Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

Ann Patchett is a celebrated and decorated author. She was the recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and her previous novels have won the Orange Prize for fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Her most recent novel, Tom Lake, was released in August of 2023 and was chosen as Reese's Book Club's pick for that month and has since become a New York Times Bestseller and an Amazon Editor's Pick for Literature and Fiction. As an added bonus, Meryl Streep narrates the audiobook! It deals with addiction and alcoholism, death, infidelity, racism, grief, abortion, injury detail, and death by drowning.

Lara had a brief stint as an actress, which her three daughters are well aware of. During that brief stint, Lara starred as the lead in a production of Our Town, sharing a stage and starting a romance with Peter Duke, who would later become THE Peter Duke: Hollywood Icon, which her daughters also know. But they don't know the sordid details, and now that they're all grown adults and stuck helping their family in the cherry orchard in northern Michigan during a pandemic, it seems like the very best time to hash out what exactly happened. Why did Lara not continue acting? How did she make her way to northern Michigan and find their father? Did she ever see Peter Duke again? Does she ever regret the decisions she made and wish she could do it all over again? As they listen, the daughters are exposed to truths they never knew about their mother and think about the decisions they've made in their own lives, and the decisions they have yet to make.

This book is Charming. I listened to the audio book and Meryl Streep does a fantastic job narrating. It is funny without really trying; it kept me smiling and several times I laughed out loud. The characters are delightful and likeable, that goes for the main characters of Lara with her three daughters as well as the characters that only stay for a little while. I love the little additions and quirks that Ann Patchett gave her characters that made them feel like real people, like the note that Peter Duke could do a handstand. The writing was wonderful, it flowed effortlessly and was well written without feeling pretentious at all. And although the story is not one of thrills or excitement, I felt myself eagerly awaiting the moment that Lara met her daughter's dad and smiling for the entire exchange. The ending was good, although there was a part near the end that I didn't love, but we all make mistakes and Lara is no exception. Plus, this book uses my favorite word in the English language, "scion", so that makes up for it.

I'm giving Tom Lake by Ann Patchett 4.5 stars out of 5. Well written with complex, likeable characters that kept me entertained till the end. A nice book that has zero intrigue, so it's especially good if you've been reading a lot of heavy books and you need a moment to catch your breath. I would recommend this book, especially if you like character-driven stories. I've heard her other novels The Commonwealth and Bel Canto are excellent, so I will likely check out one of them in the future, although The Dutch House is narrated by Tom Hanks and is a contender.

For more from Ann Patchett, see her website at https://www.annpatchett.com/

Pairs well with cherry cheesecake dip and wearing a pincushion corsage.