The narrative of The Lantern is told by two alternating voices, Eve and Bénédicte. Both stories take place at Les Genévriers (The Junipers), a decaying farmhouse in France.

American Eve and her English boyfriend Dominic met on the shores of Lake Geneva, quickly fell in love, and moved to the moldering but romantic Les Genévriers. Dom has made a fortune through a computer company that he sold just before the economic downturn. Eve is a writer trying to make a living as a translator. Once they move in together, their old lives – families, friends, jobs, countries – recede into the past and they are completely absorbed in each other.

Elderly Bénédicte is the last member of the family that owned and farmed Les Genévriers for generations. Her tale is set decades in the past, as she recounts her childhood, her troubled relationship with her brother, the remarkable life of her blind sister, and her time spent working in the lavender fields during the war.

At first, the lives of the two women don’t seem to have much in common, aside from living at Les Genévriers. However, as the book goes on, connections start to be made. Eve hears noises that cannot be explained. She encounters strong scents that seem to have no source. She sees shadowy figures and strange lights. Meanwhile, in the past, Bénédicte is visited by ghosts – her brother, her sister, and the spirits of strangers she does not recognize.

Hanging over Eve’s life is the shadow of her boyfriend’s ex-wife Rachel, whom Dom refuses to discuss. An acquaintance hints that Dom is not what he appears, and wonders where Rachel is. Eve begins to question her “perfect” relationship with Dom. It took a few chapters for the book to draw me in, but once it did I had a hard time putting it down. The characters were not especially memorable, but the language was lovely and the plot had enough original elements to keep me interested. I foresaw some of the twists at the end, but others surprised me.

The Lantern is spooky with a sinister undertone. There is some implied violence and one scene of animal abuse. Overall, however, it is a romance in the tradition of gothic fiction. The Lantern owes much to the classic novels Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier and The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, but it also reminded me of The Distant Hours by Kate Morton. If you like a romantic mystery, check out The Lantern.

What if you didn't know what you lover was hiding in his past?

2nd read:
Still delightful.

1st read:
Eve falls in love with the secretive Dom while in Switzerland. Their relationship leads them to the South of France where they purchase an old farmhouse. Their days are filled with love, music, and the scents of summer. However, Eve sees a change in Dom as they move into the autumn and she begins to question him about his previous wife. Additional, their home is haunted by past residents.

This novel is filled with scents and scenery. You can smell the lavender fields through her description. I have never read a book that activated my smell sensory like Deborah Lawrenson does. She describes the Provence landscape in a way that puts you there.

Lawrenson does an excellent job of entwining the past and the present.

I wanted to like the book. It was billed as similar to Daphne Du Maurier's Rebeccs which is my all time favorite book, but it just wasn't as good or even close to as good. It felt like characters kept getting dumped into the plot line awkwardly and the conclusion seemed rushed.

"Meeting Dom was the most incredible thing that had ever happened to me. When Eve falls for the secretive, charming Dom in Switzerland, their whirlwind relationship leads them to Les Genévriers, an abandoned house set among the fragrant lavender fields of the South of France. Each enchanting day delivers happy discoveries: hidden chambers, secret vaults, a beautiful wrought-iron lantern. Deeply in love and surrounded by music, books, and the heady summer scents of the French countryside, Eve has never felt more alive. But with autumn’s arrival the days begin to cool, and so, too, does Dom. Though Eve knows he bears the emotional scars of a failed marriage—one he refuses to talk about—his silence arouses suspicion and uncertainty. The more reticent Dom is to explain, the more Eve becomes obsessed with finding answers—and with unraveling the mystery of his absent, beautiful ex-wife, Rachel. Like its owner, Les Genévriers is also changing. Bright, warm rooms have turned cold and uninviting; shadows now fall unexpectedly; and Eve senses a presence moving through the garden. Is it a ghost from the past or a manifestation of her current troubles with Dom? Can she trust Dom, or could her life be in danger? Eve does not know that Les Genévriers has been haunted before. Bénédicte Lincel, the house’s former owner, thrived as a young girl within the rich elements of the landscape: the violets hidden in the woodland, the warm wind through the almond trees. She knew the bitter taste of heartbreak and tragedy—long-buried family secrets and evil deeds that, once unearthed, will hold shocking and unexpected consequences for Eve."

I was disappointed in this book. I had trouble following the transitions from chapter to chapter as the narrator changed. Just felt that there was a lot missing. Meh,

This suspenseful, lush novel expertly transports the reader to the Provençal countryside, where mysteries aplenty await in brief, alternating chapters. Who is lying? Everyone. What can the ghosts tell you? Everything. Will history repeat itself? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Breathe in the lavender, walk in the sun, open the shutters…and don’t trust anyone. Highly recommended!

I loved this - haunting, lovely, lush, and with a sweet, if creepy, ending. Fantastic read.

Gothic, Rebecca-like story.

I really enjoyed this book. I really don't want to give any of the story away, but it is a bit of a mix. My only two complaints would be the story is told from two first person perspectives, but not in the beginning so it gets a bit confusing at first. Secondly, the writing is good, but tends to get very wordy in the first several chapters. By wordy I means overly descriptive to the point of distraction. It does calm down though and is overall an excellent read.

i enjoyed this book and the writing. nothing is what it seems to be and what really happens is heartbreaking. a very good read.