I will be honest, I feel like dual (and multiple) timeline stories can be either executed really well, like This Is Us or they can fall flat. For me, The Woman in the Lake by Nicola Cornick was somewhere in the middle. I had a hard time suspending belief in this novel, despite the beautifully-written passages.
It may be because of the subject matter – the novel is a dark supernatural historical romance that follows two women in two different timelines: one in an abusive marriage, one who has left – but the novel wasn’t put-downable for me like others had suggested. I’m glad that they enjoyed it! Like I said, the novel’s language is beautiful, and I could see why someone would have a difficult time putting it down. It just wasn’t my jam. (And again, I’m chalking it up to the topic of domestic violence being something that while well-written about in this novel, being too triggering in this context for me to really enjoy the novel). If you enjoy supernatural historical fiction with a little romance thrown in, this may be a good read for you.
About The Woman in the Lake
Paperback: 320 Pages
Publisher: Graydon House; Original edition (March 1, 2019)
In the tradition of the lush historical dramas of Kate Morton, Philippa Gregory and Barbara Erskine, USA TODAY bestselling author Nicola Cornick’s The Woman in the Lake is a delicious tale of jealousy, greed, plotting and revenge that spans the generations between decadent Georgian society and present day.
London, 1765
Lady Isabella Gerard, a respectable member of Georgian society, orders her maid to take her new golden gown and destroy it, its shimmering beauty tainted by the actions of her brutal husband the night before.
Three months later, Lord Gerard stands at the shoreline of the lake, looking down at a woman wearing the golden gown. As the body slowly rolls over to reveal her face, it’s clear this was not his intended victim…
250 Years Later…
When a gown she stole from a historic home as a child is mysteriously returned to Fenella Brightwell, it begins to possess her in exactly the same way that it did as a girl. Soon the fragile new life Fen has created for herself away from her abusive ex-husband is threatened at its foundations by the gown’s power over her until she can’t tell what is real and what is imaginary.
As Fen uncovers more about the gown and Isabella’s story, she begins to see the parallels with her own life. When each piece of history is revealed, the gown—and its past—seems to possess her more and more, culminating in a dramatic revelation set to destroy her sanity.
Discover why Publishers Weekly calls Nicola Cornick “a rising star”—watch for The Woman in the Lake, coming soon from Graydon House.
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About Nicola Cornick
USA Today bestselling author Nicola Cornick has written over 40 historical romances and now writes Gothic time slip for HQ and Graydon House.
Nicola’s writing is inspired by her love of history and was fostered by a wonderful history teacher and by her grandmother, whose collection of historical romantic fiction fed Nicola’s addiction from an early age. She studied in London and Oxford and works as a guide and historian in a 17th century house as well as acting as a historical adviser for TV and radio. Publisher’s Weekly have described her as a rising star and her books have been nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award and for the Romance Writers of America RITA Awards.
Nicola lives near Oxford with her husband and dog. When she isn’t writing she enjoys long walks in the countryside, singing in a choir and volunteering as a puppy walker for Guide Dogs.
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