Ratings6
Average rating3.8
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A poignant and tender story of love, loss, passion, and the fragile threads that bind families together from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale “A beautifully simple, deeply compassionate story.”—Diana Gabaldon Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school abroad. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Alone in the house that is no longer a home, Annie comes to the painful realization that for years she has been slowly disappearing. Lonely and afraid, she retreats to Mystic, the small Washington town where she grew up, hoping that there she can reclaim the woman she once was—the woman she is now desperate to become again. In Mystic, she is reunited with her first love, Nick Delacroix, a recent widower unable to cope with his grieving, too-silent six-year-old daughter, Izzie. Together, the three of them begin to heal, and, at last, Annie learns that she can love without losing herself. But just when she has found a second chance at happiness, her life is turned upside down again, and Annie must make a choice no woman should have to make. . . . Praise for On Mystic Lake “Marvelous . . . a touching love story . . . You know a book is a winner when you devour it in one evening and hope there’s a sequel. . . . This page-turner has enough twists and turns to keep the reader up until the wee hours of the morning.”—USA Today “Superb . . . I’ll heartily recommend On Mystic Lake to any woman . . . who demands that a story leave her in a satisfied glow.”—The Washington Post Book World “A luminescent story . . . Kristin Hannah touches the deepest, most tender corners of our hearts.”—Tami Hoag “Excellent . . . On Mystic Lake is an emotional experience you won’t soon forget.”—Rocky Mountain News “Propels readers forward to the final chapter.”—The Seattle Times
Reviews with the most likes.
This was a sad and depressing novel. I wanted to stop reading it a bunch of times, but kept on reading for some reason. Probably because this got high ratings and she’s got several top selling books out now. I did like the ending. I may read one or two of her other books, but not until next year. The little girl, Izzy in the book was so darn cute. And, I was rooting for a happy ending for the protagonist, Annie.
I finished this novel while mourning the disappearance of my cat. She was here one day, gone the next. Reading it helped me focus on something besides all the horrible things I imagined happening to her. To have the novel start with Blake Colwater telling his wife of 20 years, Annie, “I want a divorce,” is about as shocking as losing your cat.
Annie's retreat from southern California to the Pacific Northwest made me wish I could follow her. In fact, I sort of did. Virtually anyway. Annie stayed with her dad to recover/reorient her life. Of course, she ran into her old sweetheart, Nick, but this wasn't a simple ‘boy gets girl back' story. Not by a long shot.
Nick had his own issues, including a deceased wife and a mourning, young daughter who not only didn't speak anymore, but thought she was disappearing, one limb at a time. At first, it looked like the story would be Annie stepping into a new family. But that wasn't to be.
The roll coaster ride through love, commitment, and honor keeps the reader off balance until the very end. That said, without giving anything away, the end was very satisfying. It really helped me forget about my missing cat for a little while anyway.