Author Talk: Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, “Lake Effect”

Darien Library and Barrett Bookstore welcome author Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, who will talk about her new book, Lake Effect. Cynthia, author of the bestselling novel, The Nest, will be in conversation with local editor and interviewer Demetra Ganias.

This event will take place on Tuesday, June 2nd at 7 p.m. in the Community Room.

The novel, set first in 1977 in Rochester, New York, is a portrait of two neighbor families forever upended by one affair, and the decades of love, loss, and reckoning that follow.

The book explores questions that have long fascinated D’Aprix Sweeney: “What happens when the mores of society suddenly change, and previously closed doors swing wide open? When options that were once verboten, are suddenly possible? What do we do when our desires threaten the comfort and security of the people we loved first?” Tapping into the current zeitgeist of stories about women in their 40s rediscovering their sexuality, D’Aprix Sweeney’s novel deftly reminds us that these longings are not new. She captures well what it was like back then for a woman to explore her own agency and desire as rising divorce rates began to reshape American families, a phenomenon she remembers with “crystal clarity” from her own youth and the “scared and queasy” feeling it produced.

About the Book
In Lake Effect we meet Nina Larkin, a homemaker in her mid-40s whose marriage is in a deep slumber. When a newly divorced friend gives her a copy of The Joy of Sex, Nina begins to question the lack of passion in her life and soon finds it in an intoxicating affair with a next door neighbor with a high profile in town. Their choice to put “their love first” detonates their marriages and makes a splash in their community, leaving a legacy of consequences that will follow their children, especially Nina’s daughter Clara, for decades. Years later, Clara, now a successful professional, is drawn back home and must finally confront the scandal that has shaped her life.

With its deeply relatable characters and a story that spans over three decades, Lake Effect is a “sink into the pages and curl up all weekend” kind of read, with a tender ending that has moved many to tears.

About the Author
Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney is the author of the instant New York Times bestselling novels The Nest (named a best book of the year by People, the Washington Post, and NPR) and Good Company (a Read with Jenna selection). She has been a guest on Today, Late Night with Seth Meyers and NPR’s All Things Considered.

Her work has been translated into more than twenty-eight languages, and The Nest is in development as a limited series with AMC Studios. Sweeney holds an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She and her husband live in New York City.

About Demetra Ganias
Demetra Ganias is a sought-after host, public speaking coach, media trainer, and the founder of Ganias Media Lab, a public speaking platform where she uses her expertise to propel clients and transform their careers. In addition, she is an editor for The Local Moms Network — a media company that gives moms the gift of time. Local Moms offers resources, profiles of moms, and an engaging community to get moms through the ups and downs of motherhood.

Share with friends