Last Summer at the Lake House: An unforgettable story of family secrecy

“Are you okay?” A wave of cold sweeps over Alex. The silence on the end of the phone seems to last forever.

“It’s Dad,” her sister finally says. “He had a massive heart attack. He’s gone.”

When sisters Alex, Sam and Jess are called back to the family lake house in Summerville after the death of their beloved father, they learn that he was hiding a devastating secret.

Alex is the one who discovers the stash of love letters hidden away in the shed by the lake where they used to play as children during the long, hot summers. She adored her father. But she just has to know who wrote these notes, and she doesn’t want to be talked out of it by her husband or her sisters, who each have their own reasons for avoiding digging deeper. As everyone tries to protect their grieving mother from more trauma, and manage their own shock, tensions rise in the lake house. Even under one roof, sharing a room just as they used to each summer as children, the sisters have never felt so isolated from one another.

A chance encounter at a local grief counselling group leads Alex to make a shocking discovery about her father. With the true scale of their father’s deception revealed, everything Alex and her sisters thought they knew about him – and about their family life – is called into question. Alex knows that if she’s going to find out the truth she’s going to have to go it alone – and that means keeping some secrets herself.

As they each deal in their own way with the fallout from their father’s secret history, the three women’s lives begin to change in ways they could never have predicted. Can Alex hold onto the family she thought she had, and held so dear, if everything she ever knew was a lie?

A poignant and heartfelt tale of sisterhood and marriage, Last Summer at the Lake Houseexplores how coming to terms with the past is the only way to create a hopeful future. Fans of Mary Alice Munro, Debbie Macomber, Pamela Kelley and Lauren K. Denton will be drawn deep into the heart of one family’s dramatic summer, sharing their journey of heartache and rediscovery.

What readers say about Heather Dixon’s novels:

“Oh. My. Goodness… I truly loved this book.” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“What a great read! Dixon’s writing is fantastic.” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Easily one of my favorite reads of the year. Heather Dixon is such a talent.” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Oh my goodness, this book sucked me in! I love when a story does that… I enjoyed this a lot!” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“A thrilling and captivating read… The author’s writing style is top-notch.” NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“A perfect book club pick, or read on your own, but expect to lose sleep because you’ll be up all night devouring it!” Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

© 2023 Storm Publishing (Audiobook): 9781805082835

Release date

Audiobook: 26 October 2023