The Lake of Lost Girls

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, sexual content, and illness.

Lindsey Fadley serves as the novel’s protagonist, whose life has been fundamentally shaped by her sister, Jess’s, disappearance when Lindsey was only six years old. At 30, Lindsey lives at home with her parents, works as a front desk manager at a local hotel rather than pursuing broader ambitions, and defines herself primarily as “the sister of Jessica Fadley, the woman who vanished in ten seconds” (157)—details the novel frames as evidence that she remains suspended in the moment of her trauma. Her character therefore embodies the theme of Bearing the Destructive Weight of Unresolved Grief, as she has constructed her entire identity around a decades-old trauma that prevents her from developing new relationships or moving forward with her life.

Tired of living in her sister’s shadow, Lindsey demonstrates determination as she pursues the truth about Jess’s disappearance, even when that truth threatens to shatter her entire understanding of her family. Her tentative connection with Ryan McKay reveals both her vulnerability and her capacity for intuition, as she senses his deception despite her attraction to him.