Lake People by Abi Maxwell

Alice's narrative frames the story of the women who came before her.  Although many of the women are mysteriously drawn to die in the lake, those who resist the pull include Alice's great aunt Signe and her grandmother Sophie.

Moving from Alice's discovery of her true parents in 1982 back through time to her grandmother Sophie's childhood and forward again, the novel interweaves Alice's discovery of her family through a richly vibrant cast of characters. I wish I had thought to compile the following as I was reading instead of after:

Eleanora - mother to Ida and Signe

Ida- mother to Sophie

Signe - aunt and foster mother to Sophie

Sophie (m. Otto Wickholm) - mother to Malcolm and Karl

Karl - father to Alice (dies before she is born and his girlfriend Jennifer Hill abandons the baby in the Wickholm's boathouse)

Malcom - uncle to Alice (finds baby Alice in the boathouse)

Paul Thornton - foster father who adopts baby Alice

Clara Thornton (Cici) - foster mother who leaves when Alice is a baby (Alice later visits her as an adult)

Mike and June Shaw - professional ski racer and his wife (Mike befriends Malcolm and later Paul and Alice)

Josh - Alice's first husband

Simon - befriends Alice when she lives on the island

Rose - finds Alice's love letters and later plays matchmaker for Alice and Simon