Gone-Away Lake was written by Elizabeth Enright and was illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush. It was first published in 1957 and again in 1985. You can find this book at Barnes and Noble. This book takes place during the 1950s.Eleven-year old Portia Blake always expects summer to be a special time, a time when she and her little brother Foster travel to the country to stay with their aunt and uncle. But nothing has prepared Portia and her cousin Julian for the surprise they find - a hidden swamp with dozens of old, broken-down houses lining the edge.
"A ghost-town" Portia calls it. But she and her cousin find an even bigger surprise. Someone is living in one of those spooky-looking houses.
Portia and Julian befriend Aunt Minnehaha and Uncle Pin, and claim one of the houses for a clubhouse. They have many adventures along Gone-Away Lake, the name of the swamp that was once a crystal blue lake. They get to know the old houses there. The one that is really special, though, is the largest, grandest house, the Villa Caprice - the one that might become the Blakes summer home.
A crystal blue lake that becomes a swamp sounds like a major change. I can imagine that life near a swamp would be very different, even if remnants of an earlier time, like homes, remained in good condition but I think they would deteriorate like the lake. Sounds interesting.
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