Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
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 theater 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.
Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.
Review: This was a beautiful insight into the bonds between mothers and daughters, youthful passions versus the deep and abiding love of a long-term marriage, and reconciling the parents we know versus the person they were before becoming mothers and fathers. The frame story of this one is that in 2020, Lara tells her three grown daughters the story of her youthful acting career and relationship with the famous actor Peter Duke. Lara has long since given up acting in favor of becoming a wife and mother on her husband's family's cherry farm. I loved the underlying message that a steady love and quiet life was ultimately more fulfilling and vastly preferable to a life of fame and reckless, unfaithful love.
It's hard to write a review of this book without referencing Our Town by Thornton Wilder. The play, and Lara's role as Emily, play a crucial role in this book, shaping her acting career. But ultimately, it is also the role of Emily that shapes her decision to leave acting. As deeply as she feels intwined with the of Emily, and with Duke her costar, she sees that she can be replaced in both roles. There are many parallels between the play and the novel. For instance, the mundane and everyday are important both in the play and in Lara's farm life. In a sense, Emily has shifted from the role of Emily to that of Stage Manager, telling her own story and providing insight into characters and their actions. And tragically, it is Duke that symbolically shifts from his role to that of Emily. Ultimately, both book and play lean heavily on the truth that it is ordinary life and love that is most significant and meaningful.
I'm a longtime fan of Ann Patchett's writing and have read six of her previous books. This was just as beautifully written, but I didn't enjoy the plot of this one as deeply as I did with some of her earlier works. But still a lovely, well-done novel! I have similar feelings on Our Town. I find it moving and significant, but I can't say I deeply enjoy watching the play.
I loved that the audio version of this was narrated by Meryl Streep. I particularly appreciated that the cover art uses the word "performed," rather than narrated because that was precisely what it is. She brings her signature voice and acting skills to the book, imbuing the text with emotions and a nuanced delivery. For instance, if dialogue is described as being said in a laughing manner, you can hear the smile in Meryl's voice. It was beautifully done and I'm glad I chose the audio version for this book.
Stars: 4
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