Reviews
"Patchett's intricate and subtle thematic web...enfolds the nature of storytelling, the evolving dynamics of a family, and the complex interaction between destiny and choice....These braided strands culminate in a denouement at once deeply sad and tenderly life-affirming. Poignant and reflective, cementing Patchett's stature as one of our finest novelists." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "As this spellbinding and incisive novel unspools, Patchett brings every turn of mind and every setting to glorious, vibrant life, gracefully contrasting the dazzle of the ephemeral with the gravitas of the timeless, perceiving in cherries sweet and tart reflections of love and loss." -- Booklist (starred review) "Patchett is at the top of her game." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A swoony, luminous reminder about the endurance of love and happiness in a broken world." -- Oprah Daily "A compelling narrative about the secret lives of parents--and how to find happiness in the midst of a long life." -- Time "One of our greatest living chroniclers of love and marriage--and its resounding impacts over generations--is back this summer ... Expect wonder; Patchett always delivers." -- Elle "Who is better, more nuanced, or more surprising on matters of love and family than Patchett?....[a] heady voyage into the past, with a delicately observed story that is also constantly shifting the ground beneath our feet." -- Literary Hub "Fans of The Dutch House and Commonwealth will be more than satisfied with Ann Patchett's latest novelistic exploration of love and family dynamics." -- Harper's Bazaar "Patchett, beloved bookseller and chronicler of people thrown together in patched families and hostage situations, turns her attention to love -- youthful, marital, fleeting, enduring." -- NPR "Patchett masterfully weaves an evocative story of love, hope, and familial bonds, offering a profound meditation on finding happiness amid life's uncertainties." -- BookBub "Ahh...Ann Patchett has a new read and we couldn't be happier....It's cozy, and feel-good, and we recommend reading with a bowl of cherries." -- The Skimm, "Patchett's intricate and subtle thematic web...enfolds the nature of storytelling, the evolving dynamics of a family, and the complex interaction between destiny and choice....These braided strands culminate in a denouement at once deeply sad and tenderly life-affirming. Poignant and reflective, cementing Patchett's stature as one of our finest novelists." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "...a compelling narrative about the secret lives of parents--and how to find happiness in the midst of a long life." -- Time "One of our greatest living chroniclers of love and marriage--and its resounding impacts over generations--is back this summer ... Expect wonder; Patchett always delivers." -- Elle "Fans of The Dutch House and Commonwealth will be more than satisfied with Ann Patchett's latest novelistic exploration of love and family dynamics." -- Harper's Bazaar "Patchett, beloved bookseller and chronicler of people thrown together in patched families and hostage situations, turns her attention to love -- youthful, marital, fleeting, enduring." -- NPR, "Patchett's intricate and subtle thematic web...enfolds the nature of storytelling, the evolving dynamics of a family, and the complex interaction between destiny and choice....These braided strands culminate in a denouement at once deeply sad and tenderly life-affirming. Poignant and reflective, cementing Patchett's stature as one of our finest novelists." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "As this spellbinding and incisive novel unspools, Patchett brings every turn of mind and every setting to glorious, vibrant life, gracefully contrasting the dazzle of the ephemeral with the gravitas of the timeless, perceiving in cherries sweet and tart reflections of love and loss." -- Booklist (starred review) "Patchett is at the top of her game." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A swoony, luminous reminder about the endurance of love and happiness in a broken world." -- Oprah Daily "A tender, absorbing tale about becoming who we are." -- People "A compelling narrative about the secret lives of parents--and how to find happiness in the midst of a long life." -- Time "One of our greatest living chroniclers of love and marriage--and its resounding impacts over generations--is back this summer ... Expect wonder; Patchett always delivers." -- Elle "Tom Lake is about romantic love, marital love and maternal love, but also the love of animals, the love of stories, love of the land and trees and the tiny, red, cordiform object that is a cherry....This generous writer hits the mark again with her ninth novel." -- Washington Post "Tom Lake...[takes] its time to marvel over the quiet drama of ordinary living: a strong marriage, a loving family, a place to gather at the end of the day." -- Houston Chronicle "Tom Lake is a warm, funny book about kind people who do the best they can." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune "[Patchett] writes with deep attention to our country's changing culture while never taking her eye off narrative. Each book uses a traditional storytelling structure -- lyrics, midrash, folk tales -- while pushing at the edges of what a form can contain, cramming it with modern human concerns, triumphs and tragedies." -- Los Angeles Times "Who is better, more nuanced, or more surprising on matters of love and family than Patchett?....[a] heady voyage into the past, with a delicately observed story that is also constantly shifting the ground beneath our feet." -- Literary Hub "Fans of The Dutch House and Commonwealth will be more than satisfied with Ann Patchett's latest novelistic exploration of love and family dynamics." -- Harper's Bazaar "Patchett, beloved bookseller and chronicler of people thrown together in patched families and hostage situations, turns her attention to love -- youthful, marital, fleeting, enduring." -- NPR "Patchett masterfully weaves an evocative story of love, hope, and familial bonds, offering a profound meditation on finding happiness amid life's uncertainties." -- BookBub "Ahh...Ann Patchett has a new read and we couldn't be happier....It's cozy, and feel-good, and we recommend reading with a bowl of cherries." -- The Skimm, "Patchett's intricate and subtle thematic web...enfolds the nature of storytelling, the evolving dynamics of a family, and the complex interaction between destiny and choice....These braided strands culminate in a denouement at once deeply sad and tenderly life-affirming. Poignant and reflective, cementing Patchett's stature as one of our finest novelists." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "One of our greatest living chroniclers of love and marriage--and its resounding impacts over generations--is back this summer ... Expect wonder; Patchett always delivers." -- Elle "Fans of The Dutch House and Commonwealth will be more than satisfied with Ann Patchett's latest novelistic exploration of love and family dynamics." -- Harper's Bazaar, "One of our greatest living chroniclers of love and marriage--and its resounding impacts over generations--is back this summer ... Expect wonder; Patchett always delivers." -- Elle
Synopsis
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America's finest writers. "Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature." --The Guardian 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., #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America's finest writers. "Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature." -- The Guardian 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.
