What a gift it is to read a new novel by Ann Patchett! I loved this book so much. It had everything I expect from Ann-a beautiful story, excellent character development, wonderful writing...just perfect. I look forward to recommending this title to our library patrons.

I never have any idea what I'm going to get when I pick up a new Ann Patchett book, but I always rip through them. I enjoyed this one a lot, maybe 4.5 stars even, a sad-happy sort of fairy tale about acting and youth and love and drama and refusing to regret the lost past and almost succeeding. I really need to see a production of Our Town sometime, and I also REALLY wish I could see Peter Duke's oscar-winning performance in The Promised Man even though it tragically does not exist. Plays into the Tortured Asshole Hero trope and doesn't quite escape romanticizing it, but still, a very good read.

In the spring of 2020, Lara is grateful. Her family is safe and all three of her adult daughters are at home. As they work harvesting cherries at the family’s Michigan orchard, Lara recounts the summer she spent at Tom Lake playing Emily in Our Town. The girls, Emily, Maisie, and Nell, are really interested in her summer affair with movie star Peter Duke. As present life carries on amid a global pandemic, Lara recounts her youth and her brief time as an actress. As the story progresses, the bond between the women grows deeper.

Patchett has created an authentic, emotional story about first loves, lasting loves, family, and dreams. This story surprised me, as I thought it was just fine, but then one day I realized it seeped into my soul. I was as deeply invested in Lara’s story as her daughters. There were a few surprises but as Lara looks back on her life and the choices she made, I realized how thought-provoking the story is. Lara was able to realize at a young age that her future as an actress wouldn’t fulfill her and she chose a different path. Many would be swept up in the fame and allure, not realizing that a Michigan cherry orchard was her destiny.

Cherry comparisons are of course inevitable given the running theme of harvesting the fruit and the novel’s sweet richness. Patchett triumphs again with this deftly woven, cherishable portrait of a woman’s choices and a charismatic man’s demise. Three sisters, the cherry orchard - there are cute jokes here too, but overall it’s an intensely satisfying narration of appealing themes done with sincerity. I’m predicting a big hit.

Ann Patchett is a wonderful story teller as is the main character, Lara, in her new book, “Tom Lake”. Lara, her three daughters, and her husband are picking cherries on the family farm racing to get it done before they spoil. The girls ask for the story of when their mom was a summer stock actress at Tom Lake along with Duke, now a famous movie star. The story which unfolds over several days is cleverly interwoven with Lara’s life story and is beautifully written. The relationships between Lara and her daughters and their relationship with one another as well as Lara’s relationship with her husband, Duke and several other characters is revealed in an intriguing manner. I hated to finish this book and I fell in love with so many of the characters. I’m a fan of Patchett’s books and this one certainly did not disappoint.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

I know I speak for many of us in saying I've been looking forward to a new release from Ann Patchett. TOM LAKE certainly does not disappoint.

The setting in northern Michigan gives a nice "everyday" kind of feeling to the narrative, and the orchard manages to be real and cozy at the same time. I like how the pandemic plays a role, but is not absolutely central to the novel. For example, the pandemic explains why the 3 grown daughters are living at home. But the novel doesn't dwell on it. It makes so much sense that during this "pause" period the daughters grow curious about their mother's life before she married their father. The mother's past relationship with a famous movie star is certainly intriguing and keeps the pages turning.

Patchett's writing is wonderful, as always. Absolutely wonderful.

Exactly what I love about an Ann Patchett novel--lovely prose, fascinating characters, a plot that moves, insight, tender humor, and leaves the reader with a deep sigh and gentle introspection.

This was a gem of a book! Patchett is so good at weaving a story together. This one brings together two timelines as a mother tells her daughters about a summer when she was young. I love how Patchett’s writing is simple yet evocative as she tells her tale. This didn’t end up being my favorite Patchett book, but if you enjoy character-focus novels, give this one a try.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

I was very excited to get the advanced copy of this book!
I’ve only read two other books by this author but I enjoyed them immensely.
This book is set mostly in northern Michigan, and I am a lifelong Michigander.. it also brought up names of cities just a couple miles away from me which was very cool.

The story of Lara … who lives on an orchard up north with her husband and three grown daughters .. it’s during the time of the pandemic and all the daughters are home, very busy with cherry picking and helping out since their lives are on pause during this time, as they are working together, they want to hear about their mom’s brief career as an actress in summer stock at Tom Lake..very close to home..and her relationship with a well known male movie star
A story about family and relationships..I really enjoyed!

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC!

A Midwestern cherry farm, a beautiful family saga, the memories of a summer at the Tom Lake theatre full of love, loss, and self-discovery… this book contains multitudes and all of them are wonderful. I think what I love most about Ann is her female protagonists who give us a social commentary both full of nostalgia and humor, in a way that is touching and entirely relatable. To say this book was a warm hug is an understatement. I cannot wait for you all to get your hands on this tender tale in August! 🍒

Lara, her daughters and husband are working full out to pick their cherries before they spoil during covid so there’s no extra help. The girls beg for a story they’ve heard many times, the story of their mom when she was an actress, dating Duke who is now a famous star. Told over several days, the novel explores the relationships between Lara and her daughters, and to each other.
As always, beautifully and lyrically written in the infamous Patchett style, Tom Lake is a gentle story you will remember long after you’ve finished.

The Dutch House set the highest of standards, but Ann Patchett has again crafted a beautiful book of family legacy.

Former actress Lara lives on a working orchard farm with her husband and, in the summer of 2020, her three adult daughters. The most immediate problem facing the family is how to harvest the fruit without the help of the large group of migrant workers during the days of the pandemic lockdown. The work is physically exhausting but tedious, so Lara, at the urging of her daughters, tells the story of her summer stock love affair with a future superstar franchise actor (think Bond or Marvel) when she was in her 20s. It's a coming-of-age story told through the lens of distance, forgiveness, and understanding, and it is compelling.

Has any writer ever trusted her audience more than Ann Patchett? Has any writer ever been so trustworthy? "Tom Lake" is a dual timeline story and, although Patchett doesn't explicitly tell you where in time she is with headers, it's always crystal clear. It's a smaller world, a less dramatic opus, than some of her previous works like "Commonwealth" or "State of Wonder," but she is endlessly able to engage the reader even in this quieter, leaner story.

Ann Patchett is kind of a Goldilocks writer--not too dry, not too lyrical. Graceful yet matter-of-fact. Her prose is always accessible, but offers real insight. She drops such subtle foreshadowing clues so that each revelation is both surprising and, somehow, in retrospect, predictable. She makes it all look so easy which is, of course, the most difficult and impressive feat of all.

5 stars. Publication date 8/8/2023. Thanks to NetGalley for graciously providing the ARC. The opinions are my own.

Ann Patchett has a genuine way of creating pure family dynamics. As she takes us through the years of Lara's past, from Lara discovering what she wants out of life, what she doesn't want, and where she ended up, this novel is constructed in a way to only make you love the entirety of it. From beginning to end, this novel is utterly captivating.

Beautifully told story of Lara, who narrates the summer she spent starring as Emily in Our Town and dating a man who later became a movie star. She herself relates the story to her three grown daughters as they all bring in the cherry harvest in their family's cherry orchard as the Covid 19 pandemic isolates them in Northern Michigan without the usual supportive labor they use. Throughout the telling, the reader becomes engrossed in the current and the past stories of their lives, through the superb writing of Ann Patchett.

A coming of age story set during the summer of 2020 on a cherry farm in Michigan, “Tom Lake” digs deep into how a past relationship helps a young woman find the best path in life for her.

Lara’s three girls, all in their twenties, have come home for the summer and while picking sweet cherries on the family farm persuade their mother to tell her story about how she once dated a now very famous actor. The story smoothly intertwines a long ago summer in Lara’s past with the present. This is an amazing character drawn work written from Lara’s first person perspective. It is so gorgeously told, one can see all the individual characters, the cherry orchard, and the old family home.

Thornton Wilder’s play “Our Town” is also a large part of the story. In her TikTok account, Ann Patchett suggests reading the play “Our Town” before reading her new book, “Tom Lake.” I haven’t read “Our Town” but an online synopsis of the play helped me understand the story's references..

“Tom Lake” is an example of Ann Patchett at her finest and fully displays the talent of one of the greatest of today’s contemporary writers.

I enjoyed this book. I generally am a fan of Ann Patchett. I thought it was a simple story with great characters. I enjoyed the plot twists as they came because they felt organic.

"Once in a thousand times it's interesting." So says the Stage Manager of marriage in Thornton Wilder's Our Town. Tom Lake is the site of a summer stock production of Our Town, where Lara, Duke, Nelson, and others meet and set the stages for the rest of their lives. Duke becomes a famous actor. Lara marries a cherry farmer and raises three daughters. As she recounts her time as an actress and summer romance with Duke to her enthralled daughters, the joys and heartbreaks of her youth find a balance with the life she has chosen as an adult. Ann Patchett's clear prose and ability to give her characters life makes Tom Lake a beautiful read. "Do any human beings ever realize life when they live it?" asks Emily to the Stage Manager. Probably not, but it helps when we have stories from Ann Patchett to read.

I am quickly falling in love with Ann Patchett. After reading the Dutch House I knew I would have to pick up everything she has written since, and Tom Lake was no disappointment. Patchett is really herself in this one, the deliciously developed characters, the palpable setting... a master of the craft!

I really enjoy Lara's voice, how she recalls her youthful days and how playful and real she is with her daughters. The girls are great as well, each so unique and each holding a different aspiration and a place in the family. I really enjoy the real approach Patchett takes to stories of life, real narratives that people live somehow make her writing more compelling to me. I feel like I could visit Lara on her orchard.

This will be a reread for me, I think it will always have a place on my bookshelf.

P.S.--Reading books set in the COVID-19 Pandemic is still really weird to me.

Thank you to Harper for my advance readers copy through NetGalley.

I'm a huge Ann Patchett fan, as I know many are, and fans won't be disappointed by Tom Lake. Her style of family epic is there, but also braided in are some delightful Hollywood gossip/behind the scenes vibes as well as one of the most artful literary handlings of the COVID pandemic (as a minor background character) that I've seen. I didn't love it as much as I loved The Dutch House, but I also could hardly bring myself to put it down.