Lake life

Summary: "The Starling family is scattered across the country. Parents Richard and Lisa live in Ithaca, New York, and work at Cornell University. Their son Michael, a shoe salesman, resides with his elementary school teacher wife, Diane, in Dallas. His brother, Thad, an aspiring poet, makes his home in New York City with his famous painter boyfriend, Jake. But for years they've reunited for vacation each summer at their North Carolina lake house. Now that's about to end, as Richard and Lisa have decided to retire, move to Florida, and sell the lake house. Before they do, the group will spend one final weekend at the lake. However, what's supposed to be a joyous farewell takes a nightmarish turn when they witness a neighbor boy drown. The stress of this tragedy unlooses a series of dramatic revelations among the Starlings: Michael's alcoholism, Thad's and Jake's open relationship, Richard's infidelity, Diane's pregnancy, Lisa's loss of a daughter before the birth of her two sons. As the weekend unfolds, the family's strength is tested, and each member is forced to reckon with who they are and what they want out of life. Set in contemporary America, Lake Life is a sprawling domestic novel in the mold of John Updike's Rabbit series, Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections and Elizabeth Stroud's Olive Kitteridge"--