The Lake of Dead Languages

 

The Lake of Dead Languages / Carol Goodman
NY: Ballantine, c2002.
390 p.

This is one I first read many years ago; it started my habit of reading all of Goodman's books as soon as they were released. But since I've been in a bit of a mystery/thriller mood, I decided to reread it. I still liked it a lot - all those elements, gothic storyline, academia, murders, secrets and silence that show up in most of Goodman's subsequent books start here. It's a first novel, though, so not as strong as the following ones, for me. 

Jane Hudson has returned to the girls school she graduated from twenty years earlier; she's now the Latin teacher. She is newly single and has a young daughter, so thinks that this change may give them their own new beginning. But Jane is forgetting that her last year at the school was fraught with terrible things; three suicides and Jane left behind to go on with her life without her friends. And now that she is back, secrets are threatening to burst out of the past and disrupt her longing for a peaceful, ordinary routine. 

The story flashes between the past and Jane's present, slowly building up a clearer picture of what happened back then, and why it might be resurfacing now. I like this technique and found it gave lots of chances to create suspense. Jane herself is a bit meh as a character this time around and that ending! It's so melodramatic! I recall being a bit sceptical of it the first time and it was definitely OTT on rereading ;) 

As a debut novel, though, it's well done, entertaining and atmospheric, which is why I became a fan and have read all of her work since. I'm not sure it was as good this time around as my memories of first reading it over twenty years ago, but that so often happens with an old favourite. And now that I've read so many of her other books I guess the comparisons can change perceptions of a story. Still, I think it's a good read, if you haven't read her yet, you'll probably want to go back to it once you get hooked on her more recent titles!