by: Ann Patchett
Goodreads description:
In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family’s orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.
Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.
Helen says: 🤓🤓🤓 3/4
As wholesome as cherry pie- you will get the reference if you read the book. This was not my favorite Ann Patchett novel, but I did very much enjoy it. I suggest reading a summary of the play Our Town to better understand the story line, as the book centers around the play. This was really two stories in one- a modern day humdrum pandemic tale and the telling of a past love story at summer stock theater in 1980’s. Meryl Streep narrated the audible version and dare I say that she was a tad bit melodramatic. I know she is the greatest actress of all time, but I actually preferred reading this to listening to it.
Side note-I pictured a young version of the actor Peter Gallagher as the Duke…not to put ideas in your mind.
Holly says: 🤓🤓🤓3/4
I do believe that all Ann Patchett books start out somewhat slowly, but they definitely gain momentum along the way. What starts out as a simple family story evolves into a spotlight and commentary on real life. The main question here is one that is not often asked – what was your mother’s life like (did she even have a life) before you came along? This question is more intriguing to her daughters because Mom’s once-serious boyfriend had become a very famous movie actor. Mom shares some wonderful stories of life with her three daughters, but not all of her stories are relayed because, well, some stories are just better left untold…but not this one – it’s a beautiful and enjoyable read by Ann Patchett, who really does deserve all the praise she receives for her lovely prose and touching stories.
Helen and Holly Hit the Books 