But something is just not right about the place. Their otherwise well-behaved children always seem to run wild on that beach with a kind of frantic energy that gives parents pause, sending a shiver down their spines even as they resolve to limit the sugary treats in their children’s lunches the next time. Friends and lovers argue, the anger seemingly coming from nowhere. Wives grow testy and annoyed with their husbands, who seem withdrawn and depressed, despite the blue sky and clear water.
And nobody lingers there too long, for fear that the madness is catching.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Readers ask me if I base my characters on real people, and usually the answer is no, not entirely. Snippets of someone’s conversation here, a description there. And that’s true with this book, too, but as I was writing Simon, I couldn’t get the voice of my darling friend Ken Anderson out of my head, as though he demanded to be written into the story. （He’d totally do that, by the way.） Simon has a whole lot of Ken in him. It was so gratifying to hear my agent and my editors, the first readers of this book, say: “Simon is so much fun! I love him!” I do, too.
Speaking of my agent and editors . . . I am profoundly lucky to have my wonderful, delightful agent, Jennifer Weltz, and her amazing team at the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency representing me. Jennifer has been my invaluable sounding board, champion, lioness, and friend throughout the years. Plus she makes me laugh every single time we talk. Jennifer, I adore you.
To my stellar team at Lake Union: Danielle Marshall, Faith Black Ross, Kelli Martin, Alicia Clancy, Gabriella Dumpit, Ashley Vanicek, the amazing copyeditors （I bow to your superb attention to detail）， and everyone else who works on my behalf, thank you for your faith in me, for your hard work, and for loving this story as much as I do.
To the independent booksellers who carry my books, get them into the hands of new readers, and graciously invite me into your stores to meet them, you have made my career, and I am eternally grateful to you.
And to my readers. Thank you so very, very much for coming along for the ride. Get in touch, send me an email with your thoughts, follow me on Instagram or Facebook and let me know how you liked this tale.
Finally, readers of my last book, The End of Temperance Dare, may have picked up on the fact that I set this story in the same community of Wharton, a small portside town of my own invention on Lake Superior. Wharton exists in my own imagination, and now, yours, but a real place is the inspiration for it. Bayfield, Wisconsin.
To me, Bayfield is a mystical, magical place steeped in Lake Superior legend and lore, overlooking the magnificent Apostle Island National Lakeshore, a string of twenty-one islands of indescribable beauty in my beloved harsh, powerful, and awe-inspiring inland sea.
Every summer I make sure to get to Bayfield at least once, most often for my birthday in August. For a very significant birthday, I rented out my favorite place, a Victorian inn called Le Chateau Boutin, and hosted my closest friends and family for a weekend none of us will ever forget. Le Chateau is the inspiration for Harrison’s House—if you google it, you’ll recognize it from my descriptions. It’s not similarly haunted . . . that I know of . . . and there are no dark secrets lurking in any of the corners. It’s simply wonderful and relaxing and lovely, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to experience Wharton for real.
About that inland sea, Lake Superior. It’s a character in this book, much more so than in any of my others. You should know a few things if you’re a newcomer to the greatest of lakes. Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world, is an ancient, powerful, vengeful, and, by turns, peaceful, calming, healing body of water unlike no other on the face of this planet.
The native peoples who lived on its shores called it Gitche Gumee （a rough translation） and believed that the lake itself was a great spirit, to whom the people gave offerings and gifts before setting out on any journey by boat. They knew the lake could be protective and welcoming and also murderous and sly, and they knew the lake was fickle. Best to appease it at the outset.
The creature young Jess saw when he discovered baby Addie is a real Lake Superior legend, Michi Peshu, an underwater deity. Ancient pictographs around the lake depict him, especially on the Canadian side.
By the way, this isn’t just an ancient, old-fashioned belief. People who live on Lake Superior to this day, myself included, will tell you it really does seem to be a living thing.
DAUGHTERS OF THE LAKE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
The lore and legend of Lake Superior centers on the lake being a great spirit, Gitche Gumee. What are your thoughts on nature and the divine?
Addie exhibits pure love while Jess blunders his way through. Is he ultimately to blame for her death?
What would you come back from the dead to set right?
Do you believe love lives on after death?
Were Addie and Jess meant for each other? Did the lake choose him for her?
Did Celeste lose her mind, or was she calculated when she went to Addie’s that night in the fog?
Both Harrison and Jess are deeply flawed but, at the same time, sympathetic characters. Is ambition the reason for their downfalls? Could you live with such a flawed partner?
Who is the angry spirit in the house?
Why does the lake choose this time to allow Addie to wash up on Kate’s beach? Is it to finally right the wrong of Jess’s trial, or is it to save Kate?
Fog envelops Addie the day of her birth and the night of her death. What is the significance of this?
When Kate becomes ice cold and starts shivering, what is happening to her?
What is it about Wharton that invites otherworldly happenings?
Would you vacation at Harrison’s House if you could?
The character of Simon is based on a real-life friend of Wendy’s. Who would you put into a book, and why?
If you could ask Addie and Kate each one question, what would it be?
If you could ask Wendy one question about this book, what would it be?
DAUGHTERS OF THE LAKE AUTHOR Q&A I wrote these discussion questions to spark conversation in book clubs—I love my loyal book club readers. Then I thought it would be fun to answer these questions myself. So here are my thoughts. But my answers are no more valid than yours. This story is open to your interpretation, too.
1. The lore and legend of Lake Superior centers on the lake being a great spirit, Gitche Gumee. What are your thoughts on nature and the divine?
I lived on Lake Superior for sixteen years, and I can tell you without a doubt that there’s something otherworldly and divine about that lake.
2. Addie exhibits pure love while Jess blunders his way through. Is he ultimately to blame for her death?
Jess’s infidelities are ultimately the cause of Addie’s death, but she doesn’t blame him, so I won’t, either.
3. What would you come back from the dead to set right?
Any wrong involving someone I loved. My beloved wrongly accused of my murder? I’d be back here in a nanosecond.
4. Do you believe love lives on after death?
My mom recently passed after sixty-three years of marriage to my dad. He still talks to her every day. So, yes. I believe it. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.
5. Were Addie and Jess meant for each other? Did the lake choose him for her?
Yes, the lake chose Jess for Addie the day she was born.
6. Did Celeste lose her mind, or was she calculated when she went to Addie’s that night in the fog?