Looking Back - The Inn at Lake Devine

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman
Fiction
1999 Vintage (first published 1998)
Read in September 1999
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

It's 1962 and all across America barriers are collapsing. But when Natalie Marx's mother inquires about summer accommodations in Vermont, she gets the following reply: The Inn at Lake Devine is a family-owned resort, which has been in continuous operation since 1922. Our guests who feel most comfortable here, and return year after year, are Gentiles. For twelve-year-old Natalie, who has a stubborn sense of justice, the words are not a rebuff but an infuriating, irresistible challenge.

In this beguiling novel, Elinor Lipman charts her heroine's fixation with a small bastion of genteel anti-Semitism, a fixation that will have wildly unexpected consequences on her romantic life. As Natalie tries to enter the world that has excluded her--and succeeds through the sheerest of accidents--The Inn at Lake Devine becomes a delightful and provocative romantic comedy full of sparkling social mischief.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

Very entertaining, light read. Funny. Reminiscent of Lorna Landvik's Your Oasis on Flame Lake. Likeable and memorable characters.

My Current Thoughts:

The only thing I remember about this book is the humor - not the characters or plot. I had it on my shelf for many years, but decided not to keep it when we moved a few years ago. I haven't read anything else by Lipman, but I may look into some of her more recent books, especially if they're funny.