English professor Frank Carroll is obsessed with two women. One, his wife Lydia, and the other, Mary Stone. The problem is Mary Stone is a poet who lived back in the 1930s and mysteriously disappeared without a trace. As the story goes on, she appears to have walked into a lake and drowned herself, but no one truly believes this story. When Frank and Lydia first meet, they are both interested in finding out what happened to Mary.

Frank and Lydia go to flea markets to search for anything that could have something to do with Mary\'s disappearance. Frank is willing to spend thousands of dollars buying seemingly insignificant old furniture, trinkets, and anything that may have any type of clue to prove that Mary is still alive. As the years go on, Frank becomes more and more erratic, going so far as to include their son Nicholas in everything... Lydia knows his must stop. One day, Nicholas does something that he hopes will get his family back together, but unfortunately it only causes bigger problems for his parents.

THE LAKE ANTHE LOST GIRL by Jacquelyn Vincenta is a great past-meets-present story. While this story does go from present day to back in the 1930s, you don't get confused at all. The storylines set in the past set up Mary\'s story perfectly, while the present focuses on Frank, Lydia, and their son Nicholas. Vincenta takes you on a ride that shows how one person can get so involved in something, nothing else matters.

Along the way there are people who try to tell Frank different things about Mary, but he will have nothing to do with it. Vincenta creates a great mystery with the events of the 1930s have more damage to people in the present day. Vincenta\'s two female main characters, Lydia and Mary, also have a lot in common. They both wanted to pursue their dream, but were stopped by the men in their lives. If you enjoy books that take you back in time and back to the present, you will enjoy this book as much as I did!

Book Summary

When her husband's scholarly interest turns to obsession, Lydia Carroll will do whatever it takes to save her family

Local romance author Lydia Carroll only knows one version of the MSW story: her husband's. English professor Frank Carroll has been fixated on the mystery of her disappearance for years, crafting a narrative based on Mary's poetry and journals that insist that Mary lived past that night in 1939.

As Frank's behavior grows more erratic, Lydia sees that his interest in Mary has evolved into an obsession—one that threatens to destroy the family they have built together. Lydia throws herself into the mystery, hoping to solve it and bring peace back to her home. But as Lydia begins investigating, her son takes action with a plan of his own...one that will bring the family to a breaking point and change Lydia's destiny forever.