Lara first discovered acting by accident when she ended up being Emily in a town production of "Our Town." In college, she returns to the role where she is discovered and her life changes drastically. Much of the story is told by Lara to her young adult daughters during the early months of the pandemic. Although I loved the overarching story, I felt some of the pacing was off and towards the end I was ready to be done. Lots to discuss though and I would love to spend time at both the cherry farm and at Tom Lake.

Ann Patchett does it again with another wonderful read. Set against the first summer of Covid, but yet not a pandemic novel, Lara is thrilled to have her three daughters, all in their mid-twenties, return home to the family cherry farm in northern Michigan. They’re all working hard to harvest the cherries since the pandemic has prevented their usual laborers from returning for the summer. As they work, the daughters beg to hear the full story of their mother’s past when she was an actress and dating Duke, who would later become a tv and movie star.

Most, but not all, of the tale of Lara’s younger years is shared with the daughters as they work in the orchards. The “but not all” parts of the story are revealed to the reader. The daughters discover a new view of their mother and the life she led when she was their age. In turn, Lara also learns about her daughters’ dreams and challenges in a way she might not have but for the pandemic forcing the family back together during this time.

Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for a preview copy.

“Tom Lake,” by Ann Patchett, Harper, 320 pages, Aug. 1, 2023.

Lara Kenison and her friend are setting up the small New Hampshire town’s gym for auditions for Our Town. They are not auditioning because the town’s residents may want to try out for a part. But then Lara is so disappointed in the women auditioning for Emily that she does. And gets the part.

This story is told in two timelines. That is the past. In the present, Lara is telling that story to her three daughters: Maisie, Emily and Nell, who are all in their 20s. It is now the spring of 2020. Her daughters have returned to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. Emily is out of college and plans to take over the orchard. She is engaged to a neighbor, Benny Holzapfels. Maisie is studying to be a veterinarian and Nell wants to act.

Because of the pandemic, the farm workers don’t come and the Nelson family has to harvest the crop themselves. While picking cherries, the girls ask their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a now famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company at Tom Lake, Michigan.

As a teenager, Emily was obsessed with Duke, convinced he was her actual father. Lara’s husband, Joe, was the one who told the girls that they knew Peter Duke and his brother, Sebastian. The girls think they knew the whole story, but they don’t. Lara was once on the fast track to fame.

This is a moving portrait of a woman looking back at a formative period in her life. It is also about how people take different paths in life. The story is engrossing and the characters are wonderful. This is one of Ann Patchett’s best novels.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Ann Patchett, and Harper for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

I ate cherries while reading parts of this book and felt like I was immersed in Tom Lake tenfold. I do believe this book was written for me, as this is a book that already resonates so deeply with me and is one I also see myself returning to when I'm a bit older. I love family stories, I love acting stories, I love nostalgia, I love coming of age, I love love and heartbreak and drama and all of the above, which Tom Lake is and MORE. The Dutch House was my first introduction to Patchett's work, and it was a beautifully written and layered story. I have even more admiration for Patchett after reading this and can't wait to pick up her other works, as this was just the most perfect late summer read. I haven't felt this immersed in a book in a very long time, and as I write this review within 5 minutes of finishing the book, my heart is aching and I'm already ready to return to the world of Lara both with her daughters in the present and in the summer of her youth. The story is told in dual settings, in 2020 as Lara tells the story of her past as an actress to her daughters in their mid-20s home during the pandemic and in the past as Lara herself is 24. Being 25 currently, I was able to relate to all her daughters and young Lara herself, but I could also see echoes of older Lara in my own mother and in who I might be one day. Everything from the setting to the characters was just SO VIVID, and I was dying to go to Tom Lake for a summer myself! I also actually appreciated the pandemic setting for the present; books set during 2020 are always hit or miss for me because of, well the collective trauma of the entire world surrounding that time, but also due to my own trauma that's not fully processed. The feeling that this complicated coming of age story was being told to three young girls coming of age during a complicated time resonated so much to me and helped to enhance the characters for me personally. There are so many more thoughts I have about the layers and intricacies of this story, but for now, my heart is just so full with a gorgeous story that I will end this by saying that Tom Lake is every bit as sweet and tart as the cherries found within.

Ann Patchett has done it again. She took a simple tale of a family coming together for the summer of 2020 (the great COVID pandemic) added a mother's story about an old boyfriend....and voila' she made magic!

In a lot of stories that flip from past to present, one of the stories is better than the other. Patchett is so extraordinary that both stories are equally engaging. As a reader, I fell in love with the main character Lara, her husband Joe, her daughters, and even her playboy boyfriend from the past, Duke.

This is a perfect book. One I know I will read again and again. (Readers might find themselves re-reading Our Town also).

Since I am originally from Michigan, I appreciated the story's setting (Michigan during the summers of 1988 and 2020). It is a story within a story in which the narrator, Lara, tells her three twenty-something daughters the story of how, when she was their age, she acted with and dated an actor who later became very famous. They performed together at Tom Lake, a summer theater company, in the play "Our Town", the themes of which make their way into the novel.

The scenes are of the novel are vividly written, and the characters are memorable. I highly recommend Ann Patchett's new novel.

Not a lot happens in this book, but it is so good. Usually I hate books that have very little action. This is the story of a mother telling her three grown daughters about a pivotal relationship and summer of her life. It was a gentle, peaceful read that felt like listening to my own mother tell a story. I'm not sure how Patchett achieved that since Lara's life is so different from my mother's but it felt genuine, and I had such a sense of nostalgia while reading this.

This may be my favorite Patchett book yet - I read Our Town first to prepare for Tom Lake, and it enhanced the reading experience. This will be recommended as one of my top 5 books of 2023.

In the novel Tom Lake, releasing on August 8, Ann Patchett tells a tale of a cherry farm family in the time of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. Lara and Joe’s three daughters have sought sanctuary on their North Michigan farm.

Since many of their usual cherry pickers are confined to where they live, Lara and Joe appreciate the help from Emily, Maisie, and Nell. As they pick cherries, Lara tells them the story of her turn as an actress, her experience in summer stock at Tom Lake, and her romance with famous actor Peter Duke.

Having heard bits and pieces all their lives, Emily once was positive Duke had been her father. Now she lives in the small house on the farm after finishing her degree in horticulture, planning to take over the farm when her parents retire. Her boyfriend Benny from the neighboring farm also pitches in even though there is plenty of apple picking to be done in his orchard.

Both Maisie and Nell returned for the safety of their farm when their colleges closed in March. Maisie is studying to be a veterinarian, and in the quarantine, she is called upon among her neighbors to care for their stock and their pets. Nell pursues drama, hoping to be an actress like her mother once was.

Told on two timelines, the author reveals the account of a young Lara and Duke, who meet doing Our Town in summer stock. Lara played the role of Emily in high school and college making her a natural choice when the original actress leaves for a better opportunity. In the pandemic story line, readers learn about the family dynamics of farm families, especially this close-knit family.

Lara keeps part of her story as an actress having a romance on set a secret from even her husband. Otherwise, Joe knows most of the story, helping to tell it here and there. The daughters gain much insight into a time in the couple’s life before their birth in this engaging narrative that only hints at the pandemic here and there. In a surprise visit from someone in her acting past, a big reveal is made to Lara in the ending of the novel.

Ann Patchett’s Dutch House was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Born in Los Angeles, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, as a child and continues to live there where she and a partner own Parnassus Books, an independent bookstore.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting July 29, 2023.

I would like to thank HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Patchett has written the Book Club pick of 2023-2024! In the present, Lara, and her husband unexpectantly welcome back their three young adult daughters to their cherry orchard farm in Upper Michigan. Covid has disrupted their lives, so the young women return home to shelter with their family before they embark on their own personal quests. What better time to explore their mother’s life as a young woman! She was an actress, she knew a famous, handsome actor (just how well?) and yet here she is perfectly happy in the orchard life. Surely, there must be some juicy tidbits to learn.

Lara, the mother, wants to share with her daughters but also wants to craft the tale in her own way, with specific details revealed or hidden. There is wisdom to be shared and memories to cherish. As cherries are picked, so are the stories from Lara and ongoing drama from the daughters. This is a story of respect, affection, support, kindness, and courage sure to remind mothers and daughters of their own youthful experiences.

Tom Lake is told in dual timelines of Lara’s past and the current cherry-picking summer. There are seamless transitions that emotionally engages the reader on each step of the journey. Beautifully written, readers may hanker for a bowl of cherries or plan a trip to the UP to celebrate such a lovely tale of hope and love. Highly recommended. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this title.

Ann Patchett is back with another beautiful and moving story about mothers, daughters, families and becoming adults.

When Lara’s three young adult daughters return home in the Spring of 2020, the women have a unique opportunity to hear their mother’s story from a new perspective. The story unfolds in alternating timelines between 2020 and Lara’s teen and young adult years. While they all help pick cherries in the family’s farm the girls beg their mother to tell her story about her past, including a relationship with a famous actor and her time as an actress at Tom Lake.

I loved how Patchett captures the girls’ new perspective of their mother and how they come to understand her life before having children. The writing is so well done, you will feel like you are in the cherry farm with the family. Each character is so well developed that the family springs to life on the pages.

Thanks to Harper and NetGalley for the advanced copy in return to my honest review.

In the early days of 2020, Lara and her husband welcome their three daughters home to ride out the pandemic. The family lives in Michigan and owns a cherry farm. As they live and work together, the girls ask Lara about her past, specifically the time she spent as an actress in the small town of Tom Lake, where she fell in love with a man named Peter Duke, who would become a famous actor. The novel goes back and forth between 2020 and Lara's teen and early adulthood as she tells her daughters about her romance with Duke. As always, Ann Patchett writes families so well. That was my favorite part of this sweet and melancholy tale about love, family, and the paths we don't take. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper for an early copy of this book.

What a stunner! Tom Lake is pure perfection from start to finish. Ann Patchett brings the wonderful cast to life and makes the reader long to be picking cherries right alongside Lara and her three daughters to hear how her life changing summer at Tom Lake and her life story unfolds.
If I move to Michigan, you know why!

I think I’ve just finished reading a perfectly written novel! Tom Lake held my attention the whole way through. I felt like one of the daughters begging her mother to keep telling the story of her past adventures. I would have been the one continually asking for more details. Now I’ll have to track down other Ann Patchett novels as she’s been added to my “gotta-read” authors list.

I love Ann Patchett books and this is the best one yet! Although nothing major happens,the world is not going to end or world peace is not accomplished, but this book fits like an old pair of shoes that are so comfortable that you don't want to take them off (or put the book down). It is a charming story that is contained within another charming story all wrapped up in an old charming story--Our Town. I loved the little dribs and drabs of information that were given throughout the book--I especially loved the origins of the daughters' names, I figured out Emily right away, but as the book went on I delighted in learning the origins of Maizie and Nell. My only complaint (and I can certainly live without it) I would have liked to know what became of Pallas. I loved all the characters, loved the descriptions of the farm and cherry picking, but most of all, LOVED the satisfying ending.

It’s the summer of 2020, and the pandemic has brought Lara and Joe’s three grown daughters back to stay and work at the family cherry farm in Michigan. To pass the days, the girls insist that Lara tell them the story of her summer with a theater company in Tom Lake performing Our Town. The book then slips back and forth between the retelling of that summer’s adventures and Lara’s romance with an actor who has since become a movie star.

The pleasant result reveals the nature of relationships, both romantic and familial, and an exploration of the meaning of true love and connection. I enjoy every book I’ve read by Ann Patchett, and this one is especially beautiful in its elegant simplicity. The pace is leisurely, but the words’ impact lingers long after the last page.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper for providing me with an advance copy of this book. My review is voluntary and reflects my honest opinion.

My goodness! This book is amazing! Ann Patchett’s books are always thoughtful and beautifully written but her latest may be my favorite yet! It comes out soon, Aug 8th, and if you have a soft spot for family stories, reminiscing about the seasons of life, and the play Our Town, this is the book for you! I loved the characters, they fully formed and compelling, even if they only play a small role in the story. The relationship this mom has with her daughters as she shares the story of a fleeting romance decades ago with a famous actor while picking cherries and being together during the pandemic is one I won’t forget!

I read the first half of Tom Lake slowly, savoring every part of it and loving the storytelling. It alternated between the past and present in a way that seemed so effortless. I love Ann Patchett's engaging and thoughtful writing style, and she seems to have a great deal of empathy with her characters. The pace intensified about halfway through the book, and I didn't want to put it down. I was in the cherry orchard with Emily, Maisie and Nell and could also feel what Lara was experiencing throughout her story -- before, during and after Tom Lake -- as well as in the present time. I would recommend to readers who enjoy a weightier approach to relationship fiction with well-developed, believable characters. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the Advance reader's copy. As of July 19, my library has about 14 holds per (print) copy -- I'm sure we're going to need to buy more!

Tom Lake
Ann Patchett
Pub Date August 8, 2023
Harper
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
In my opinion, this is a classic or will become one soon. It’s only the second Patchett book I have read. It it was truly amazing. A story about family and relationships. Loved the setting- Northern Michigan.
5 stars

In the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic a mother and her young adult daughters gather to tend to the needs of their fruit farm in Northern Michigan. As they work on the farm, Lara tells the girls the story of a summer when she was about their age. In the summer of 1998, she acted in a summer stock company and fell for a man who was destined to become a movie star.

I really appreciated the layers to this book. It's not about the pandemic, instead the emergency provides the framework for what the book meditates upon. It's about making peace with the choices of our youth, how much of our past we owe our children, and how one life can contain multitudes. Lara, Emily, Nell, and Joe are real people to me. Patchett creates real complicated people without making their faults a plot device or letting them overshadow the story. She is especially masterful with the character of Duke. He is a legend in the family, and a ghost for Lara.

The pacing of the book reflects the mood of pandemic lock down. It meanders in a pleasant way, taking its time but there is the edge to tone. Where is the story going? Is there a secret to be revealed? I simply loved the world built here. Patchett is a goddess of literature.