Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Book Blurb:
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.
My Review: 4.5 stars
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett was welcomed into my world with glee and excitement. Patchett has become an auto buy author for me and I’m yet to be disappointed. Her books are rife with literary depth that stems from the simplest of concepts. I don’t know how she does it, but she does.
This book started on the slow side for me, and based on other reviews, I’m not the only one who felt this way. I wasn’t worried though; I knew I’d be safe plowing ahead because I had confidence that she was setting the reader up for something big. Of course, this in fact did happen and by that part of the book I couldn’t put it down.
I loved the perspectives in the book, especially Lara’s as I could easily relate to the joy of having your adult kids stuck at home with you during the lockdown. It was this odd spark of happiness of having a full nest again while the world was simultaneously crippled with uncertainty. The three girls, each so different from one another were fleshed out just enough to make them interesting characters and of course the talented Duke, Sebastian, Pallace were great secondary characters.
This isn’t a book that will leave you in suspense or have you at the edge of your seat. Instead, it’ll rock you into the lives of a family that runs a cherry farm in upper Michigan, remind you of the one time you had to read Our Town in school, and reflect on the joys of marriage, motherhood and sisterhood.
Quotes I liked:
We clump together in our sorrow. In joy we may wander off in our separate directions, but in sorrow we prefer to hold hands.”
“There is no explaining this simple truth about life: you will forget much of it.”
“Good marriages are never as interesting as bad affairs.”
“Work for the good of the collective, root for the team, get over yourself.”
Shop on Amazon Here!
I listened to the book. It was even better because of Meryl Streep’s narration. I felt like I was listening to Meryl Streep tell her story! Loved this book.
I loved it too. She’s brilliant at bringing nuance to the page!