The title of Ann Patchett’s latest novel, Tom Lake, doesn’t refer to a person, as I’d assumed before I started reading, but to a place – a town in Michigan with a theatre overlooking the lake. One summer in the 1980s, a theatrical group gather at Tom Lake to rehearse the Thornton Wilder play, Our Town. The role of Emily has gone to Lara, a young woman who previously played that same part in a high school production. Here at Tom Lake, Lara meets and falls in love with the charismatic Peter Duke, the actor who plays her father in Our Town and who goes on to become a famous Hollywood star.
Many years later, in 2020, Lara and her husband, Joe, are living on a Michigan farm with their three adult daughters, Emily, Maisie and Nell, who have all come home to be with their parents as the Covid pandemic sweeps across the world. While they help to harvest cherries from the family orchard, the girls ask Lara to tell them about her relationship with Duke. As they listen to her story unfold, they discover things about their mother’s past that makes them reassess everything they thought they knew about her and about themselves.
I loved Ann Patchett’s last novel, The Dutch House, so I was hoping for a similar experience with this book. Sadly, that didn’t happen, although I did still find a lot to like. It’s certainly a beautifully written novel, but I just found it a bit too quiet and gentle and I never felt fully engaged with the characters the way I did with the characters in The Dutch House. I know I’m in a tiny minority, though, and I expect to see Tom Lake on many people’s ‘books of the year’ lists in December.
Although the present day sections of the book are set during the pandemic, Covid is barely mentioned at all and it’s really just a plot device to explain why the family are all together on the farm with such little contact with the outside world. This provides the perfect environment for the three daughters to pass the time listening to their mother’s story without too many distractions – and a cherry orchard does sound like a lovely place to spend the pandemic. Something else which plays a much bigger part in the novel is Thornton Wilder’s Our Town; clearly the play and, in particular, the role of Emily are very important to Lara, but as I’ve neither read nor seen it I didn’t really understand the significance. It seems to be a play that is much better known and more widely studied in America than it is here in the UK and I wish I’d had at least some familiarity with it before I started this book. That’s possibly one of the things that prevented me from enjoying it as much as I’d hoped.
I do like Patchett’s writing, so even though this particular book wasn’t a huge success with me, I’m still looking forward to trying some of her earlier work.
Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) for providing a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.
She Reads Novels 
Obviously, Our Town is important to Patchett, but I have to say, I had to read it in high school and I have seen it produced more than once, and it is terribly boring. I don’t know that having read it would have helped you very much. I’m sorry you didn’t like it as much as I did, but I agree that The Dutch House is excellent.
I was wondering if it would be worth reading Our Town, but maybe not, if you thought it was boring.
Well, who knows, obviously Ann Patchett doesn’t think it is boring.
Hmm, I’ve got this on my wishlist but I don’t know Our Town either, so maybe I’ll switch to The Dutch House instead. My reaction to the one Patchett I’ve read so far was somewhat muted in comparison to the love poured on it by most people – State of Wonder.
I preferred The Dutch House, but plenty of people have loved this one so don’t let me put you off! I would like to try one of her earlier books at some point, but maybe won’t choose State of Wonder.
I like an honest review. I did not get through Dutch House–Tom Hanks wasn’t my favorite narrator, either. I “liked” State of Wonder, but not 5 stars worth or anything. Still, this one may get a quick try due to Our Town.
If you like Our Town you might find this book more interesting than I did. Sorry you didn’t like The Dutch House. With audiobooks I think the narrator can often make a big difference.
I wondered if knowing Our Town would have helped too. I did enjoy this, tonight it was beautifully written but it was definitely a quiet novel if you know what I mean. It’s the first Ann Patchett I’d read and I’d definitely read more.
‘Tonight’ should say ‘thought’!
I enjoyed it overall, despite it being a bit too quiet for me, but I definitely felt I would have got more out of it if I’d been familiar with Our Town.
I’m not such a huge Patchett fan as some people, so your underwhelmed review means this won’t get to the top of my TBR.
I’ve only read two books by Patchett so far – loved one and not the other, so I think I’ll have to try another one before making up my mind.
I was in the mood for gentle and quiet, so this was the right book at the right time for me. I also watched a YouTube video of an Our Town production with Paul Newman as stage manager after the first few chapters, which did help me appreciate some of the details. I hope to finish my review in the next week or so….
I’m glad you liked this one. I wish I’d taken the time to watch Our Town on YouTube too, as I’m sure it would have helped me to get more out of the book.
I didn’t know anything about this book except for the title – and I also assumed it was a person’s name! This would be perfect for Reading the Theatre, so I’ll try to read it then.
I wrote a post about Our Town once upon a time: https://emeraldcitybookreview.com/2016/04/15/reading-new-england-our-town/
It seems as though Patchett assumed familiarity with the play – which is a standby in the US, but not everybody even there has read or seen it. It shouldn’t have been that hard to work in a little bit of information to understand its significance, that was a miss on the part of an editor I’d say.
Yes, I think this would be a great choice for Reading the Theatre. I’m sure Patchett could have found a way to provide some context to explain why the play was so important – it would definitely have added something to the book, I think.
I really enjoyed the book but thought reading Our Town would have added something so I had my book group read it this month. While I found it dull, others really enjoyed it (there’s always that “Who chose this?” moment which I was dreading) and felt it did add context.
I did like the parts in the past better than the gentle present, especially because the eldest daughter was such a pain (yet realistic).
I thought Patchett’s use of Covid as a background was effective. Other books mentioning Covid already seem dated.
I definitely felt that I was missing some of the context by not being familiar with Our Town, although I’m not sure how much difference it would have made to my enjoyment of the book. I liked the parts set in the past better than the present too – and I agree about the eldest daughter!
I haven’t read anything by Pratchett yet and have been tempted by this beautiful cover! Maybe I’ll try The Dutch House first.
Yes, it’s a lovely cover! Most people have loved this one, so don’t be put off by my review, but I did prefer The Dutch House.
Patchett’s books have been hit or miss for me, which is probably why I haven’t read this one yet.
I hope this one is a hit for you, if you do decide to read it.
Interesting. This one really worked for me after I felt let down by Commonwealth and The Dutch House.
I’m glad you enjoyed this one after two disappointments. I haven’t read Commonwealth yet, but it’s not one that sounds particularly appealing to me.