A "Devine" Reading Experience

The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman is one of those books that make you want to go out and buy the author's entire backlist as soon as you read it. This book is well-written, well-paced, funny, poignant and relevant. It's a really fast read and once you pick it up you won't want to put it down.

The story centers around a Jewish girl named Natalie Marx. The first part of the book takes place in the 60s during Natalie's childhood. After seeing an add for the title in in a magazine Natalie's mother writes the inn for information. The proprietress politely writes back "Gentiles Only".

This is Natalie's first experience with blatant anti-semitism. She quickly becomes obsessed with the inn. On a summer trip to Vermont she convinces her family to masquerade as gentiles to see if they can get a room.

The second part of the book takes place after Natalie graduates from college. A childhood friend is marrying the son of the proprietors. Natalie returns to the inn for the wedding and her life changes forever.

Part of the joy of this book is the way the author handles heavy subjects in this book with out being heavy-handed or preachy. Highly recommended.