Tom Lake: A Reese's Book Club Pick

📖 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐞 was a pick for my IRL book club this spring. It was well-received by all members!1. 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 - A testament to how easy it is to perceive things incorrectly if the truth is not shared. It is ironic that the Nelson family’s forced togetherness is what finally moved Lara to share her beautiful story.2. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 - Both Tom Lake and the Nelson’s orchard are just idyllic environments. I felt like I was immersed in the beauty of both as the poetic words flowed off the pages.3. 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 - The strength of family is ever-present in this story. The Nelson family in the present, the Nelson family in the past, and Lara and her grandmother in the past…the bonds4. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧-𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐝 - This story is one that doesn’t really have any highs or lows. It is simply a smooth ride through the story of Lara’s past. Even though there are some sad parts of the past, the reader knows how happy she is in the present, so that sense of despair just doesn’t hit the same.5. 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐥𝐞 - Such an interesting twist of events at the end! I love how it truly made the story come together and it gave the characters a sense of acceptance.

First time prescriber. Wonderful. So pleased !This is great. Takes a lot of strain off the old eyes. And I can still enjoy books. This is a plus for technology !

All of her books are so different. Yet they have real people and you fall in love with them, and then it’s over. I wish I could keep reading with this family forever.

I likely would not have chosen this book on my own, it was chosen for a Book Club. It was an enjoyable story, just no major conflict or climax to the story.

I’m not quite sure what to say about this book. It is a character/s story. There is drama, but the relationships feel more realistic. Overall, though, it felt like something was missing. I wouldn’t necessarily say that this was a boring story, but it did feel like the book was a lot longer than it actually was, if you get my meaning. The writing is very elegant and has parts that are deeply meaningful. I have found that I am not the biggest fan of character driven books. This book just wasn’t the best pick for me.0 🌶️

A very enjoyable read about flawed but very relatable and likable people.

One of my favorite areas in the US is northern Michigan…so the setting definitely drew me in! I love the way this author writes…it is very sweet and poetic but also real and raw…this story is very comforting & helps you to romanticize your own life! At the end, you will want to spend more time with the characters, which for me, means it is a great book!

The author said her purpose was to inspire people to revisit Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" and other titles of his. It worked with me! I had the privilege of playing Our Town's "Mrs. Gibbs" in high school. I reread the play just before starting this novel, and that all made "Tom Lake" come alive for me! What a wonderful piece of work, my first Ann Patchett novel! I HIGHLY recommend to ANYONE to read the short play "Our Town" before reading this novel because otherwise, you would lose so much significance behind Patchett's novel! I would imagine that anyone giving this book anything lower than 4 stars had never read Our Town, or if they did, it certainly wasn't recent!

A family story from a theatrical start to an orchard ending melded together. I found it a bit slow but the two pieces were interesting. Character development is excellent and it has a warmth within the family that bridges their differences.

If you are looking for a fast read with a dynamic protagonist and a compelling plot, do not choose Tom Lake. Choose it only if you have the time and inclination to savor Ann Patchett’s lyrical descriptions of Michigan’s natural beauty and the meandering story of a mother’s changing relationship with her grown daughters. Some of the author’s insights are also noteworthy!

So many thought it was boring but it’s not. It’s about life and life happens. A beautiful story about life.

As we grow older we gain perspective that only time can bring to our younger selves. we can see the small choices we have made that have brought us to the place we find ourselves today. One different choice along the way would have been a totally different journey. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and Laura's journey to become Emily and then to become Laura again. I loved the many full circle moments that so often mirror our own lives. I would recommend this book to the young just starting out for all the excitement youth brings and to the old that will enjoy reflecting upon their younger selves with the grace and love that only age brings.

**"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, Lara’s 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 love—both 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.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett is a moving story that explores what three daughters actually know about their mother’s life before them and how what they thought they knew has affected their relationships and decisions.While picking cherries one spring with her three daughters, Lara talks candidly about her life from a high school play to a theater company, from city to city and explores her relationships along the way.Lara is one of those people who are happy in most situations and makes the most of whatever hand is drawn. Throughout the story she gently lets her kids know that she had a life before them but she loves the life she chose and has never wanted another. She wants her girls to get out there and live, make mistakes and never look back at what ifs. I love this about Lara, I sometimes felt like the girls acted a little younger than their ages, but I admired how close they were.The characters in this story are all so complex, each with their own set of issues to overcomeThe writing style made me feel like I was in a play for the majority of the story which was the point, I think. The author often switched from past to present to show the young summer love of Lara’s youth and the mature deep love of her life with Joe and her girls with no warning so you really have to pay attention. The author vividly paints the cherry orchards and surroundings so that you feel you are there, so beautiful.Overall, I recommend Tom Lake because it makes you think of and reexamine your own life.

Tom Lake is one of those books that I enjoyed while reading but pondered more for weeks after I finished it. This is not an action-based book, but rather a character-based narrative which unfolds slowly, so it may not appeal to all readers. Lara, a former actress, now a cherry-farming mom of adult daughters, is prompted to tell the story of her acting career and romantic involvement with a huge movie star.The novel takes place during the Covid pandemic, and the daughters have returned home to isolate with their parents. This setup reminded me of classics like Bocaccio's Decameron (where a group of people isolate at a country estate to escape the plague, and they pass the time telling stories). This novel is very much a story about telling stories, about the interaction between the narrator and the audience (who may or may not know parts of the story already), what the narrator chooses to disclose (or not) to the audience, and the power of storytelling to influence the listener. Even Thornton Wilder's play Our Town, which runs like a thread throughout the novel, underscores the storytelling motif and how the play influences and teaches Lara life lessons.There is a deft contrast between the glamorous and superficial world of the actors and the very earthy, tenuous and sensual world of the farmers as the novel moves between these two worlds through Lara's eyes. Throughout, there is a deep appreciation for the love and bond of family and the strength in finding a life where you truly belong. This is a subtle novel, with many layers to explore, but it requires the reader to be willing to sit and savor the experience of the storytelling process.A note about the audiobook: 5 stars. Meryl Streep is the perfect narrator for this novel. Her tone is the right balance of emotion and wry commentary, and her own life experience parallels Lara's life enough to lend an authenticity and warmth which made the listening experience very enjoyable.

To like Ann Patchett’s “Tom Lake” you must be a patient, knowledgeable reader. It helps to be familiar with Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town”. Having seen Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard” is also useful. Oh. And don’t forget that short story by Herman Melville, “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” The romantic entanglements of a cast of young people also should be recognized as important knowledge to keep in your back pocket. On the other hand, if you like intelligent literary fiction, there is still no reason not to read Patchett’s latest novel.Most of the narration is set on a cherry farm on the shores of Lake Michigan. The interaction is mostly between a mom and her three daughters. Since it is during the pandemic the family must pull together during the harvest. Lara, the mom, had a brief fling at acting and stardom when she played an important role in a Hollywood movie. She met Peter Duke who later achieves stardom and has a fling with him during summer stock at Tom Lake. Her daughters are curious and badger her to tell the story. Picking cherries during the harvest provides ample opportunity.If the set up seems a bit corny, well, it is. But, heck, it’s our Covid moment, and the story not only fascinates the daughters, but also (surprisingly) this reader. Falling in love and falling lust are different. In retrospect, the main character recognizes this fact. She also realizes the Svengali spell the later-to-be Hollywood actor weaves—wherever he goes and whomever he is with.The story is about choices made and choices not made. And how there is a big difference between them. It is also about truth and the decision how much to share with your own family. Even many years after the fact. The truth revealed to the reader is surprising. Although Patchett is not my favorite author, this read of “Tom Lake” was worth the effort.

Ann Patchett is one of my favorite writers and she has once again written a novel I love.The novel takes place at the beginning of the Covid epidemic. Lara, her husband, and her three young adult daughters are residing on the family orchard in Northern Michigan. The narrative is told from Lara's viewpoint and consists primarily of her daughters' wanting to know about her past life - especially her romantic involvement with the now famous actor, Peter Duke.Much of the story is about a summer stock stage production of 'Our Town' located in Michigan on Tom Lake. Lara is in her twenties and has been called upon to take the lead role after the original actress has decided to quit. On Lara's first day, she is greeted by a charismatic young man named Peter Duke. From their first meeting evolves a drawn-out romance and affair that leaves Lara much beholden to Peter's narcissistic view of himself. Lara is quite aware that her daughters want to know all the intimacies that she and Peter shared, but she is not ready to give out these details freely.It is understood that Lara once had a promising future in acting but she chose to give it up for what she considers her idyllic life as a mother and wife. Her daughters find this all hard to absorb and want to know every last bit about Laura's time with Peter and her involvement with the stage.The writing flows beautifully and the imagery is incandescent. I could see Lara and feel her emotions. Ann Patchett knows people and her empathic writing exudes from every page. There isn't one false note.I have never read Our Town but that didn't stop me from loving this novel, nor did it prevent me from understanding what was transpiring. I learned a lot about stage production, acting, and actors.I especially loved how the author provided each of her daughters with a distinct and inimitable personality, all beloved to her and each other. This is a book to savor and reflect on. It is as sweet as the smell of cherries in Lara's Michigan orchard.

I love Ann Patchett, whose gifts as a storyteller are almost unmatched, as wide-ranging as her varying choice of subjects. TOM LAKE is another triumph- and not just because it centers around folks in the theatre. Although I'm sure that helped.Lara Kenison played Emily Webb in her high school production of OUR TOWN, as have so many young girls have in their past. But for Lara, it becomes a touchstone in her life. In college, she reprises the role, and a famous Hollywood agent happens to see her performance. The Tinseltown legend suddenly becomes real - flying to LA, screen tests, her first film role, commercials, even a TV series. Then, while waiting for the film's long-delayed release, she goes off to summer stock at Tom Lake in Wisconsin. There, she meets her first great love, a fire of ambition named Peter Duke.Years later, Lara unspools the story of her Hollywood adventure to her now-grown daughters, including some discrete details of her love affair with Duke, now a huge movie star. Lara and her husband Joe run a fruit farm in rural Michigan. The story of how she goes from the LA Dream Factory to the cherry orchard unfolds while she and her daughters pick the ripening fruit in the hot summer sun.There are twists and turns in every story, and Lara's journey from ingenue to farm wife has some hairpin turns that the reader will likely never see coming. It's Patchett's great skill as a story master that keeps us as engaged as her daughters, hearing the tale unspool. While the three sisters (yes, in a cherry orchard) demand to know more, we are as eager as they to learn Lara's tale of adventures on stage and off.I tore through this book in a few days, despite a busy end-of-summer schedule. (Thank heavens for a day off to finish it!) It immediately ranks with my favorite of Patchett's works.A great read.

During the summer of 2020, the Nelson family is quarantining themselves on their cherry orchard in Northern Michigan. Matriarch Lara is relishing the time with her husband Joe and her adult daughters Emily, Massie, and Nell. As they harvest their crop, Lara unspools to her children the story of her early career as a modestly successful actress. In high school she performed the lead role of Emily in the play Our Town and reprised the role in a college production. It was there that she was “discovered” and whisked off to LA to make a film that was not released. After a lull, she is asked to play Emily once again in a summer theater program in Michigan on Tom Lake, where she has a whirlwind romance with fellow thespian Peter Duke.Peter Duke went on to become an acclaimed, Oscar-winning actor, and Lara’s daughters are fascinated by the idea that their mother was once involved with someone so famous. The narrative alternates between the Nelsons idyllic but busy days on the orchard and Lara’s story about her summer at Tom Lake with Peter Duke. I like how she sanitized some aspects of her love affair with Peter for her daughters, but didn’t hold back for us readers.The characters were captivating, the storytelling masterful, and the writing exquisite, because of course, it’s Ann Patchett. I even felt compelled to write down the following quote because I found it so endearing: “He’s starving, and I’ve made potato salad, potato salad being my husband’s truest love.” It was such a lovely novel and I adored the juxtaposition of thwarted young love and enduring mature love.

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 Lara’s 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 don’t 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 Lara’s 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 can’t help sniffing around to see the connections, of what surprise is crouched in the corner or hidden behind the door. I verily slipped into Lara’s 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. Lara’s low points stirred me almost to tears; I could feel her pulse against mine.If you’ve never seen a production or haven’t read Our Town, you’re about to get a spoiler’s worth in the novel. But I think Ms. Patchett has surmised that most of her readers are already familiar with Thornton Wilder’s 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 doesn’t make sense, but it will when you read the book. She also quotes Chekhov at pique (and even peak) intervals; she shares the Russian writer’s work with spare but specific devotion.I recently learned that Patchett has never owned a smart phone, and doesn’t herself do social media (she talks to the camera and her staff completes the rest). She has never used Google, or researched on Wiki—she does it the old-fashioned way. And perhaps she’s that slightly eccentric but lovely gentlewoman you see carrying paper road maps!Tom Lake is thoughtful, deft, and life-affirming. (It isn’t a pandemic novel, even though it takes place during that time). There’s comedy, tragedy, drama—a look-back-at-your- own-life kind of book. It’s classic Ann Patchett.There’s this passage that really tickled me from the book. It’s toward the end but not a spoiler, it’s 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. “The past need not be so all-encompassing that it renders us incapable of making egg salad.” Priorities!