Jan Priddy’s Reviews > Tom Lake > Status Update

This: "we remember the people we hurt so much more clearly than the people who hurt us."

So. I got it. The ending, about 15 pages ago.

The use of the word "crazy" and the choices about parenthood.

I laughed all through the discussion in chapter 10 when how her daughters insist Lara absolutely could not use the word "crazy" to describe her ex, and the struggle to find a way for her to define his mental state, and then she does "without judgement" tell and crazy does seem about right. I had the same discussion with my DE editors about my characters using "crazy" in my novel. But people do say that word even so.

So far, this is a notably cinematic novel. In fact, I believe it would work better as a movie than it does on the page. "Tim Lake" is a place, not a person. The persons are Lara, her husband, and their three daughters who live on a fruit farm—they only talk about the cherries so far, but apples and peaches have been mentioned in passing. The other character is a famous actor Lara knew when she was young.