At the turn of the century, Nogowogotoc Lake was considered the Newport of the Midwest, where some of the most affluent families from Milwaukee and Chicago spent their summers in luxurious "cottages" at the water's edge. The Story of the Lake weaves the tale of four of these families over the course of generations. With each decade another net of history, prejudice, love, and intrigue is cast over the surface of the lake, creating a more and more intricate pattern.

Joseph Ulrich of Kreuser Beer and his rival, "Pork Packing Prince" Walter Schraeger, vie for the hand of Alicia Bosquet, the flamboyant newcomer to the lake. Isabella Wells, the reclusive heiress to Milwaukee's finest department store, becomes dangerously involved with Margaret Sanger's early crusade. When her sister, Helen, tries to protest the end of Prohibition, she finds it is a force too great to contend with in the beer loving city of Milwaukee.

Strange incidents occur - a lake mansion is burned to the ground; Colin Hewitt, a young tannery heir, is discovered dead in the backseat of his half-submerged Mercedes. This often dark and disturbing American drama is full of gusts of lake air, filling the senses with a time and tradition that have mostly slipped away. A personal telling of family secrets as well as a reflection of the times, The Story of the Lake is the big, passionate family saga that finally gives the Midwest its due.