The Frozen Lake

By: Elizabeth Edmondson

Narrated by: Nicolette McKenzie

Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's Summary

Fabulous family saga of secrets held through two generations, set against the atmospheric background of the Lake District at Christmas. The year 1936 is drawing to a close. Winter grips Wetmoreland and causes a rare phenonmenon: The lakes freeze. For two local families, the Richardsons and the Grindleys, this will bring unexpected upheaval, as the frozen lake entices long-estranged siblings and children to return home for the holiday season.

Some are aware of what is happening in Europe; others don't want to know. Everyone's keen to put aside their troubles - money worries, love tangles, career problems, domestic rifts - and enjoy themselves skating while they can. But one visitor carries the seed of violence, and not even the redoubtable matriarch of the Richardson clan can prevent the carefully buried secrets of the past from reappearing and transforming everything.

A compelling blend of family closeness and strife, dazzling passion and the dark influence of history, this is an enthralling listen to curl up and savour.

©2004 Elizabeth Edmondson (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

Enjoyable story, superb narration

I'd stongly recommend this to anyone who enjoys well-constructed 'tween wars British cozies. The characters are well drawn and the details of every day life in the upper class of that era are convincing. The descriptive writing and sense of place and time are excellent and occasionally beautiful. The plot is fairly predictable, but the writing and wonderful narration completely blotted out the book's flaws -- for me, anyway. McKenzie even gets the Welsh accent right, which is a painfully rare achievement .

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Good story

I struggled to get all the characters straight in the beginning. Once I figured out who's who I really got into the book and hard a hard putting down.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Good listen

My first book by Elizabeth Edmondson, and the narration by Nicolette McKenzie was very good. I think the mystery aspect was somewhat secondary to the family tale, even though the focus of the book. It was not too hard to figure out as the book progressed. But the character development and story was quite good, and held my interest. I'd only say that it did seem very long, and though interesting, I felt ready for it to end. I would read or listen to other books by this author or narrator.

15 of 16 people found this review helpful

Great Character Driven Book

Any additional comments?

This is my fourth Elizabeth Edmondson novel. Her books are very character driven with a fully realized world, rich in details. I will say it took me a little while to get invested in the beginning of this book, as the number of characters can be hard to keep straight when in audiobook format. Someone on the amazon site has a list going and I used it as a reference in the beginning. I got to the "mystery" before the book did but as I said the characters are so well written I was happy to just follow along with them. The narrator was fantastic. I found this book to be a joy to read/listen to and look forward to reading more of her work.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Ok, but too long.

What did you like best about The Frozen Lake? What did you like least?

Grandmama had no redeeming characteristics whatsoever. I should have paired the audible version with a hard copy to keep better track of who is related to whom and which group lives on which side of the lake.

Would you recommend The Frozen Lake to your friends? Why or why not?

I did recommend it to my sister.

Which character – as performed by Nicolette McKenzie – was your favorite?

Great Aunt Daphne.

Do you think The Frozen Lake needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No. I would have trouble remembering who everybody was. It was hard enough this time.

7 of 9 people found this review helpful

We couldn't go to sleep without knowing....

This story kept the family awake, night after night, until it was over. The final multitude of chapters ending at 3am, because we couldn't leave it unfinished.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

lots of characters

I have to say that I am surprised that I ended up enjoying this book as much as I did! Listening to a book with so many different characters and how they are all interconnected was a little bit confusing. But ultimately the characters were well-written, plenty to dislike and plenty of quirky characters to fall in love with. #happyending #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

Boring, slow, didn't finish.

I found it to be an incredibly slow, boring plot with characters that were uninteresting and unlikable.

not up to her other books

I knew the outcome less than half way through and struggled to finish. I enjoyed her Very English Mystery books but was disappointed with this one.

Mediocre

What did you like best about The Frozen Lake? What did you like least?

Since I didn't hate this book, there had to be something I liked, but I can't think of it. I hate the way it was written! It would have been amazing if it were one of those slipping in and out of time stories, but this was written in a way that by the time the "mystery" was revealed, I already had it all figured out.

Would you recommend The Frozen Lake to your friends? Why or why not?

Nope. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend a book that is so poorly written and mostly boring.

What does Nicolette McKenzie bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She was a fair narrator. I think if I were reading this book or it had a bad narrator, I would have just put it down.

Do you think The Frozen Lake needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Please, no! I cannot take anymore of the melodrama of these dumb families and the panty-waist relatives.

Any additional comments?

I'm going to give this author one more shot, if that one is as stupid as this one, I'm not touching another of her books. I mean, in at least 20 years of the matriarch dominating her family to the point of emotional and verbal abuse, not one person, even her husband, has the nerve to stand up for one another? No thanks.

Another world

A book that takes you to another time and place. Engaging characters and a good sense of place.
Pre-war English society, heroes and villains and a satisfying conclusion.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Rather predictable and over long.

This story is well thought out and well read but there is a deal of frustration with the predictability. I quickly realised who the strangers really were but the end takes forever to get there. How dense/ ignorant can the characters be and how complicit in so many coverups? I listened to the end out of curiosity to see how neatly the ends were all tied up, but there were no surprises, and all the clues were dropped into the plot unsubtle to the end.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Nicolette McKenzie is a fabulous narrator!

I've just discovered Elizabeth Edmondson and have really enjoyed both this book, and the Villa in Italy. Exactly right for a Sunday afternoon in front of the fire on a rainy day in the Lake District. Quite convoluted in places and far fetched, but it's a story, and I love the era in which these books are set. The narration is spot on and really evokes the period. I'm nearly old enough to remember people talking like this, and find it very nostalgic! Will be purchasing other books by both the author, and narrator.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

A very enjoyable read

The author has presented us with an easy to follow story line with many interesting characters.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

A WOW of a super story!!!

This is truly a truly magnetic story that really holds the imagination for the reader many thanks.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

loved this book

Where does The Frozen Lake rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the nicest books very easy listening

Who was your favorite character and why?

Grandmother

What about Nicolette McKenzie’s performance did you like?

Good pace pleasing voice

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Slow start then definitely

Any additional comments?

do not like writing much as do not want to spoil story for others

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

A 'slow burn' book but very enjoyable

What made the experience of listening to The Frozen Lake the most enjoyable?

The narrator has a beautiful voice which made listening a pleasure. Her voice entirely suited the era in which the book was written

What did you like best about this story?

A very English setting and story and I enjoyed the portrayals of the various characters. I do not think I would have enjoyed reading the book but listening to it gave it more depth

What about Nicolette McKenzie’s performance did you like?

Her lovely very English voice

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No as it wasn't an exciting book and I could stop it at various times and then get right back into it

Any additional comments?

A well written and fascinating vintage story

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Enjoyable but slow

I did enjoy this but it was a slow starter. Basic story good although figured it out well before the end. It's not a book I would recommend but wouldn't slate it either.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

a slow burner

it's starts slowly, but builds to a excellent Finnish. a really enjoyable listen. very good

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Too many characters for an audio

Any additional comments?

This is quite possibly an unfair slur on an enjoyable novel as I am very severely ill but I just could not maintain the concentration of real care and interest in such a vast cast of characters. Those that strike a chord and whom one does develop more interest in, vanish because we switch scenes and coteries of characters too regularly. And we return too fleetingly to build any kind of concerned desire to continue finding out the fates and journeys these characters go on as their lives, no doubt, all interweave with more oomph and plot advancement.

Other audios have kept my attention whilst enduring shocking degrees of agony over days but this one wasn't to be. For someone better able to concentrate I am quite sure this is a decent book worth persevering with. If anything, I am disappointed I eventually gave up.

5 of 7 people found this review helpful