Lori Knowles debut novel features Muskoka inspired scenes – book launch on May 11

Author Lori Knowles loves to read. She loves to read about different places, families, strong women and especially underdogs.

Having read books with those narratives set in New York City, Nantucket, Charleston, or Cornwall, England, or other beautiful places, Knowles felt it was time to make Muskoka – specifically a lake and a cottage in the area – as the main setting.

“I read these books and I think, wow, there is never a book that I connect with so deeply that is actually written in Muskoka,” she says. “So, I thought I might as well be the person to write that book. So I wrote it.”

Knowles debut novel, Summers with Miss Elizabeth, aims to connect with both fulltime residents and cottagers in Muskoka.

“There are so many cottagers whose families just keep coming and coming, they might be on the fourth generation and they have this connection to the place that is emotional and they love it . . . it’s in their blood,” says Knowles. “The family that I write about, the Wynwards, that’s the family.”

The fictional family is led by a dynamo woman named Elizabeth Wynward, a steel magnate from Pittsburgh who is beautiful, well-known, and has “everything.”

Though on the surface everything appears to be a perfect life, the fact is that Miss Elizabeth sacrificed her family life for financial and career success. Two generations later, there many issues to be resolved and problems to be solved.

“Then something hard happens to the family and they’re torn away from the lake, they don’t want to go back to the lake, because of what happened,” explains Knowles, who only refers to it as a lake in Muskoka in the novel. ““I know in my head exactly where this is, but I don’t state that in the book because I want anyone reading it to be able to envision it happening on their lake.”

It’s up to the one member of their family, an orphan taken on by Miss Elizabeth as a ward and raised alongside her grandchildren, to bring them all back together.

What happened to the Wynwards? Do they make it back to the cottage? Are the issues resolved?

All those answers, and more, are in the novel.

A book launch for Summers with Miss Elizabeth will be held on Saturday, May 11 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at The Boathouse in Taboo Resort near Gravenhurst. Signed copies will be available during the launch.

About the author

Knowles is well known for her writing work as a Canadian journalist, former Toronto Sun columnist, and co-editor of Ski Canada magazine.

But, like all professional writers, she delves into the fictional side on occasion and her Lori’s Stories substack is filled with delightful tales.

To learn more or order a copy directly from the author (paperback or e-Book), visit https://loriknowles.com/

And stay tuned for more as Knowles is set to be an upcoming guest on The Chris O Show podcast.