—Book Club Book Review— Title: Tom Lake Author: Ann Patchett Publisher: Harper Books @harperbooks Genre: Literary Fiction August @reesesbookclub
“It was such a good day,” he said. “The day I was there. Someone told me years ago that I should always have a place in my mind where I could imagine myself happy, so that when I wasn’t so happy I could go there. Anyway, this is the place I go.”
Oh what a story teller Ann Patchett is! I would describe Tom Lake like a slow Sunday drive; it’s a thoughtful story of love, parenting, and coming-of-age. It’s the beautiful concept of stories and what we share and what we hold back. What is just for us!
“And it’s not like I’m telling them everything anyway. I’m not telling them the good parts.”
Tom Lake takes place in the spring of 2020. We all remember that time. For the the Nelson family they are all in Northern Michigan at the family’s orchard picking cherries. The three daughters, Emily, Maisie and Nell beg their mother to tell the story of the summer when she dated the famous actor, Peter Duke. It has everyone examining their lives and relationships; have you ever thought you knew something one way and are so sure of it, and actually turns out to be another way? And then what about the timing of things?
“We felt like we were picking up something that had started a long time ago. But we hadn’t started, had we? I told him I could just as easily have been taking measurements for some other show, or pinning tulle on the underskirts of wedding dresses in a bridal salon. He’s said he should have been back in Chicago but then he never would have found me. And then what? It would have been a different life, one that I will never be able to imagine. A life without Joe and the farm, without Emily and Maisie and Nell.”
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ann’s writing is as magical as the summer or a lush as a cherry. I found this story relatable ( I have kids 22 and 20 that I have begun sharing more stories with!) It’s just what it needed to be. No more, no less.
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