Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
What's It About?
In this moving novel about family, love and growing up from bestselling author Ann Patchett, three daughters return to their family’s orchard to learn about their mother’s love affair with the famous actor she once shared the stage with.Ann Patchett, the Pulitzer Prize Finalist for The Dutch House, returns with Tom Lake (Harper), her latest tale to grip the heart and soul. Lara Nelson and her husband, Joe, are the owners of a cherry farm in Northern Michigan, where they have hunkered down during the pandemic with their three adult daughters. The eldest, Emily, a horticulturist who will someday inherit the farm, Maisie, a veterinary student, and Nell, an aspiring actress, have returned home to escape the looming worldwide tragedy and help their parents harvest the crop.
The story ricochets between the summer of 1988, when Lara played the lead in the Tom Lake Theater’s production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, Lara’s personal history, and the pandemic present. When she was a teen, Lara had been discovered by a famous Hollywood director, and starred in a cult movie to rave reviews. Her idyllic summer at Tom Lake was designed as an opportunity to improve her acting.
However, Lara’s growth occurred both on and off the stage — the most significant event being her romance with another aspiring actor, Peter Duke. Lara narrates the story from her perspective as a middle age, married farmer, who is happy with her life choices. There are no open wounds to salve or regrets about the ill-fated affair with the charming, handsome, future Oscar-winning actor, or the life she could have led as an actress.
The girls have always known about her summer romance with Duke, and what better way to pass the time in the orchard than by interrogating their mother about the past? Lara has always been elusive about the affair’s details. Now in isolation, her daughters press her for the nitty-gritty details of her relationship with Duke, and Lara willingly obliges as they toil beneath the fruit-laden trees. Lara believes it will bring them all closer; resolve long-unanswered suspicions, and present valuable life lessons during these dark days.
In the present, Lara realizes she should grieve for the world’s suffering, but within her cherry farm’s cocoon, she is blissful. She is surrounded by her family and able to share her origin story. Her most prized possessions have always been the farm, her husband, and her daughters, and those priorities resonated clearly through her oral history. Peter Duke has always been a shadow hanging over their lives, but not negatively. Duke and his older brother, Sebastian, were two steps along the winding path leading to this time and place, picking the delicious fruit beside the family she loves.
As a reader, I was keenly familiar with those cherry orchards outside of Traverse City, Michigan. For several years during the early 2000s, my family lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, so the setting rang true.
Also, Lara’s bliss over her family’s cohesiveness during the pandemic struck a similar chord, as mine gathered in our upstate New York home during the same time period. Usually, when your children flee the nest, it is unlikely they will return, but the coronavirus galvanized our little group under the most horrific of circumstances. Like Lara, my heart broke for the lost lives and souls, but it was truly a blessing to be surrounded by my adult children and their families during the catastrophe.
To prepare this review of Tom Lake, I listened to the audiobook version interpreted by Meryl Streep. It was not a “reading” by any stretch of the imagination. Ms. Streep provided an exquisite, cozy performance that made me feel as if my best friend was revealing secrets about her life. While Ann Patchett possesses a flair for beautiful descriptions and storytelling, Ms. Streep enhanced the feelings of nostalgia for the past and satisfaction in the present. The combination of the two was compelling, mesmerizing.
Tom Lake is a reminder that we all have lives and secrets from before our children were born. Further, that those lives and loves impact the present in mysterious and unexpected ways. As with our pasts, Tom Lake is as bittersweet as a slice of fresh-out-of-the-oven cherry pie. Do not miss out on this delightful, yet wistful, slice of life.
About Ann Patchett:
Ann Patchett is the author of novels, works of nonfiction, and children’s books. She has been the recipient of numerous awards including the PEN/Faulkner, the Women’s Prize in the U.K., and the Book Sense Book of the Year. Her novel The Dutch House was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. TIME magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. President Biden awarded her the National Humanities Medal in recognition of her contributions to American culture. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she is the owner of Parnassus Books.
(Photo Credit: Emily Dorio)
