Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, 4 stars

[Holly R W]

Ann Patchett is an interesting author. I find that each book she writes is unique and different. This book's inspiration comes from Thornton Wilder's play, Our Town.

The novel concerns a mother (Lara), who is telling her three young adult daughters the story of her budding romance with a charismatic, famous actor (Peter Duke) in Our Town when she was their age. Lara had played the female lead in the play (Emily). She had dreams of pursuing an acting career. It is currently 2020 during the early Covid pandemic. The daughters have returned home to the family's cherry farm in northern Michigan due to the pandemic, and are helping their parents with harvesting cherries.

This is a gentle story that quietly builds. I read it, rather than listening to the audio narrated by the incomparable Meryl Streep. I think the novel would be better as an audio-book. Tom Lake did not become alive for me until the halfway mark.

Some things did not make sense to me. In particular, why would Lara's girls be so interested in her romance with Duke? Also, why would Lara's daughter Emily be so convinced that Duke was her father and hang on to this mistaken belief during her teen age years, causing heartache for her family?

The more interesting men in the book are Lara's husband (Joe) and Duke's brother (Sebastian). I'll leave it to other readers to discover why this is so.

(view spoiler)[I especially liked how Lara surprised her daughters with springing it on them that their father was none other than the play's unflappable young director, Nelson. At the time of acting in the play, Lara had no interest in him. (hide spoiler)]


What ultimately comes through in the novel is a nuanced view of a fully formed and alive woman - Lara herself.

[John]

I am currently listening to this book read on the audiobook by Meryl Streep. Her use of various voices does add to the enjoyment.

[Holly R W]

I thought so. Thanks for letting me know, John.

I'm currently watching Meryl Streep in the Hulu series, "Murders in the Building". She's wonderful in her part.

[Joy D]

I loved this book. I split the reading between e-book and listening. Meryl Streep does a fabulous job (no surprise). I think part of the reason I enjoyed it so much is that I tend to enjoy slowly building character-driven stories. I got so engrossed in this story that I blocked out everything else.

[Holly R W]

Joy, I've read many glowing reviews of the book from readers who shared your feelings. I don't listen to audio-books, but this one would have been enriched by Meryl Streep.

Perhaps, I didn't like the emphasis on Peter Duke, as I didn't like his character. I thought the secondary male characters were so more interesting.

This would be a good book to discuss among readers who've read it. I do have questions/opinions that would be interesting for discussion.

[Joy D]

I agree it would make a good selection for a book group to discuss.

I think Peter Duke is supposed to be the disruptive force in the narrative, and in that respect it succeeds. He's definitely not a likeable character, but there are so many more positive characters that it didn't really bother me.