Ladies of the Lake

August 31, 2009
Smith (The Red Hat Club) conjures up four mature sisters: Dahlia, Rose, Violet and Iris-each with her own distinct (and sometimes clashing) personality-in this entertaining yet realistic account of sisterhood. When their former dancer grandmother Cissy dies, she allocates her lakefront Georgian estate to the foursome with a contractual clause that forces the women to move from their tidy homes in Atlanta to her house in the mountains for 90 days, in a posthumous attempt to reconnect her granddaughters. With a plan-hazmat gear and all-in place to clean up the musty house before putting it on the market, the sisters get to work, their endeavor laced with humor, emotion, sisterly jibing and the occasional heated argument. The requisite romantic subplot featuring a strapping and wealthy mystery man flops in the romantic sense, but his role in unlocking the secrets to their grandmother's life at least gives him a reason to be present. Smith's convoluted descriptions border on fluff, but aside from a few small tumbles, Smith gives readers a lovely comedy with poise.

It's tough to turn off an audiobook that begins, "There's nothing wrong with this family that a funeral or two wouldn't fix." Cynthia Darlow delightfully narrates this story of four very different sisters who must spend a summer together in their grandmother's home in order to inherit it. Her vocalizations differentiate each sister and the secondary characters as well. In particular, Darlow makes the annoying Iris is even more so, and her depiction of sister Dahlia's love interest will have female listeners swooning. Darlow's range and flawless characterizations dramatically underscore the sisters' rivalries and personal struggles. Although a secondary plot involving two mummies is implausible, listeners will enjoy the humor and drama as middle-aged sisters reconnect with one another. J.J.B. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

December 15, 2009
At the reading of their grandmother's will, four middle-aged sisters learn they're in for a large inheritance, with major strings attached: they must return to their Lake Clare, GA, family home and spend three months cohabiting there before putting the house up for sale. The strength of "New York Times" and "USA Today" best-selling author Smith's (www.haywoodsmith.net) 11th novel is in the emotionally pitched interactions among the sisters, territory she previously explored in "The Red Hat Club" (2006), also narrated by Cynthia Darlow, who here ably captures each sister's range of moods. But the narrative gets somewhat derailed by the romance between Dahlia and the mysterious Clete Slocum, which takes up much of the novel. A nice, light listen; recommended.Joyce Kessel, Villa Maria Coll., Buffalo

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