We live about a mile south of Lake Ontario, so we drive the Ontario Parkway frequently. A common site is to look north across a cattail filled pond to see a row of houses, then the lake. It reminded me of a book I remembered called "Gone Away Lake" by Elizabeth Enright. I looked it up on the library's website and discovered that it was available as a book on tape. What a treat! It was interesting to listen to it as an adult and think about why it had appealed to me. I think it was the idea of finding a whole bunch of houses that had been abandoned, still totally filled with their original contents, and exploring them. That treasure hunting instinct... I was also interested to see how things had changed since the book was written in 1957. The main characters in this book would leave the house in the AM and not show back up until dinner and their parents didn't worry about them or call the police. Also, a 12 year old and a 6 year old were put on a train for an all-day journey and it wasn't a big deal. On the other hand, the older folks in the book living off the land and using the natural resources is as current as today's headlines. Fascinating!
There's a sequel called "Return to Gone Away". The library doesn't have it on tape, but maybe I'll get it out in book form and enjoy it soon, as well as some of the author's other works.
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