3.5 stars. I enjoyed the setting (boarding school for girls/young women through high school in pre WWI-era and beyond) and seeing how the relationships between the various characters developed. I got a little tired of hearing the main characters proclaim themselves "The Ladies of the Lake" over and over, but maybe this would be less annoying in print than it was on the audiobook. I was also very irritated by Dot's behavior, although I believe we readers were meant to be incensed by it.