60 pages • 2 hours read
Carley FortuneMeet Me at the Lake
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Coffee
Coffee is one of Fern’s favorite things, and the state of coffee is used to symbolize her outlook throughout different moments in the novel. In Chapter 4, Fern makes coffee for Will. The way she makes it shows her feelings for him: Not only does Fern make Will his coffee exactly how he likes it, reading into the fact that he might want more than three sugars—she makes him special latte art. Fern’s extra attention to detail and special way of making coffee for Will symbolizes her excitement and attraction to him.
In the present, Fern’s coffee at the resort begins badly. Fern explains that the coffee from the pod coffee maker is “too hot and too weak” (49), and describes her first sip as “unsatisfying” (49). This bad coffee symbolizes how Fern is struggling with her time at the resort and not enjoying herself. When she serves this coffee to Will, their conversation ends in an emotional confrontation, where Fern asks Will for the first time about why he abandoned her nine years ago. The bad coffee symbolizes the negative emotions Fern feels about the resort and Will.
However, Fern turns her outlook on the resort around in Chapter 7. She gets serious about running the resort, and she buys a French press to commemorate the decision. Fern realizes: “I don’t have to drink coffee like my Mom did, and I don’t have to run the resort like her either” (70). Fern’s steps toward improving her situation at the resort and her coffee simultaneously show how Fern feels optimistic about potential good times at Brookbanks. The French press symbolizes this as a source of potential good coffee days to come.
In the past, when Will must quickly leave the morning after his first day with Fern, there is no time for her to make coffee for the two of them. This lack of coffee reflects Fern’s lack of direction with Will leaving. She is uncertain if she will see him again, and she worries he’ll leave her life for good.
Coffee symbolism ends on a positive note in Chapter 28, after Will and Fern begin cohabitating. Fern raves, “the coffee is strong […] and Will is in the kitchen” (300). Fern and Will’s mornings filled with good, strong coffee represent how their relationship is strong and how Fern’s life has taken a positive direction because of Will.
Music
Throughout the novel, the presence of music conveys affection and love between two parties. This begins in Chapter 4, when Fern tells Will about her shared love of music with Peter. She narrates: “Peter and I communicated through music. Mom called it out secret language” (31). As a means of showing affection, Peter and Fern make playlists for one another regularly. The sharing of music between them establishes music as a representation of affection and love. In this same scene, music is one of the first things Fern and Will bond over. When Will asks for music, Fern explains: “He’d found my weak spot in record time” (31). Will expresses that he loves one of the songs Fern puts on, and Fern observes, “he was funny and hot and had good taste in music” (32). The presence of music early in Fern and Will’s relationship symbolizes their blossoming attraction.
Music continues to be an important part of their first day together as they visit the record store, Fern declaring that she’d choose Patti Smith’s Horses as her one record from the store if she could afford one. This is an important detail in the future, when Will presents her with Horses as a way of communicating: “You do know me. And I know you, too” (135). Will’s gesture reassures Fern that he remembers who she is deep down and has affection for the real version of her. His gift of music symbolizes his familiarity and fondness for Fern that he’s held on to all this time. Music is also blaring when Fern and Will dance sensually at the venue in Chapter 14, representing the amplification of their attraction to one another.
In the present day, as Fern and Peter grieve Maggie’s death, Fern notices that Peter no longer plays music in the pastry kitchen. When she asks him about it, Peter explains that music reminds him of Maggie “walk[ing] through that door and tell[ing] me to turn it down” (227), and that he’ll play music again when he’s ready for a day when she doesn’t. After Peter has had time to grieve the love of his life and to read Maggie’s old diaries, Fern notices “one sunny day in late October, I hear music before I enter [the pastry kitchen]” (300). The return of Peter’s music represents the way he’s ready to feel love again after mourning Maggie for so long. Music also represents Fern’s happy ending, as she narrates that after Will moves in, every morning, “the coffee is strong and the music is playing” (300). The music playing each morning symbolizes how each morning is full of love and happiness.
Lemons
Lemons symbolize the attraction between Will and Fern. In Chapter 6, Will offers Fern a lemon hard candy from the tin in his pocket. He later explains: “I like anything lemon flavored” (60). Fern recalls a memory where Jamie declared: “You’re a lemon tart. You’re a bit sour, Fernie. But in a good way—in the way that makes the sweet taste better” (61). When Will reveals his affinity for lemon-flavored things, Fern takes it as a sign that he might be interested in her. Fern reveals Jamie’s association between her and lemons later and notices “Will’s chest rise and fall” (196). The emphasis on Will’s body language suggests his acknowledgment of the link between his love for lemon and his attraction to Fern.
During their courtship in the present, Will and Fern share many bottles of lemon-flavored seltzer water, and Peter prepares them “lemon squares Peter knows Will likes best” (302). The ongoing presence of lemon in their relationship symbolizes Will’s ongoing attraction to Fern.
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