Tom Lake Book Review

Tom Lake

by Ann Patchett

Publisher: Harper
Ginasbookreport Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Literature
Read This If You Love: The Dutch House / The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls

 

“Cricket, it’s your past.” 

“I understand that joy is inappropriate these days and, still, we feel what we feel.” 

Tom Lake is an exploration of life, love, and the fact that each and every person can never be truly and completely known…even by those that love us most. Every step we take in life leads us to the next, and when that role becomes parent, children think of us as starting the day they were born. In this masterpiece, Lara is on her family farm during COVID lockdown and her three daughters have returned to help harvest the cherries. As they spend this scary and uncertain time together, the women pepper their mother with questions about her past as an actress and her time with the famous Peter Duke. What they think they knew of their parents is peeled back. 

Told through Lara’s experience playing Emily in Our Town, Patchett pays homage to this classic American play. I found this storytelling device to be so impactful and touching. As someone who was awkward in school and found a home in drama club, it was very touching…not to mention that Our Town has always been a favorite play of mine. Do you need to have read or seen it to enjoy Tom Lake? No, but if you enjoy one, chances are you would enjoy the other. 

Tom Lake is nothing short of a gift from Ann Patchett to readers, those of us who were theater kids, and anyone who appreciates an engaging story teller. I found The Dutch House to be a marvel and never expected the feeling I had when reading it to be matched. Tom Lake not only matched it, but leveled up. Meryl Streep was an amazing audiobook narrator. While I often listen to books on a faster speed, not for this one. I wanted to savor every single second. Even the simple sentences were bumped up by Streep to have impact. (The way she said “Gaaawwwwdd was I stupid,” made me laugh and it was so relatable.)

In short, this is up for book of the year for me. I will be shocked if Patchett doesn’t get lots of additional awards to add to her already full list of accomplishments and accolades.