Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Tom Lake by Ann Patchett was my bookclub’s read for January 2024. To be honest, I was not thrilled with the choice. I am so glad though that I decided to read/listen to it. Meryl Streep was the narrator on the Audible book. She was fabulous and made it so very interesting.

I found the characters very easy to relate to due to the setting being during the pandemic. The Nelson families, grown children, 3 daughters, return home to wait out COVID on the family farm. While picking cherries, the girls beg their mother to tell in complete detail the story of how she met the actor Peter Duke and shared a summer of romance while working as summer stock actors at a resort on Tom Lake in Michigan.

The story takes the family on a pilgrimage to the past and helps the girls to see their parents as individuals that existed before they had children. Many times you hear the girls saying “I assumed…” “I figured…” etc…

What I got most out of this story is that I wish I had more time with my parents before their deaths to learn who they were before me. I absolutely loved this book. I laughed, I cried, and I fell in love with the characters. I recommend this book for EVERYONE.

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