Author: Ann Patchett
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Genre: General Fiction, Modern & Contemporary Fiction
Year of release: 2023
Release date: 03/10/23
Rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Synopsis
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 theatre 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.
Review
Spring 2020 has arrived on an Orchard in Northern Michigan, USA, the family has come together living under the same roof once again to wait out the pandemic, the orchard is always in need of attention, always fruit to be harvested. One day family matriarch Lara is begged by her daughters Emily, Massie, and Nell to share with them the story of her youth the summer that shaped Laura into the woman, wife, and mother she would become, the story of Peter Duke to pass the time.
The now-famous actor with whom Laura shared the stage and a romance years before, before he was famous at Tom Lake Theatre Company, all three of Laura’s daughters have all had a fascination with this man at one time or another. As Laura recalls the events of her past each daughter now in their twenties takes time to examine their own lives and the relationship they have with their mother, thus forcing the trio to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.
I read author Ann Patchett’s previous novel The Dutch House (Review) back in 2019 and even though it did take me quite some time to gain a clear picture of the characters and the events that were shaping this novel then something eventually fell into place, and I was able to at last be swept up in the magic that is this book. So, when I first heard Tom Lake was on the way to our bookshelves, I simply had to have it, I was not disappointed with the cover as the cover for Tom Lake has my full attention every time, I see it whereas The Dutch House cover left me feeling unsatisfied, this book also left this reviewer feeling as if they have found some quiet among the chaos.
Ann Patchett has a talent for bringing unique characters to any reader’s attention, it’s so easy to say that these characters are three-dimensional but, in all honesty, they are so much more, they feel as if you could start a conversation with them. Yes, many authors have this skill, but Patchett takes it one step further for me as a reviewer, I could smell the cherries on the trees, I could see the expressions on the faces of these women as they learned of their mother’s life long before either of them was born.
Character-driven novels usually have one or two characters that a reader is able to form an attachment throughout the book but Tom Lake lands a spotlight on Laura right from the opening sentence and remains firmly trained on her till the closing line, this would have made for a hard book to get through if Laura was a static character luckily she has quite the interesting story to tell I can also imagine how the rest of her days went in isolation went.
Laura is the type of character I wish we got to see more of in books without giving to much away to future readers, I will say she is willing and able to be truly honest with herself and others around her, she was so willing to share her story with her family even if it didn’t paint her in the most flattering light at different times throughout the story.
“The girls believed we were so old then, their father and I, that they took into account we might not remember our own lives.”
― Ann Patchett, Tom Lake
Admittedly I wasn’t as taken with Emily, Massie, and Nell they aren’t awful and certainly provide some of the humour this book offers but I wasn’t able to picture their lives as clearly as their mothers after the book was closed.
Reviewer confession: I no longer read the synopsis of a book before reading it, only once I am finished do I see the back of the cover, in previous experience, the blub can give absolutely everything away and I don’t want it to influence my reviews in any way, because of this I spent the first half of this book looking out for Tom Lake the person rather than a theatre company.
it’s a story Tom Lake is a novel I found was a quick read however not once did I feel as if I was rushing this story, which forces the reader to savour even the tiniest bit of detail, it’s a story that the audience it’s being told and will need to be told again and again for generations to come even if they are a fictional family. The story moves forward uninterrupted not even the fact this is a dual timeline story gets in the way of the slower-paced plot and the reason I gave this book it’s 5-star-rating and to say if you haven’t read any Ann Patchett now a great time to do so.
“It’s not that I’m unaware of the suffering and the soon-to-be-more suffering in the world, it’s that I know the suffering exists beside wet grass and a bright blue sky recently scrubbed by rain. The beauty and the suffering are equally true.”
― Ann Patchett, Tom Lake
Laura takes the reader on a journey far away from traditional high-school drama class I first feared I had stumbled in on; the plot doesn’t take long to gain a reader’s attention I found myself eager to see all sides of this family’s story the chapters that take place at Tom Lake were of the most interest to me.
If you’re a fan of the modern & contemporary fiction genre and like a good family drama coming-of-age story this one is for you.
Tom Lake is one of the books that completely surprised me I had no idea how this would end I got the ending completely wrong thanks to the author’s skilled writing this reader doesn’t see any of the big plot reveal coming at all usually I’m able to see a few things happening but this was completely delightful and at times a little sad but also a perfect way to end this book.
Sub plots in Tom Lake include:
- Family Relationships
- Coming of age
- Self-discovery
- First love
- Grief
- Motherhood
- Mother daughter relationships
Tropes included in Tom Lake include:
- Small town
- Coming of age
- Family drama
- Female friendship
- Older role model
- Homecoming
- Deceased family members
- Adolescence
- Self-discovery
This is one of those rare books that leaves the reader feeling as if they’ve been embraced in a warm hug by someone who will stand there if you should need it. A complete pleasure to read and I highly recommend Tom Lake to a mature audience. If you listen to Audiobooks Meryl Streep does a marvellous job as the narrator of this tale.
With continued thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing for sending a physical copy of this book to read and review in exchange for my honest opinion.