Lake Effect

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE NEST, a stunning new novel about adultery, first love and other family secrets… 'Sparkling… a joyful classic in the making' JENNY JACKSON, New York Times bestselling author of Pineapple Street

'I could not put it down!' SHELBY VAN PELT, author of Remarkably Bright Creatures

It’s 1977 and an air of restlessness has settled on the residents of Cambridge Road in Rochester, New York. When Nina Larkin is given a copy of The Joy of Sex by her newly divorced friend, she can no longer dismiss the nearly non-existent intimacy of her marriage. Just as her oldest child, Clara, is falling in love for the first time, Nina finds herself longing for the forbidden: a midlife awakening. An intoxicating fling with a neighbour brings Nina a freedom she never thought possible—but also risks the reputations of both families and unravels Clara’s world, just as she stands on the threshold of adulthood.

Years later Clara, now a successful food stylist in New York City, has never been able to move past the long-ago scandal. Drawn back home by the pull of a family wedding and wrestling with her own demons, she makes a pivotal decision that turns her life upside down.

Written with Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s signature humour and insight, LAKE EFFECT is a wise and probing look at love and desire, mothers and daughters, loss and grief, and what we owe the people we love most.

© 2026 The Borough Press (Audiobook): 9780008799465

Release date

Audiobook: 3 March 2026