but also haunting.
It's uniquely written and narrated - the characters are only known as Mother, Father, Sister, and Brother. The protagonist, the eldest sister, explains that Mother walked into the lake and disappeared. After searching high and low for her, she suddenly reappears but is not who she was. Mother has changed... is changing... and the children are both frightened and enthralled. Mother hides and chases, she smiles and sneers, she's watchful and wary.
I wrongly assumed it would be a quick one-sitting read since it clocks in at just under 100 pages. Instead, I digested it over the course of four days. The prose is lush and quite literarlly breathtaking, requiring frequent breaks to allow its words to wash over you. It's psychological, trauma-ridden, body horrific fiction that's haunted but also haunting.
May 26, 2025
Absolutely stunning. Brutal, hitting home.
Family: a curse? Self-inflicted trap full of neverending pain?
Perhaps!
I lost my mother at an early age and although I did NOT have a dysfunctional relationship with here so much of this novella is resonating.
Both sides are relatable: the agony of the mother, the daily insanity which is the only way out, and the agony of the children who demand demand demand but also are terrified and have no clue how to ward off the madness.
Oh and the father(s)? Just like IRL: totally useless!
Great style, great imagery, so good to find an indie book of this quality!
Family: a curse? Self-inflicted trap full of neverending pain?
Perhaps!
I lost my mother at an early age and although I did NOT have a dysfunctional relationship with here so much of this novella is resonating.
Both sides are relatable: the agony of the mother, the daily insanity which is the only way out, and the agony of the children who demand demand demand but also are terrified and have no clue how to ward off the madness.
Oh and the father(s)? Just like IRL: totally useless!
Great style, great imagery, so good to find an indie book of this quality!
August 2, 2020
A highly original novella with bountiful descriptions of otherworldly motherly horror, framed by the inciting incident and its implications. At once a tale of horror and a tale of the too-often account of mothers losing themselves (i.e., as individuals/human beings/women) completely as they tend to the countless needs of children, home and husband.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews