Book Review: Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

March 28, 2025

After finishing this book, I was reading over reviews, and a lot of people were saying that they were bored, and that this book didn’t give them the oomph that her other works do. I have not read anything else by Ann Patchett, but this was exactly what I needed right now. My sister in law told me to read this, probably around this time last year, and so I added it to my list and promptly forgot that I was going to read it. But I so enjoyed this book.

We follow the story of a woman named Lara through two different timelines. The first is in 2020, on her family cherry farm in northern Michigan with her husband and three daughters. The second is the summer of 1986 ( I think ) when Lara dated a famous actor named Peter Duke. The girls get to learn things about their mother that they would have never known, had they never asked for the story, and get to see what she was like before them, how she met their father, and the wonderful women they are each named after.

This book touches on friendship, betrayal, and first loves. It touches on the way we see our parents and how, even as grown women, it can be hard to understand that they had lived a whole life before you. There is a mother daughter bond, and the way your birth order affects your personality. There is a giving up of dreams and the finding of new dreams and the realizing dreams weren’t your dreams after all. I listened to this book, and it was read by Meryl Streep and I couldn't recommend listening to her reading enough. She was delightful and added so much to the story. I already really liked the content, but Meryl really made it stand out.

I would recommend this to anyone who has ever had parents or been a child and thought that your parents should have lead a different life ( like, why did my parents settle down in Iowa when there are places like Colorado to live? subthought: I love Iowa and this is just an example. I am really glad I grew up in the middle of the country. ) It was beautiful and the right amount of curling up in early spring with a cup of tea and large down pillows. It felt like coming home.