Lakewood by Megan Giddings
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Lena’s Grandmother was the matron of their little family, helping to take care of both Lena, and Lena’s Mom, who suffers from a chronic illness. So, when Lena’s Grandma passes away, it leaves a big hole in that regard.
Soon it’s clear that the family has a lot of debt and practically no income. Lena must therefore do whatever she can to try to make ends meet for her and her Mom.
Even though she’s enrolled in college, Lena knows she needs to get high-paying work as soon as she can, which may mean putting her studies on hold for awhile. Unfortunately, the job market is depressing as heck and not offering her a lot of opportunities.
Starting to despair, Lena then learns about a chance to participate in some sort of medical or psychological experiment. She’s intrigued. After pursuing it, it seems almost too good to be true.
The downfall, she’ll have to move from home, to the remote town of Lakewood. Her Mom would be alone, which makes her most nervous of all, but arrangements can be made.
With her participation, Lena will get free housing and the pay is very high, more than she could ever make anywhere else given her current options. Additionally, free healthcare for both her and her Mom. She can’t pass that up.
She has to keep her participation 100% secret though. She needs to lie to family and friends. She even signs an NDA to that effect. Luckily, they’ve come up with a believable cover story for her.
The heart of the story follows Lena moving to Lakewood and taking part in the program. She’s recording everything that happens each day, at least what she can remember, writing it down in a letter format and then hiding it, for reasons I won’t go into here.
I liked the way Giddings chose to format Lena’s perspective. It felt very personal, the way she was recounting all that was happening. I felt like that friend receiving the letters.
I also found Lena to be a very empathetic character. She was so honest about everything, and as the Reader, you see this young person struggling, she’s got so much on her plate, and she’s willing to do anything to help her family. Including potentially putting herself at risk.
She’s smart, she’s tough, she’s someone you root for through thick and thin. Lakewood is full of mysteries and the experiments continually get stranger and more dangerous.
The other people who are participating all add their own levels of drama and intrigue to the story as well. The way this softly intensifies throughout is chef’s kiss. I would realize in various moments that I was feeling fear, but I had no idea why. It made for such a cool reading experience.
While it did have a bit of a slow start, I think the pay off was well worth sticking with it. I appreciated the spotlight it shined on medical experimentation and the racial injustices historically witnessed in such practices.
Side recommendation for the non-fiction book, Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, that I feel could pair nicely with reading this one.
Overall, I think this is a stellar debut. It left me with a lot to think about. I loved the tone and mood of the writing, the topics explored, and Lena as a protagonist. I would recommend it to fans of When No One Is Watching and The Other Black Girl.
For me, it was the shadow organization feel that I really vibed with. The uneasiness of following Lena’s day-to-day existence in this strange place, with even stranger things happening to her, it was powerful. I’m looking forward to picking up more from Megan Giddings!