The Girls of Lake Evelyn

You cannot force me to marry him. For once, please let me choose...

It's 1958 and Vivienne George is due to marry Howard Woollcott III in the finest society wedding of the year. But when she realises she can't marry a man she doesn't love, she flees, with the help of her Uncle Felix, to a small town in tropical North Queensland.

Hidden away in a secluded lodge, Vivienne spends her days swimming in the beautiful lake nearby and getting to know kind Owen Monash, her only neighbour for miles. It may seem like the perfect place to escape her troubles, but there's something about this mysterious lodge and the lake outside which put Vivienne on edge.

When she meets Josie Monash, Owen's sister, she learns of Celeste Starr, a beautiful movie star who tragically died in the lake and spawned a curse that has plagued the girls of the town ever since. When Josie decides to stage a play about Celeste, with Vivienne in the lead role, it sets off a chain of dark events ... Is there any truth in the legend of the girls of Lake Evelyn? And how will Vivienne find the life she's always wanted when her past comes back to haunt her?

Society bride Vivienne has left her groom at the altar, fleeing the most anticipated wedding of 1958. With nowhere else to turn, she finds herself in the small town of Barrington Downs in tropical north Queensland. But the manor she thought would be her refuge seems to house a ghostly presence, amid stories of women lured to their drowning at the local lake. Also in Barrington Downs is Josie Monash, farmhand and aspiring actress, caring for her father and four older brothers on their dairy. Josie is determined to dispel the superstition around the lake by staging a play based on the life of the first drowning victim, the glamorous Celeste Star. When Vivienne and Josie's paths cross there is friendship, drama and intrigue, as well as family secrets to be revealed. Averil Kenny captures the warmth of female friendship as well as the playful familial bonds of the Monash clan. She conjures a humid, tropical, secretive atmosphere and weaves a web of secrets that touches almost everyone in the small town. The Girls of Lake Evelyn is at times florid and convoluted but also gripping and well-paced, with a satisfying final revelation. With its romance, mystery, family secrets, small-town characters and historical setting, the novel is sure to appeal to fans of Fiona McIntosh and Belinda Alexandra. Fay Helfenbaum is a freelance writer and editor and was a bookseller for five years.

Averil Kenny grew up on a dairy farm and began work in the tourism industry at a young age. She studied Education at James Cook University, before completing a Bachelor of Journalism at the University of Queensland. She currently lives in Far North Queensland with her husband and four children. When not dreaming up stories, she can be found nestled in her favourite yellow wingback chair, reading and sipping tea, in her library overlooking the rainforest. Her first novel, Those Hamilton Sisters, was released in 2020 and has been published in the UK and Sweden. The Girls of Lake Evelyn is her second novel.

A runaway bride escapes to tropical North Queensland, where she finds a mysterious lake with secrets of its own... You cannot force me to marry him. For once, please let me choose... It's 1958 and Vivienne George is due to marry Howard Woollcott III in the finest society wedding of the year. But when she realises she can't marry a man she doesn't love, she flees, with the help of her Uncle Felix, to a small town in tropical North Queensland. Hidden away in a secluded lodge, Vivienne spends her days swimming in the beautiful lake nearby and getting to know kind Owen Monash, her only neighbour for miles. It may seem like the perfect place to escape her troubles, but there's something about this mysterious lodge and the lake outside which put Vivienne on edge. When she meets Josie Monash, Owen's sister, she learns of Celeste Starr, a beautiful movie star who tragically died in the lake and spawned a curse that has plagued the girls of the town ever since. When Josie decides to stage a play about Celeste, with Vivienne in the lead role, it sets off a chain of dark events ... Is there any truth in the legend of the girls of Lake Evelyn? And how will Vivienne find the life she's always wanted when her past comes back to haunt her?

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