I was looking for a novel set in Northern Ontario and Lawson was recommended to me. I had no idea how good this book is. It reminded me of Margaret Lawrence and Alice Munro

It also reminded me of the realism of Swede Frederick Bachman and his Beartown Trilogy. ( )

Crow Lake, a rural community in Northern Ontario, is the setting for this thought-provoking novel narrated by Kate Morrison as a child and then as an adult. Kate, 7, and her baby sister, Bo, have two much older brothers when tragedy hits the family. Luke and Matt are in their late teens and determined to keep the family together despite difficult challenges. The members of the community provide whatever assistance they can. Matt excels in academics and qualifies for a full university scholarship to the overwhelming admiration and support of Luke and Kate. Matt has always been Kate's mentor in exploring the ponds and their environment. When a choice he makes that involves another Crow Lake family leads to the dissolution of his dream, the adult Kate, immersed as an academic, finds it difficult to comprehend what might have been for him.

This novel is very well written and provides insight into the Morrison family dynamics, as well as those of their neighbors. I have found the books written by Canadian authors to be very engaging. Mary Lawson is no exception. ( )

I've had a bit of a fiction reading block lately. I think it's a mental bandwidth thing - I just don't seem to have the patience for that first stage of reading when you've not got hooked in yet. I picked up Crow Lake in the secondhand bookshop as I figured it would be 'easy reading' to ease me back in, and indeed it hit the spot.

This is don't-think-too-hard fiction. Summer reading fodder. The narrator's parents were killed in a car crash when she was a young girl, and the book alternates between the aftermath, as her brothers work to keep the family together, and her present day reluctancy to return 'home' to her siblings.

It was an enjoyable enough page-turner and got me back to reading fiction again, but I'm not going to rush to recommend it. There was nothing standout about it, and the ending disappointed.

3.5 stars - chicken soup sort of reading. Comforting but not gourmet. ( )

Crow Lake is the story of four children growing up on a rural farm who endure a tragedy that changes the trajectory of their young lives. To complicate matters, they live next door to another very dysfunctional family, and their lives intersect in unexpected ways. This book easily earns four stars for its suspenseful, moving storytelling. Sometime you just want to read a book that is well paced, engaging, and tugs at your heart a bit, and Crow Lake completely fits the bill. The characters were also interesting and nicely developed. I would definitely reach for this author again. ( )

A gently reflective and yet compelling story about the lives of four young people whose lives are turned upside down one day when our narrator, Kate, was seven years old. The setting is rural Canada and Kate and her 17 year old brother Matt share a fascination with nature, science, wildlife, and most especially the ponds which are near their house. 20 years on and a zoologist and Kate thinks she has outgrown her childhood upbringing and her rural siblings. Can she unpick her history and her emotions? A beautifully written novel which almost feels like it isn't going anywhere in places but which is gently drawing you along a journey of discovery. ( )