Tom Lake: A Novel
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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK
In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers.
“Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature.” —The Guardian
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.
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ASIN : B0BL126WSH
Publisher : Harper (August 1, 2023)
Publication date : August 1, 2023
Language : English
File size : 4064 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 316 pages
Page numbers source ISBN : B0CDSK1S3K
Customers say
Customers find the story fascinating, beautiful, and unforgettable. They praise the writing as sublime, lyrical, and well-written. Readers describe the characters as rich and deep. They also find the story thought-provoking and heartwarming. Opinions differ on the pacing, with some finding it graceful and measured, while others say it’s slow in the first half.
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10 reviews for Tom Lake: A Novel
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switterbug/Betsey Van Horn –
A Buddhist blend of Grovers Corners and northern Michigan
Appreciating the little things in life, the joy of day-to-day existence, and the love for your family and your work is what Tom Lake meant to me. Tom Lake refers to a (fictional) summer stock theater in northern Michigan in the 1980s, close to the locale of the current 2020 timeline— a cherry farm (and pears, and apples). The late eighties marked a luminous period for protagonist/narrator Lara, a time that she walked the fine line between adulting and adulthood, coming of age amid a torrent of drama that swept her up in its fury. And then there was Our Town, the play within the novel that portrayed Laraâs life on the stage (and backstage).Lara is telling her three twenty-something daughters about her short stint as an actress in her twenties, and the brief romantic affair with Peter Duke, a famous movie star before he was a famous movie star. The gorgeous cherry farm backdrop is like a staid but vivid character, with Lara, husband Joe, and the three girls all together for the first time in a while. Due to the pandemic, they donât have the usual crew to help pick the fruit, so the storytelling unfolds as the family works the orchard during harvest time. Like the cherries, some parts are sweet, some tart, and all of it is juicy.I felt the air, inhaled the scents, the cherries, the land and the whole layout of the farm while reading. And there is the kindness, too, of this family, whose flaws are also part of their strengths. The chaos of Laraâs life as a young woman is juxtaposed with the serenity of her life now, and the two timelines fluidly alternate, sometimes gently, at other times with piercing intensity. And every storyline has at least two. So, when you read about Lara in the past, or present, you just canât help sniffing around to see the connections, of what surprise is crouched in the corner or hidden behind the door. I verily slipped into Laraâs character and imagined what decisions I would make as her, given so many pressing options and dilemmas.Ann Patchett nails it every time, her characters are complex and her graceful pace is measured even when events are brutal. Lara is a radiant work-in-progress during her young years, many readers will see themselves in her. I was a local stage actor in Austin during my twenties, so I immersed myself in Tom Lake, pretending to be Lara acting as Emily Gibbs and then back to Lara again. The two timelines showed the difference between the fiery summer love of youth and the deep, tender, and mature love of family that you helped to create. The high points were explosive, even when they were pin-drop quiet. Laraâs low points stirred me almost to tears; I could feel her pulse against mine.If youâve never seen a production or havenât read Our Town, youâre about to get a spoilerâs worth in the novel. But I think Ms. Patchett has surmised that most of her readers are already familiar with Thornton Wilderâs play. She coalesced Our Town and Tom Lake together in a way that reveals her refined skill of integration. Tom Lake and Our Town were separate but conjoined. I know that doesnât make sense, but it will when you read the book. She also quotes Chekhov at pique (and even peak) intervals; she shares the Russian writerâs work with spare but specific devotion.I recently learned that Patchett has never owned a smart phone, and doesnât herself do social media (she talks to the camera and her staff completes the rest). She has never used Google, or researched on Wikiâshe does it the old-fashioned way. And perhaps sheâs that slightly eccentric but lovely gentlewoman you see carrying paper road maps!Tom Lake is thoughtful, deft, and life-affirming. (It isnât a pandemic novel, even though it takes place during that time). Thereâs comedy, tragedy, dramaâa look-back-at-your- own-life kind of book. Itâs classic Ann Patchett.Thereâs this passage that really tickled me from the book. Itâs toward the end but not a spoiler, itâs thematic with the rest of the narrative. Lara was so busy recounting the past for her daughters that she forgot to make lunch, which she said she should have been working on while talking. âThe past need not be so all-encompassing that it renders us incapable of making egg salad.â Priorities!
Donna Greenberg –
Ann Patchett’s shimmering prose keeps the reader engaged
I have always found Ann Patchett’s writing full of lyricism and light. Whole paragraphs beg to be savored and reread.I was first introduced to her writing in Bel Canto, which told an incredible story that I remember, all these years later.Some of her books really pulled me in; others took longer to get into. But they are all beautifully written.Her newest book, Tom Lake, took a bit of time to warm up to. The earliest pages were somewhat confusing. She tells a tale in two separate parts, one about her past as an actress; and the other about her current life with her family, on a cherry farm.For much of the book, I found her family life less interesting, and impatiently waited for her to return to her earlier days. However, as the book continued, I became more engrossed in her children and her husband.The story is full of nostalgia and what-ifs. Anyone of a certain age has probably experienced these episodes. I found her main and subsidiary characters intriguing and well-developed. There are also a few delightful twists in the book.I recommend Tom Lake to fans of Ann Patchett and literary fiction.
MommaLayne –
Luminous
**”Tom Lake”** by Ann Patchett is a beautifully crafted novel that intertwines themes of love, memory, and family dynamics against the backdrop of a cherry orchard in Northern Michigan. Set in the spring of 2020, Laraâs three daughters return home to help with the harvest, prompting them to ask their mother to recount the captivating story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared a passionate romance during her time at a theater company called Tom Lake.As Lara reflects on her youthful love and the choices she made, her daughters begin to reevaluate their own lives and their relationship with her. Through these conversations, the novel explores the complexities of loveâboth the exhilarating thrill of early romance and the deeper, more intricate bonds of marriage and parenthood. Patchett’s lyrical prose and keen insights make “Tom Lake” a meditation on what it means to find happiness in a world that feels increasingly fragile. With her trademark emotional depth and narrative artistry, Patchett delivers a rich, luminous story that showcases her status as one of contemporary literature’s most celebrated authors.
Fsimo –
A Tolerable Book at Best
Thereâs not much to like in this book. Itâs a tolerable story, but not terribly engaging. The author seems to want to recreate âOur Townâ in a different story â the cemetery, the small town feel, so many Emilys, and the otherworldly endingâ that itâs a tedious journey to the end of the book. I only read it because Iâm a book club member, and thatâs the book weâre reading this month.
Kindle Customer –
Surprised
When I began this book I didn’t think that I was going to like it after the first ten pages or so. After about 70 I was only continuing because I was reading it for a book club. Somewhere I found peace in the rhythm. I hadn’t even noticed how involved I had become. It is a rather ordinary story that is told well. It touched my heart. There is no great hero or villain. There are no extraordinary events. It is a story that could be about real people and real lives, although it is not. It is the genius of the telling that takes you into this world and makes you part of it for just a little while.
Amazon Customer –
What beautiful writing! This is a very interesting tale that takes place within the confines of Covid. It’s great to have a story line that takes that into account, yet focuses on the family and their story, rather than the pandemic itself. The pandemic is the necessary backdrop that brings this story out. The complicated relationships between sisters, between mothers and daughters. This book kept my interest all the way through and I was sad to see it end.
Regina Gutiérrez Durán –
Está muy bonito. Llegó a tiempo pero algo golpeado y maltratado.
Amazon Customer –
Such a well crafted novel which moves easily through the lives of Emily Duke Sebastian Joe and their families. I loved it
Shonar Lala –
Beautiful and captivating and comforting writing that keeps you engrossed – careful precise yet elegiac writing – oh to be on that farm!
Petra S. –
YOU HAVE TO READ IT. This is one of them. One of the books where you get to live in someone elseâs reality(fiction) and the story will stay with you, the characters will and people will again make more sense. Itâs a book for romantics, life affirming, itâs real – you might cry – and itâs a story worth to remember!!