This is a deceptively simple story doing spectacular things.

It's a pandemic novel that manages to skirt around the anxiety of the time and instead delve into the unexpected silver linings of time slowed and plans changed. It's a family story that's tender without being saccharine. It deals with the generational differences that have emerged in the 21st century. It's a great man-genius story that relegates the great man to the sidelines and elevates the stories of the people around him. There's a strong, respectful, loving marriage at the center as well as a woman who has made her own choices, a family that has taught its daughters to be independent.

Structurally, I loved how the first person narration allows for the story to slip backward and forward in time and to allow the reader to get both the story the narrator is telling her daughters as well as a few extra details as the narrator reflects on her memories.

Things move a little slowly at first, but I found this story so compelling. Easily my favorite of Patchett's novels. I generally like her nonfiction essays better than her fiction, and maybe that's why. This book felt almost like a memoir or the musings that might lead to an essay.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

I adored this book. I always love Ann Patchett's book, but this one is probably my new favorite. It's so full of love and somehow walks the perfect line between being wonderfully fun and escapist, but also urgent and timely. I didn't want it to end.

This is my first Ann Patchett book and I really enjoyed it. It is so fascinating to consider who parents were before they became parents--especially witnessing their children discover this. Like her daughters, I loved learning more about Lara and her story. The characters were so vividly drawn and felt like old friends. Definitely a highlight of my reading year.

Another excellent offering from Patchett about a woman recounting the summer she dated a now-famous movie star to her three adult daughters when they are all home on their northern Michigan farm during the early days of the pandemic. Patchett has such a gift for language and for immersing her readers in whatever story she chooses to tell. This book had a peaceful, reflective tone and yet I was totally engrossed with the story Lara slowly spun out to her daughters. The play "Our Town" is central to this story, so if you're not familiar with it, you will benefit from reading a summary before you pick up this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Publishers for a digital review copy.

What a delight. For such a literary book, it's extremely readable. The characters are unique and drew me in immediately. Young love. Motherhood. Summer stock. Ann Patchett brings OUR TOWN into play in an entirely different way. Orchards. Michigan. Complicated people who are really just like you and me. It's already a classic in my mind.

In the summer of 2020, all of Lara's three daughters beg her to tell them the story of her summer romance with a famous author named Peter Duke. Lara and Peter starred together in a summer stock performance of the play, Our Town. This book pays homage to the Thorton Wilder play, and explores first love, growing up, life changes, grief, and mistakes we make in the past. It also brings you a story of a family, and how love can grow in both unexpected, and expected places. Patchett's writing is gorgeous and I love how she can describe a scene and make you feel a part of it without being overly wordy or superior. Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader ebook. I would love to read this again in hard back, and savor it.

What do children know of their parents before they became their parents? What will parents tell their children if given the chance? What will that parent feel telling some part of their story that is about, too, how their life became their life, all the little steps taken, the intention, the accidents, the fortuity, even the luck that has come their way - falling into the right life. We're with the Nelsons on their cherry and apple and pear farm in northern Michigan in the early months of the pandemic. And Lara Nelson, married to her love, Tom Nelson, whose family has owned the farm for generations, is the mother of three grown daughters, Emily, 26, who will take over the family farm, Maisie, 24, a veterinarian in training, and Nell, 22, who dreams of becoming an actress, and despite the pandemic, the suffering, she is glad to have them back all under the same roof once again. Gotten right is that experience some people had during the pandemic - the strange joy from being marooned amidst all the rest, the seeming end of the world. While the family harvests the cherry crop, while we learn about cherries and apples and pears, and the toil and backbreaking labor of farming, and as a result of the sudden death of a world-famous movie star, Duke, with whom Lara once acted during a summer stock season, the daughters ask their mother about her time with Duke, and what unspools is Lara's story, childhood, young adulthood, the play Our Town, her foray into acting and more. A gentle family drama toggling between past and present expertly, with a couple of surprises, one I guessed, one I didn't. Even as I felt, briefly, at times, the heavy hand of needing to be current - racism in a summer stock outfit, cancel culture, etc., that was outweighed by the pleasure of learning Lara's story, and spending time with her quick and diverse daughters.

Thanks to Harper and Netgalley for an ARC.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Lucky for us, Ann Patchett is one heck of a storyteller.

This is a pastoral, quiet, gentle novel featuring two timelines; one during the pandemic on a family farm - cherry orchard, actually - with the Nelson family. This is not a pandemic novel, that's just background. The 2nd timeline is the story told by the mother, Lara Nelson (sometimes supported by husband, Joe) recounting to her adult daughters her days as a summer stock actor, told while doing the hard work of harvesting cherries.

It's not a complicated novel, but it's about so many things.

It's about the difficulty of family farms, and relationships in small town America.

It's about acting - specifically in the play, "Our Town," and about what summer stock was like 40 years ago. (For extra credit or a more fulfilling book group discussion, go back & read Wilder's "Our Town," and Chekov's "The Cherry Orchard." Not required, but a nice accompaniment.) There's a small stint in Hollywood, even smaller in NYC, but it's really about community theater.

It's about the beauty of rural Michigan summer in both timelines. It's what makes this a real summer novel: laying in the grass, swimming in the lake, the heat, the cabins, the farm stands.

It's about being young and independent for the first time - and too young to appreciate it. And it's about young love and its betrayal. The advantage of the storytelling means Lara is now old enough to truly appreciate it; the best of both worlds. Patchett does a lovely job of putting youth (with its excitement, excesses & passions) in perspective.

The characters are compelling, complex, and realistic; they tell their truths & keep their secrets (but not from us). There are enough twisties to make it a quick & gratifying read, including a poignant ending. Some may find the end predictable or trite; I think she stuck the landing.

I wish I had that rope hammock of my youth; it would have been the perfect summer setting in which to read Tom Lake.

PS: I see that Meryl Streep reads the audio book!

Absolutely loved this - had almost a melodic feel, like listening to a symphony. Will highly recommend to customers and would love Ann Patchett to visit our store!

This is a beautiful novel about family, love , and growing up. In the spring of 2020 Lara’s three daughters return to the family orchard in Northern Michigan. While they are picking cherries the beg there. Mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke. He was a famous actor with whom she shared a stage and romance with many years ago. The theater company was called Tom Lake..All of her daughters listen to the story and start to ponder their mother and the world. This was a great read as usual by Ann Patchett.

As a devoted fan of both Ann Patchett and Michigan sweet cherries, Tom Lake was "delicious" on all counts! Please take the advice of the author and familiarize yourself with the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder before reading Tom Lake as there are important insights to gain.

Tom Lake is the story of a cherry farming family in Northern Michigan trying to harvest the summer crop on their own during Covid without the usual help of their farm workers. Lara, the mother, tells her three daughters the story of her discovery of acting and how the aftereffects of playing the pivotal role of Emily over a number of years affected both her relationships and her life. Lara's storytelling to her daughters is a retrospective of her life and especially her relationship with famous actor, Peter Duke. Lara is deft at editing what she tells her children what they most want to know, but we as readers get an expanded look at that romantic Michigan summer and the theater group at Tom Lake. Ann Patchett tells a perfectly paced dual narrative story--the storyteller tells us a story of discovery.
The author creates a beautiful and poignant picture of a woman and her family through seemingly insignificant events and stories. What seemed essential at one point in Lara's life is viewed differently in retrospect. Lara was able to rethink her path forward from her youthful dreams and was able to live the life she wanted, savoring those things that really matter to her. Ann Patchett is a master of finding those quiet and careful insights into human nature. Tom Lake is a novel of different kinds of love, both youthful and married love, but especially of love that endures.
Thank you to NetGalley for the privilege of reading an advanced copy of this novel.

This novel is a masterpiece. Ann Patchett writes so beautifully, about the most normal people, in the most seemingly insignificant moments of life and creates the most powerful stories I’ve ever read. This is a mother daughter story, it is a pandemic novel, it is a marriage portrait, and it is a coming of age tale. Lara tells her daughters about the one summer she spent as an actress at Tom Lake, and the impact that summer had upon her life—and therefore, how it formed the lives of her girls, It is absolutely beautiful, and I loved every page. This will be one of my favorite books of this year, or any year.

I cannot read an Ann Patchett book with any objectivity whatsoever. Patchett's a genius at telling stories about every day lives without boring anyone. Tom Lake is gorgeous and kind of fun, and managed to mirror so many of my pandemic feelings. I will recommend this to everyone.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the Advanced Copy of Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. This is a priority purchase for libraries given the Author's legacy of writing.

I really enjoyed this book and would call it one of Patchett's best. There are so many poignant scenes in this, and it's a pandemic novel without being about the pandemic, meaning it reminds of how we all felt during that time, rolled up in fear and loss but also things being strangely given, in this case a mother having all her adult children return home. With books that skip back and forth in time, I often enjoy one timeline much better than the other, but I gladly transitioned back and forth in this one because both were compelling and I loved seeing Lara both middle aged and young. I originally wasn't interested in the theater aspect of this novel, but Patchett is such a wonderful writer that I knew she'd make me care about it, and she did. I'd probably give this even another star except a singular scene towards the end that felt like it changed the tone and characters too much and left me with a darker feeling than the rest of the book had. This was a beautiful exploration of marriage, young romance, parenthood, farming, and what makes a good life. The Michigan setting was also unique and lovely. I'd recommend this to book clubs and anyone looking for something a bit more literary in their summer reading-- so glad I read it, and thanks very much to Netgalley for the advanced copy.

I really admire writers who can create beautiful, lush stories and build elaborate worlds where all the characters feel like someone you actually know - all while using simple and spare sentences stripped of flowery language. Ann Patchett has this remarkable ability. "Tom Lake" isn't that complicated as far as plot goes: a middle-aged cherry farmer recalls her accidental foray into acting during her youth and her short-lived affair with a man destined to become a movie star.

As with her 2019 novel "The Dutch House," there are no big, operatic moments full of anguish. The drama is in the gaps, the shifting perspectives, the unexpressed feelings that leave traces of regret or longing. It's the kind of book that ends with a little bitter and a lot of sweet and makes you want to shed a tear or two when you close the cover. Admittedly, there were some moments I found a bit twee. All of the hugging and cuddling between family members was a bit much but this was really my only (very minor) critique. Patchett is a master. "Tom Lake" will win awards. Do yourself a favor: get this book and get lost in the cherry fields of Northern Michigan.

Its summer and Lara's three grown daughters have returned home (thank you pandemic). They are spending their days harvesting cherries in the family orchard. To pass the time the daughters have demanded Lara recount in detail her acting success of her early 20s, especially the summer she spent acting at the nearby summer theater, Tom Lake. Her co-actor that summer was the now famous Peter Duke. Parents tend to tell their children about their pasts in bits and pieces. During the weeks of harvest Lara's story is filled out into an enlightening narrative for her and her daughters.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC for review.

This book will be published, I predict, to instant best selling! What a treat to read a new Ann Patchett! Thanks to the publisher for making this available for preview. And to Ann Patchett for the perfect pandemic story. Pandemic, lockdown, when we all had time to contemplate past and future. Lucky Lara and Joe to have their children with them. Beautiful setting, the farm. And wonderful recreation through storytelling of a summer romance.

During the pandemic, when they are all stuck together on the cherry orchard farm, Lara (Laura) Nelson's daughters insist on hearing the story of Lara's summer in Michigan when she was 20: playing Emily in Our Town, dating the man who would become one of the hottest movie stars and meeting her future husband. I loved this and I now have to reread Our Town. There were a few surprises and I learned a bit about cherry orchards.

This is another beautifully written book by Ann Patchett. It is a novel about family, love, history and growing pains. Lara's three daughters return home to assist with the cherry picking at the family orchard. While picking, the girls inquire about their mother's early days as an actress at Tom Lake and dating the famous actor Peter Duke. The girls examine their lives in relationship to their mother's life.