Welcome, fellow bookworms, to another monthly installment of our book club’s literary adventures! This month, we delve into the fascinating pages of ‘Tom Lake,’ a captivating novel that has been making waves in the literary world. With its intriguing storyline, complex characters, and thought-provoking themes, ‘Tom Lake’ promises to be an unforgettable journey into the heart of human nature.
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Tom Lake: A Novel
by Ann Patchett
I believe I first heard of this new Ann Patchett novel from Alison of Brocante Home. She so often has great book recommendations! And having read and enjoyed another Patchett novel, The Dutch House, I feel certain I’m going to like this one, too. It also happens to be a Reese Witherspoon Book Club selection.
After reading some reviews it sounds as though it might not be a bad idea to read (or reread) Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” before delving into “Tom Lake”.
Alternatively, you could watch the film:
Tom Lake: A Novel
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.
WHAT ARE YOU READING LATELY?
Other LWD Book Club Selections:
What’s better than curling up with a good book and a delicious cup of tea? Join the Plum Deluxe Tea Club and always have delicious tea on hand for your reading time.
The audiobook is read by Merle Streep, which is reason enough for me to choose to listen to this one!
You may also enjoy this book by Ann Patchett…
LWD Book Club ~ The Dutch House
Karla says
I’m so late to the game on this book but I just finished it and really enjoyed it. I love the way it tells the story of the lives we lived before that we keep secret in our hearts. The things we tell no one else but ourselves.
Deanna Piercy says
I’m not finished with it yet but I’m loving it!