A stunning debut novel that examines the price of loyalty, the burden of regret, the meaning of salvation, and the sacrifices we make for those we love, told in the voices of two unforgettable women linked by a decades-old family mystery at a picturesque lake house.
In 1935, six-year-old Emily Evans vanishes from her family’s vacation home on a remote Minnesota lake. Her disappearance destroys the family—her father commits suicide, and her mother and two older sisters spend the rest of their lives at the lake house, keeping a decades-long vigil for the lost child.
Sixty years later, Lucy, the quiet and watchful middle sister, lives in the lake house alone. Before her death, she writes the story of that devastating summer in a notebook that she leaves, along with the house, to the only person who might care: her grandniece, Justine. For Justine, the lake house offers freedom and stability—a way to escape her manipulative boyfriend and give her daughters the home she never had. But the long Minnesota winter is just beginning. The house is cold and dilapidated. The dark, silent lake is isolated and eerie. Her only neighbor is a strange old man who seems to know more about the summer of 1935 than he’s telling.
Soon Justine’s troubled oldest daughter becomes obsessed with Emily’s disappearance, her mother arrives to steal her inheritance, and the man she left launches a dangerous plan to get her back. In a house haunted by the sorrows of the women who came before her, Justine must overcome their tragic legacy if she hopes to save herself and her children.
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“I was swept into The Lost Girls on the very first page…Heather Young weaves a captivating, multilayered story that you won’t want to put down.”
— Vanessa Diffenbaugh, New York Times bestselling author
“From its opening…to its troubling, thrilling conclusion, I found this novel irresistible.”
— Alice Mattison, author of The Book Borrower" This book was horrifying and disturbing. Now, when I say horrifying I do not mean there is a lot of blood or or the murders are particularly brutal. The murders are, in fact, incredibly brutal, however that word does not even begin to describe how these women are treated and later killed by the serial killer in the book. The acts of violence against these women is atrocious and unconscionable, not to mention nauseating and disgusting. I am unsure as to how I made it through the entire book - I guess I really wanted to know how this awful story ended. I must have or I would have deleted it a quarter way through. If you want a gripping plot then this your book. If you enjoy sadistic torture and killing of women, then this is also your book. But if you tend to enjoy mysteries where every little gory detail is not necessarily revealed then do not read this book!! It honestly got to the point where I was questioning the author' sanity. What kind of person do you have to be to create such a disturbing storyline with purely evil characters and grotesque killings? Literally, the MOST unsettling book I have ever written and not in a good way. "
— Melissa Allen, 5/15/2017" This book was troubling and disturbing. While pain, struggle and loss are often part of any decent plot, especially those involving families and their intricate dynamics, the author went a little too far with this one. After finishing the book, I was left feeling unnerved and missing the grand finale I thought might have happened versus the morose one that actually did happen. Narrator was great for Justine but not so much for the older main character. "
— Melissa Allen, 3/30/2017Heather Young is the author of The Lost Girls and The Distant Dead, both finalists for the Edgar Award. She received an MFA degree from the Bennington Writing Seminars in 2011.
Alice Rosengard is a film actor and narrator who was shortlisted for the 2010 APAC New Narrator Award. She is known for her readings of Big Brother, A Queer and Pleasant Danger, and The Love of My Youth. She resides in the greater New York City area.
Laurel Schroeder is a classically trained actor, audiobook narrator, and voice-over artist living in Chicago. When not in the booth narrating her latest project, she can be seen onstage and in film, including the award-winning movie The Wise Kids.