But she hadn’t planned this move carefully. She moves into an apartment in a sketchy neighborhood and begins an affair with a black cop. But this is Baltimore during the 1960s and Maddie is forced to see how difficult the world can be. At one time, Maddie had goals that reached beyond marriage, mothering their only child, Seth and keeping a kosher home. That internal rage certainly propels Madeline “Maddie” Schwartz, a 37-year-old Jewish housewife who leaves her well-to-do husband, Milton, and the couple’s perfectly decorated Baltimore home. Lippman has wisely chosen an unconventional mystery with Lady in the Lake, focusing on the internal rage that drives many of its characters. It is also a paean to newspapers and the struggle of women reporters during that time. Lady in the Lake works well on several levels – as a look at the mid-1960s and a view of racism, sexism and the intersection of ennui and ambition. Everyone wants to feel that he or she has an impact on the world or to have just one other person believe – no, know – that what he or she does is important, which is featured heavily in Laura Lippman’s new superb stand-alone novel, Lady in the Lake.Įlegantly written, the novel moves with an eye to how people adapt to changes in culture, or maybe how an evolving culture causes shifts in people.
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