The Deepest Lake

By Andromeda Romano-Lax

A grieving mother goes undercover to investigate her daughter’s mysterious death at a luxury memoir-writing workshop on the shores of Lake Atitlán, Guatemala in this atmospheric thriller for fans of HBO's The White Lotus, Lisa Jewell, and Ashley Audrain. Includes an excerpt of What Boys Learn, the standalone suspense novel from Andromeda Romano-Lax about a high school guidance counselor's growing fear that her son may have had a role in the deaths of two teenage girls in a wealthy Chicago suburb. Rose, the mother of twentysomething aspiring writer Jules, has waited three months for answers about her daughter’s death. Why was she swimming alone when she feared the water? Why did she stop texting days before she was last seen? When the official investigation rules the death an accidental drowning, the body possibly lost forever in Central America’s deepest lake, an unsatisfied Rose travels to the memoir workshop herself. She hopes to draw her own conclusion—and find closure. When Rose arrives, she is swept into the curious world created by her daughter’s literary hero, the famous writing teacher Eva Marshall, a charismatic woman known for her candid—and controversial—memoirs. As Rose uncovers details about the days leading up to Jules’s disappearance, she begins to suspect that this glamorous retreat package is hiding ugly truths. Is Lake Atitlán a place where traumatized women come to heal or a place where deeper injury is inflicted? The Deepest Lake is both a sharp look at the sometimes toxic, exclusionary world of high-class writing workshops and an achingly poignant view of a mother’s grief.

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Published Apr 29, 2025

400 pages

Average rating: 7.67

9 RATINGS

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ValerieRuiz
8/10 stars
The Deepest Lake follows Rose, a mom searching for answers after her daughter Jules dies mysteriously at a fancy memoir workshop in Guatemala. Jules was terrified of water, so it didn't make sense that she drowned. Rose digs into the workshop’s secrets and the strange leader running it. It’s a tense story about grief, control, and what people do to heal (or hurt) each other. The more Rose uncovers, the more dangerous the truth becomes. At not one but two different Barnes & Noble locations, a bookseller hyped this book up to me. And honestly? I think they hyped it just a smidge 🤏🏽 too much. Don’t get me wrong—the book was good, and the twists caught me off guard—but based on their excitement, I spent 75% of the book waiting for the big “OMG” moment that never fully delivered 🥴. The twists were twisty, sure, but it didn’t quite live up to that level of hype. That said, I really enjoyed the international setting in Guatemala and loved seeing Spanish woven into the dialogue (don’t worry, it’s translated). It’s rare to come across a book that blends cultures like that, and it added something unique and refreshing. If someone asks if they should read it, I’d say yes—it’s a solid read. But I definitely won’t be out here shouting from rooftops. Now that I think about it… did those booksellers just play me with top-tier sales skills?? 🤔😝