Ann Patchett's Tom Lake

Genres: literary fiction, friendship, and family life

Dated: August 20, 2023

the author: The Patron Saint of Liars, Taft, The Magician's Assistant, Bel Canto, Run, State of Wonder, Commonwealth, The Dutch House, and the upcoming Tom Lake are among the nine novels written by ANN PATCHETT. She served as the editor of Best American Short Stories in 2006 and is the author of four works of nonfiction, including Truth & Beauty, which is about her friendship with Lucy Grealy, What Now?, which is an expansion of her commencement speech at Sarah Lawrence College, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, which is a collection of essays focusing on the subject of commitment, and These Precious Days, which is a collection of essays on friendship, family, and writing. Lambslide, an illustrated children's book she released in 2019,.

Purchase from Amazon, Harper Collins, Barnes & Noble, or any participating retailer.

Rates: Good Reads4.5/5, 4.7/5 on Barnes & Noble.

Intro: In the spring of 2020, Lara's three daughters visit the orchard in Northern Michigan once more. While they gather cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she once shared a stage and a romance at a theater company called Tom Lake. Her daughters reflect on their own relationships with their mothers and lives, as well as the world and all they had previously believed to be true, as Lara muses on the past.Tom Lake is a tale that examines first love, married love, and the life of parents before their children were born. It explores what it means to be happy even as the world is disintegrating. It is both hopeful and elegiac. Ann Patchett blends masterful narrative artistry with incisive insights into family dynamics in all of her books. As a result, she creates a complex and brilliant novel that is delivered with great knowledge and emotional nuance, proving once more why she is one of the most renowned and recognized literary talents currently at work.

                                                  Reviews

Reviews of Pandemic by Ann Patchett

In "Tom Lake," Patchett revisits a well-known topic: the conflicting interpersonal dynamics of insular communities.

The "The New Yorker"

 

'Tom Lake,' Ann Patchett's most recent book, serves as a reminder of why she is adored.

The new book by the author of "The Dutch House" and "Bel Canto" examines love in all of its manifestations.

"Marion Winik's review

The Post in Washington" 

Ann Patchett 'knows exactly what she's doing, just how much to say or conceal.

In the Guardian

A moving and thoughtful novel that solidifies Patchett's reputation as one of our best novelists.

reviews for kirkus