It’s always great to see a new title from a favourite author so I’m delighted to share that Liza Perratt has recently published a new book. Following the success of her most recent three Australian-set drama novels set in the 1960’s and 70’s, Liza has returned to France, home to her historical trilogy (The Bone Angel). Lake of Echoes is set in rural France and with a time frame of the 1960’s it encompasses a period of social change and unrest.

So what inspired Liza to write her latest book?

 I hankered to return to a backdrop of rural France, where I live. 

I’ve always loved history, but wanted this book, the first in a new French village series, to take place more recently, ie. the 1960s. In France, this was an interesting period of social change, revolution, and feminism. So, given that I write about strong female characters, this seemed like a good time period.

I have always been (a bit morbidly) fascinated by psychopaths, but I’m not a crime writer (others do it far better than me!). I’ve also also been fascinated, and horrified, for much of my life, by the disappearance of the Beaumont children, three Australian siblings, from Glenelg Beach in South Australia, in 1966. The children, aged 9, 7 and 4, like many other children of that time, were allowed to catch the bus to the beach and spend time there alone. That would never happen these days. 

Lake of Echoes explores both of these themes.

About the Book

A vanished daughter. A failing marriage. A mother’s life in ruins.

1969. As France seethes in the wake of social unrest, eight-year-old Juliette is caught up in the turmoil of her parents’ fragmenting marriage.
Unable to bear another argument, she flees her home.
Neighbours joining the search for Juliette are stunned that such a harrowing thing could happen in their tranquil lakeside village.
But this is nothing compared to her mother, Lea’s torment, imagining what has befallen her daughter.
Léa, though, must remain strong to run her auberge and as the seasons pass with no news from the gendarmes, she is forced to accept she may never know her daughter’s fate.
Despite the villagers’ scepticism, Léa’s only hope remains with a clairvoyant who believes Juliette is alive.
But will mother and daughter ever be reunited?

Steeped in centuries-old tradition, against an enchanting French countryside backdrop, Lake of Echoes will delight your senses and captivate your heart.

About the Author

I grew up in Australia, working as a general nurse and midwife, but I’ve now been living in France for twenty-seven years, working as a part-time medical translator and a novelist.

I am the author of the French historical The Bone Angel series: Three French village midwife-healers. Three stories spanning six hundred years. Three women linked by an ancient bone talisman and bonded by living through turbulent times: the Black Death (Blood Rose Angel), the French Revolution (Spirit of Lost Angels), and the WWII Nazi Occupation (Wolfsangel). Each brings its own threats and dangers, in this series based on real events. 

The first book in my Australian series, The Silent Kookaburra is a domestic noir, psychological suspense set in 1970s Australia. The second in the series, The Swooping Magpie, is currently under revision. The third in the series, The Lost Blackbird, based on real events, was published in August, 2020:

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