Lost Lake characters

Appears from the start

A young widow who has moved through the year since her husband Matt's death in a state of numb dependence. As she begins to make decisions again, an old postcard reminds her of Lost Lake, where she spent a transformative childhood summer. She takes her daughter there before accepting the future others have arranged for her.

Appears from the start

Kate's imaginative eight-year-old daughter. Devin responds to her father's death and her mother's long withdrawal by embracing stories, costumes, and the possibility of magic. Her curiosity helps bring Kate back into contact with other people when they travel to Lost Lake.

Appears from the start

Kate's great-aunt and the owner of Lost Lake, a cabin resort in Georgia. Eby built a life there with her late husband, George, after their unconventional honeymoon. Now elderly and tired of maintaining a fading business, she is preparing to sell the property and disperse the small community attached to it.

First appears in chapter 2

Eby's late husband and partner in creating the life they shared at Lost Lake. Memories of George, including the journey that began their marriage, remain embedded in the resort and shape Eby's uncertainty about letting it go.

First appears in chapter 3

Kate's childhood friend at Lost Lake, now an adult living near the resort. Wes carries his own history of loss and has remained connected to the place Kate left behind. Their reunion restores an intimacy that began during her single summer there.

First appears in chapter 3

A longtime Lost Lake guest and retired teacher whose love of stories makes her receptive to Devin's imagination. Bulahdeen understands that the resort's final gathering is about more than nostalgia and helps hold its scattered community together.

First appears in chapter 3

A glamorous, self-protective regular at Lost Lake. Selma collects charms connected to former relationships and treats romantic attachment as something that can be controlled through ritual. Her confidence conceals how much she fears being unwanted.

First appears in chapter 4

A quiet French woman who came into Eby and George's life during their travels and later made Lost Lake her home. Lisette does not speak, communicating instead through expression, gesture, and her attentive care for the resort and its people.

First appears in chapter 5

An older man who returns to Lost Lake as part of its dwindling circle of regular guests. Jack's feelings for Bulahdeen have endured despite the habits and missed opportunities that have kept them from building a life together.

Appears from the start

Kate's forceful mother-in-law. After Matt's death, Cricket stepped into Kate's suspended life and began directing practical decisions for Kate and Devin. She believes she is protecting them, but her certainty leaves little room for Kate to recover her own judgment.