Crow Lake is that rare find, a first novel so quietly assured, so emotionally pitch perfect, you know from the opening page that this is the real t...
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Jun 01, 2011
Jeanette
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This is very cleanly written, so it's a fast read. Just a good simple story about 4 children who lose their parents in a car accident and the struggles they go through to stay together as a family. The narrator looks back on how the choices each of them made altered their own lives as well as the lives of their siblings.
I've been reading a lot of emotionally wrenching stuff lately, so this was a nice calm read for a change!
I liked her second novel (The Other Side of the Bridge) a l More...
I've been reading a lot of emotionally wrenching stuff lately, so this was a nice calm read for a change!
I liked her second novel (The Other Side of the Bridge) a l More...
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Jul 18, 2007
Kelly
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I chose this book for our June book club. It was a “Today Show” book choice. Told from the perspective of 27 year old Kate, the story is one of sadness (her parents died in a car crash 20 years earlier), forgiveness, guilt and growth. I enjoyed the story and especially the flaws that Kate has as a character and person. As a reader it was rewarding to witness her evolution as a character throughout the narrative. Our book club had some good discussion and most (though not all) liked the book
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Jan 08, 2012
Luis
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Me derrumbo ante a la vez cruel y enternecedora historia de cómo unos niños deciden valerse por sí mismos ante la pérdida de sus padres. De cómo la ingenuidad de mantener la unidad debe hacer frente a las mil penurias que implica su aislada situación, y sin permitir que los sentimientos de unidad dejen de primar ante todo.
Una pregunta importante "¿Seremos capaces de hacerlo solos?"" y una enseñanza vital como respuesta.
Lleno de entusiasmo, constituye para mí otra de la More...
Una pregunta importante "¿Seremos capaces de hacerlo solos?"" y una enseñanza vital como respuesta.
Lleno de entusiasmo, constituye para mí otra de la More...
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Mar 27, 2009
Amanda
rated it: 
Book #26 of 2009
Back to the serious side of things I guess... I've been chewing on this book for a couple of days now, never being really invested in it to make a big to finishing it, certainly not devouring it like the last five books or so. I'm not even really sure how I feel about it. Its almost anticlimatic in a way. The whole book builds up to this supposedly huge catastrophe, which isn't really a catastrophe at all, but a decision moving life one way instead of another. But the s More...
Back to the serious side of things I guess... I've been chewing on this book for a couple of days now, never being really invested in it to make a big to finishing it, certainly not devouring it like the last five books or so. I'm not even really sure how I feel about it. Its almost anticlimatic in a way. The whole book builds up to this supposedly huge catastrophe, which isn't really a catastrophe at all, but a decision moving life one way instead of another. But the s More...
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Feb 03, 2009
Lisa
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First novels are tough. Many haven't mastered the art of "show, don't tell" in their story-telling. Mary Lawson does a beautiful job of getting you to feel the emotions of the characters and their varying reactions to the tragedy that occurs near the beginning of the book. This is especially hard, since the setting is a small farming community where you are not supposed to show your emotions. You are supposed to be stoic in face of anything and everything, although stoicism can easily
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Feb 03, 2011
Eniko
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I liked this book very much for a number of reasons.
First, because the minute I started reading it, I identified with the writing style. The sentence structures, the choice of words, everything about it seemed so familiar. I felt like this was a book I could have written. Secondly, right from the get-go I was really intrigued. I am a sucker for the "Little did we know..." way of drawing the reader in. This was very well done in this novel. Throughout the story, I could never gues More...
First, because the minute I started reading it, I identified with the writing style. The sentence structures, the choice of words, everything about it seemed so familiar. I felt like this was a book I could have written. Secondly, right from the get-go I was really intrigued. I am a sucker for the "Little did we know..." way of drawing the reader in. This was very well done in this novel. Throughout the story, I could never gues More...
Oct 18, 2010
Agatha
rated it:
four children (19, 17, 7, and 2) are orphaned when their parents are in a tragic car accident, but the children pull together and the older two sons raise the younger two girls. I very much enjoyed the depiction of family life and it felt very familiar to me to read of a large family where the oldest children pulled a large share of the child-rearing and all had to pull together to "make it" and stay together. The second son and the 7-year-old girl have a particularly close relations
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Jan 22, 2010
Mary
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After their parents were killed in an accident, Luke and Matt take on the responsibility of raising their two younger sisters, Kate and Bo. Set in the remote areas of Canada, where everyone knows everyone else yet secrets may be kept for years, expressing emotion is difficult and as hard as the frozen winters of Crow Lake. Raised to believe that getting an education is the most important goal, Kate, the narrator of the book, must come to grips with the fact that one can learn to live happily
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Jan 12, 2010
Jacquelynn
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Oct 21, 2009
Lori
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Crow Lake is an interesting novel on many levels. It has beautiful descriptions of the land in northern Ontario, a tragedy that occurs in the beginning of the novel, obstacles to overcome by family members and a dire mystery that is alluded to from early on. What is it then that disappoints me? I guess for me, I never became involved with the central character Kate. She is unemotional, detached and academic. She resists facing her past, by refusing to become involved in her current relationships
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Jul 24, 2009
Jane
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It's a strange thing that I came across this book. I found it wedged into the back of a shelf downstairs. It seems I read it at the perfect time. It came to me in the midst of serious, physical grief, the kind where your body is taken over by sadness and is simply a vessel for your shaking and sobbing and wailing. Oh the wailing. You will wail. And not in the Wayne's World sense. Its the kind of thing that you can't let anyone else listen to, because what the wailing is is the pain leaving y
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Nov 14, 2009
Terry
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My roommate means well but boy does she have bland taste in "literature" and yes I say "literature" with as much sarcasm as possible. Believe me I turn down more offerings of hers than I read, but I just feel obligated to choke one or two down every once in a while.
I wanted to like it, I did. I just didn't. It just didn't feel "new" to me. And I didn't find the writing style especially evocative. The narrator of the story speaks and thinks like a 50+-year More...
I wanted to like it, I did. I just didn't. It just didn't feel "new" to me. And I didn't find the writing style especially evocative. The narrator of the story speaks and thinks like a 50+-year More...
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Feb 28, 2009
Poiema
rated it:
I couldn't put this book down until I finished @ 3:30 a.m. It's been a while since I have done that but I'd have to say Crow Lake was worth it.
The narrator, Kate, is a 27 year old biologist with a very successful career. But that career does not fully satisfy her because she has loose ends to tidy up with her siblings. It's something that she would rather postpone indefinitely, but circumstances force her to sort through the emotional baggage. Her story builds to a satisfactory concl More...
The narrator, Kate, is a 27 year old biologist with a very successful career. But that career does not fully satisfy her because she has loose ends to tidy up with her siblings. It's something that she would rather postpone indefinitely, but circumstances force her to sort through the emotional baggage. Her story builds to a satisfactory concl More...
Nov 29, 2007
Teresa
rated it:
a fabulous read, beautifully written with vivid characters. It's a short, easy read but I found myself very moved by the representation of the Morrison family. This novel is never overly sentimental or gushing - it's one which will stay with me for a long time and whose characters I will remember fondly - something which doesn't happen that often to me!
Since there isn't the option to give 4.5, I've given it 5, only because I'm probably too harsh at times....
Since there isn't the option to give 4.5, I've given it 5, only because I'm probably too harsh at times....
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Oct 27, 2010
Brent
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This novel is very much like consuming several empty calories: so much to read, not a lot to comprehend. This novel went on, and on, and on. I found a lot of the information given about Katie's past overly descriptive. Far too much irrelevant detail! I also found the book to be quite repetitive, I don't know how many times it was mentioned that the neighbors were dropping off meals. I don't know how many uncomfortable dinner table conversations there were. I don't know how many chapters were ded
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Jul 11, 2011
Linda
rated it:
Love it so far. Lawson is a great storyteller.
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Feb 07, 2011
Willy
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I agree with some of the review that there was, at times, quite a bit of redundancy. I'm okay with that. I think the best of this book is that the author is able to capture the selfishness of children with honesty. Lawson does many things right in this book including showing how our beliefs make us act in ways that don't necessarily match the circumstance. I vacillate between giving this book five stars and three stars. If you come from a dysfunctional family (I guess most of us do) you may fi
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Mar 21, 2009
Jacki
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This is a story of a woman kind of coming to terms with her past. Her parents died when she was very young and she and her sister were raised by her brothers. She is looking back on this, about 20 or so years later and struggling with the idea of introducing her boyfriend to her family.
This is a simple story. It is written simply and beautifully. I loved every word. It is a short little thing and I couldn't help but wish that it was longer.
Part of what I loved was the More...
This is a simple story. It is written simply and beautifully. I loved every word. It is a short little thing and I couldn't help but wish that it was longer.
Part of what I loved was the More...
Jun 06, 2009
Ali
rated it:
This is novel is also set mainly in a rural farming community, and concerns the Morrison family, and to a lesser degree that of their neighbours the Pye family. The Morrisons lives are changed for ever by the early tragic death of their parents, leaving the two eldest boys to make some tough decisions, and sacrifice their future's for their younger sisters. The story is narrated by Kate the third of the four orphaned kids. This is a novel about family, and our understanding of one another, it is
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Apr 01, 2011
Melee
rated it:
Crow Lake was the debut book of Mary Lawson with The Other Side of the Bridge following a few years later. I read The Other Side of the Bridge before Crow Lake and I am so glad I did. If I hadn't, I would have been sorely disappointed because Crow Lake would surely have set up high expectations. So, because I read it second I got to be pleasantly surprised instead!
It's not that I didn't like The Other Side of the Bridge but the story did very little for me and now I can't even remember th More...
It's not that I didn't like The Other Side of the Bridge but the story did very little for me and now I can't even remember th More...
Jul 30, 2010
thewanderingjew
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Crow Lake, Mary Lawson
Unknowingly, I read the book twice. After I got a few pages in, I realized it, but my first reading was years ago and the book seemed so interesting that I continued on with it for the second time. I was not disappointed.
It is a tender tale which begins with the memories of a seven year child and progresses over the next twenty years. We watch as problems, arise and are resolved, often with unintended consequences. It is a tale about overcoming disaster, about n More...
Unknowingly, I read the book twice. After I got a few pages in, I realized it, but my first reading was years ago and the book seemed so interesting that I continued on with it for the second time. I was not disappointed.
It is a tender tale which begins with the memories of a seven year child and progresses over the next twenty years. We watch as problems, arise and are resolved, often with unintended consequences. It is a tale about overcoming disaster, about n More...
Jan 07, 2010
Jinny
rated it:
I loved everything about this book. It's set in places I've always wanted to be: on a farm, and at a university. Its narrator, though highly educated, is startlingly unseeing. But she loves, and she learns. What else do you need for a great story?
We hear all about the people, situations, and 'landscapes' that serve as the narrator's teachers.
Author Mary Lawson is by turns so thoughtful and very funny here. Characters are vividly drawn; the plot unfolds at just the righ More...
We hear all about the people, situations, and 'landscapes' that serve as the narrator's teachers.
Author Mary Lawson is by turns so thoughtful and very funny here. Characters are vividly drawn; the plot unfolds at just the righ More...
Aug 13, 2011
Jennykv
rated it:
As a first novel, it's not bad. It's a catcher, even though the plot is so slim and not very fulfilling. If you tell someone about the content, they would just yawn. Yet, it manages to portray Kate's tragic life and her way out of that, her difficulties and her Northern Ontario experience. I looked out for Crow Lake on Google and found one, whether that is the right one, the author says its one of any thousands of Northern Ontario Lakes. But the enviornment is truly scary and wilderness, to say
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Apr 16, 2011
Cheryl
rated it:
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
Crow Lake is a fictional town in Northern Ontario according to the author, but New Liskeard, which is also mentioned a few times in the book, isn't. It's an actual place and what's really cool is that I was born there! I don't remember much about it because we left when I was two years old and moved to Massey, Ontario, but I thought it was fantastic to read a book whose locale was set near my birthplace.
The story itself was fairly good, a story o More...
Crow Lake is a fictional town in Northern Ontario according to the author, but New Liskeard, which is also mentioned a few times in the book, isn't. It's an actual place and what's really cool is that I was born there! I don't remember much about it because we left when I was two years old and moved to Massey, Ontario, but I thought it was fantastic to read a book whose locale was set near my birthplace.
The story itself was fairly good, a story o More...
May 05, 2010
Kate
rated it:
One way to tell if I have enjoyed a book is as I near the end I purposely slow my reading down. I don't want my relationship with the characters to end I want to savor the final knowing.....
Such was the case with Crow lake. Kate is an academic from a rural Northern Canadian small town. At 27 she is falling in love with Daniel,a fellow academic who has less complicated background. For her to come to terms with this, she needs to gain insight into why it is not easy to let love in. He More...
Such was the case with Crow lake. Kate is an academic from a rural Northern Canadian small town. At 27 she is falling in love with Daniel,a fellow academic who has less complicated background. For her to come to terms with this, she needs to gain insight into why it is not easy to let love in. He More...
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Mar 22, 2010
From an old list:
'Crow Lake' by Mary Lawson Here is a story set in the wild terrain of northern Ontario, where heartbreak and hardship are mirrored in the landscape. For the farming Pye family, life is a Greek tragedy where the sins of the fathers are visited on the sons, and terrible events occur - offstage. Center stage are the Morrisons, whose tragedy looks more immediate if less brutal, but is, in reality, insidious and divisive. Orphaned young, Kate Morrison was her older brother Matt More...
'Crow Lake' by Mary Lawson Here is a story set in the wild terrain of northern Ontario, where heartbreak and hardship are mirrored in the landscape. For the farming Pye family, life is a Greek tragedy where the sins of the fathers are visited on the sons, and terrible events occur - offstage. Center stage are the Morrisons, whose tragedy looks more immediate if less brutal, but is, in reality, insidious and divisive. Orphaned young, Kate Morrison was her older brother Matt More...
May 22, 2011
Angela
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
May 16, 2009
Michael
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You don’t have to have grown up in small town Ontario, Canada to appreciate Mary Lawson’s Crow Lake. But if you did, as I did, you’ll likely see reflections of your childhood in the story and recognize some iconic small town figures in the cast of characters.
Crow Lake is a vivid and sensitive portrayal of family love, sibling hero worship and the sometimes painful process of outgrowing our childhood illusions. Mary Lawson is a gifted storyteller in the old style but with a modern fl More...
Crow Lake is a vivid and sensitive portrayal of family love, sibling hero worship and the sometimes painful process of outgrowing our childhood illusions. Mary Lawson is a gifted storyteller in the old style but with a modern fl More...
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Jun 18, 2008
Betty
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Ann recommended this. Very good. short and fast read but insightful. Picture of life in Northern Ontario about 30 years ago, but bringing storyup to present time. Characters are compelling, and seemed real to me. Betty
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May 07, 2009
Nancy
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I have mixed feelings about this book. I loved the main message: that our expectations for another person's life don't really matter; how the person feels about his/her own life is what's important.
The story is about four northern Canadian children who were orphaned when their parents died in a car crash. The older brothers raise the younger sisters and, in the process, see their lives go in different directions than they'd planned. The main character was hard to empathize with, thou More...
The story is about four northern Canadian children who were orphaned when their parents died in a car crash. The older brothers raise the younger sisters and, in the process, see their lives go in different directions than they'd planned. The main character was hard to empathize with, thou More...
