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Sign up todayTom Lake
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Learn moreBookseller recommendation
“In Tom Lake by Anne Patchett a mother tells her grown (or nearly grown) daughters of a summer long before she was married when she had an affair with a now famous actor when they stared together in a summer production of Our Town. Patchett interlaces the tale of the pas - told to the girls while they pick cherries on the family farm during the pandemic - with present moments, letting us get to know Lara and her fledging daughters. It is a story about storytelling and love of all kinds; maternal, marital, fleeting, abiding. It’s a rumination on place and where we find ourselves, about secret pasts and unknowable futures. I loved that it was sweet but not saccharine and while it could be described as quiet it held several surprises. ”
— Sarah • A Great Good Place for Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Does anyone *need* to be encouraged to listen to Meryl Streep read Ann Patchett? Probably not. But Streep, you’ll be unsurprised to hear, does a magnificent job with the nostalgia, the nuance and the Our Town of it all, bringing Patchett’s vivid past-and-present story to unforgettable life. ”
— Abby • Booked
Bookseller recommendation
“I'm pretty sure we could listen to Meryl Streep read the phone book. Lucky for us, she is reading the latest novel by the incomparable Ann Patchett. Tom Lake is both a snapshot of time suspended during the pandemic, and a coming of age tale. I couldn't bear to speed up any of it, because the listening experience was so enjoyable. ”
— Kelli • The Novel Neighbor
Bookseller recommendation
“I finished listening to Tom Lake. I can see why it’s at the top of the best seller list. Ann Patchett has a way of weaving so much into a straightforward story. Set during the pandemic, Lara’s three adult daughters have returned to the family’s cherry orchard in Michigan to quarantine and harvest the fruit. Lara entertains them by sharing the story of her acting career and brief relationship with a man who went on to be a movie star. I still prefer her essays and Bel Canto, but this story is quite enjoyable. ”
— Amy • A Great Good Place for Books
Bookseller recommendation
“I just finished listening to Tom Lake by Ann Patchett and I cannot say enough good things about this book! How I have not discovered Ann Patchett before, I will never know, but this book had me in so many feelings over the past 10 days. Set during the pandemic on a Michigan cherry farm, the family is working hard picking cherries and keeping the farm going during unprecedented times. As they work, the 3 adult daughters ask their mom to tell them the story of the famous movie star that she shared the stage and a relationship with back in her youth. Meryl Streep brings the characters to life and I felt like I was picking cherries right there with them, a part of the family. I felt nostalgia for a life that I never lived, for the life my own mother lived before me, and for my life before my daughter and how her understanding of me will change as she grows. I felt like I was the daughter, coming to the realization of the humanity of my parents in a way kids don't really understand themselves until they are older. If felt like I was the mother who lived, loved, lost, learned, and grew before my own daughter was born. I wanted to call up my mom and propose we go pick cherries so she can tell me about her young adult life and I could understand her soul the way I understood Lara's.”
— Jean • Books on Main
Bookseller recommendation
“Ann Patchett weaves a story like no one else. This audiobook is read by Meryl Streep takes you on a journey of past and present intertwined with memories and hopes of a family. Highly recommended. ”
— Cathy • Sorensen Books
Bookseller recommendation
“This is a story of love for family, of past passions and people once loved, and their continuing influence on the present. With Ann Patchett’s wit and wryness finely tuned, Tom Lake is the perfect book for a summer weekend read.”
— Jenny Stroyeck • The Homer Bookstore
Bookseller recommendation
“Patchett’s new one soars. A cherry farmer’s daughters pester her about a time in her youth when she acted on screen in Hollywood and on stage at the dreamy Tom Lake resort. Mom holds her secrets close, but gradually reveals the mysterious details of her relationship with the famous, super star actor, Peter Duke. Vivid flashbacks, intriguing reveals and scrumptious settings make it an extra good read! ”
— Patience • Underground Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Tom Lake by Ann Patchett is a thoughtful exploration of family, memory, and love. The novel offers a quiet reflection on how our choices shape our lives. It is an engaging novel that invites contemplation and a deeper appreciation for life's small moments.”
— Keith • Republic of Letters
Bookseller recommendation
“Perfect book, perfect reader in Meryl Streep! Patchett's lovely book about a protagonist's tale to her daughters about a long-ago life in the theater and love affair with a now-famous actor is beautifully narrated. Streep 'gets' and delivers each sentence with a rare humor and poignancy. It's better than a night at the theater!”
— Kelly • Raven Book Store
Bookseller recommendation
“This book is perfectly read by Meryl Streep!”
— Kelly • Beyond Words Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“This is a story of love for family, of past passions and people once loved, and their continuing influence on the present. With Ann Patchett’s wit and wryness finely tuned, Tom Lake is the perfect book for a summer weekend read.”
— Jenny • The Homer Bookstore
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • READ BY MERYL STREEP
In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers.
“Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature.” —The Guardian
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.
Ann Patchett is the author of novels, most recently the #1 New York Times bestselling Tom Lake, works of nonfiction, and children's books. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the PEN/Faulkner, the Women's Prize for Fiction in the UK, and the Book Sense Book of the Year. Her novel The Dutch House was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages, and Time magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. President Biden awarded her the National Humanities Medal in recognition of her contributions to American culture. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she is the owner of Parnassus Books.
Meryl Streep has been nominated for an Academy Award® thirteen times, winning twice. Her numerous film credits include The Deer Hunter, Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie's Choice, Out of Africa, The Bridges of Madison County, Adaptation, and The Hours.
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Audiobook details
Author:
Ann Patchett
Narrator:
Meryl Streep
ISBN:
9780063327559
Length:
11 hours 22 minutes
Language:
English
Publisher:
HarperAudio
Publication date:
August 1, 2023
Edition:
Unabridged
Libro.fm rank:
#15 Overall
Genre rank:
#4 in Fiction - Literary