PINTEREST
BLOGLOVIN
GOODREADS
Published by Head of Zeus
Available in Ebook, Hardback and now Paperback (5 April 2018)
320 pages
Welcome to today’s blog tour to celebrate the paperback publication of The Room by the Lake. For my turn, I have an extract; other extracts can be found on some of blogs below.
EXTRACT
And it’s then that he appears.
Good-looking in a completely American way, bronzed and blondish and broad, miles from the willowy-sallow boys whose affections I’d half-heartedly craved at Oxford. I stare at him over the rim of my glass for several beats longer than I should, and he looks back and smiles and okay, this is a moment that is happening.
‘So, how long have you lived here?’ I ask, turning towards Jennifer, and as I half-listen to the response I’m thinking only about my own face, how it looks at this angle, what is he seeing when he looks at me?
Maybe he’s seeing right through me. Maybe he sees somebody who’s been called ‘so mature for your age’ her entire life and has never felt younger or more afraid. There’s a thickness in my throat, and I swallow down the rest of my wine, hard.
‘I’m just gonna investigate the drinks table,’ I smile, tilting myself past Jennifer, entirely conscious that I’m crossing his path. And I wait.
‘May I not recommend the pre-mixed Mojito?’ comes his voice, and I know it’s his voice somehow without turning around.
‘Oh, but I’d just decided I could really go for a Bacardi Silver!’ I say, turning with a playful smile.
‘I mean, don’t let me stop you, but… let me stop you. It’s not good.’
‘You’ve tried it?’
‘I brought it,’ he grimaces. ‘Sorry about that. It seemed summery, but I think it’s mostly corn syrup.’
‘You know what would be really slick is if you whipped out a cocktail shaker and the ingredients for a fresh Mojito right now. Just, like, you had them with you the whole time.’
‘Right. Saving them for the good people.’
He smiles at me.
‘I don’t really drink much,’ he says then, ‘hence the horrible beverage choice. But I hear you can’t go wrong with a gin and tonic.’
‘Actually, since we’re making confessions,’ I start, riding a brief wave of bravado, ‘I don’t really want another drink. I just came over here because I was hoping you’d talk to me.’
Bold. Brazen, even. I can be this girl for a while.
‘Wow. Well, I’m glad you did.’
My eyes feel wheel-wide in my head as I gaze at him, grinning, and he holds out a hand saying, ‘I’m Jake.’ When I take it he doesn’t shake but squeezes, and doesn’t let go.
And neither do I.
| About the Book |
Caitlin never meant to stay so long. But it’s strange how this place warps time. Out here, in the middle of nowhere, it’s easy to forget about the world outside.
It all happened so fast. She was lonely, broke, about to give up. Then she met Jake and he took her to his ‘family’: a close-knit community living by the lake. Each day she says she’ll leave but each night she’s back around their campfire. Staring into the flames. Reciting in chorus that she is nothing without them.
But something inside her won’t let go. A whisper that knows this isn’t right. Knows there is danger lurking in that quiet room down by the lake…
| Author Bio |
Emma Dibdin grew up in Oxford, and now lives in New York. She is a writer and journalist whose work has appeared in Esquire, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and Total Film. This is her first novel.
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