Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Archewell Productions has reportedly secured the film rights to the bestselling romance novel Meet Me at the Lake by author Carley Fortune. According to The Sun, both Markle and Prince Harry intend to work on a film adaptation of the acclaimed book. Fans have pointed out that the story has some similarities with Markle and Prince Harry’s own love story, which may not be a coincidence.
Markle and Prince Harry reportedly bought the film rights to Meet Me at the Lake as a part of their overall deal with Netflix. It will be their first production that is not a documentary or nonfiction presentation. The book was just published in May of 2023 by Penguin Random House and tells the story of a couple who is denied their fairytale story at several turns. The plot deals with themes of grief, trauma, mental health struggles and post-natal depression, all of which are important issues to Markle and Prince Harry.
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The protagonist is a woman named Fern Brookbanks who meets the man of her dreams, Will Baxter, in her early 20s while living in a big city. The two share just 24 hours together and Fern is enchanted with Will’s artistry and idealism, but when they plan to meet again, he doesn’t show up. The story picks up years later when a 32-year-old Fern has reluctantly returned to her hometown and taken up management of her mother’s business – a lakeside vacation resort. While she struggles to take on this task she never wanted, Will shows up changed by the years. He offers to help Fern with her business, and she’s not sure if she should accept – though she has few options.
Sources who spoke to The Sun emphasized the connections between this story and that of Markle and Prince Harry – it is set near Toronto where Suits was filmed when the Sussexes first began dating, and it looks like a quintessential love story on the surface but has some deep-seated issues bubbling beneath the surface. An insider said: “The themes gripped the couple and it was chosen for their first adaptation with Netflix.”
If nothing else, this connection may help the Sussexes create another hit for Netflix. The couple broke streaming records with their docu-series Harry & Meghan, but failed to make the same splash with their follow-up, Live to Lead. Back in June, The Wall Street Journal reported that anonymous sources inside Archewell Productions were concerned that the company could not produce a hit if it wasn’t based on Markle and Prince Harry’s real life. A love story that fans can project the Sussex story onto if they chose might be the sweet spot they’ve been looking for.
Meet Me at the Lake is available now in print, digital and audiobook formats. With the Hollywood labor strikes in full swing, there’s no telling when the movie version might go into production, much less when we might see it for ourselves.
