What Audible Says
#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.
My 5-Star Review
Having done some acting and my parents being involved in community theater when they were alive, I was drawn to this book after reading a review of it. I enjoyed other books by Ann Patchett, and this one didn’t disappoint me.
Merryl Streep does an excellent job narrating this Audible version, giving each character a distinct voice. I often find it disconcerting when authors write in the present tense. But in this case, with scenes between Lara and her daughters in present tense and Lara sharing her memories in past tense, it works.
I was fascinated to read about what it was like to act in a summer stock theater, something I’ve never done. Although I found Lara and other characters irresponsible at times, the myriad plot twists kept me reading. With a satisfying ending, this book is sure to please anyone who likes a heartwarming family story and especially those interested in theater.
By the way, curious about the play being performed at Tom Lake, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, which I’ve never seen, I’m currently reading it. Stay tuned for a review of it next week.
Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography
Photo Resize and Description
by Two Pentacles Publishing
I have great news! For those who use the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled in the United States, Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me is now available in an audio format from their site. To download this book click here.
If you haven’t already done so, please subscribe to my email list to receive my monthly newsletter and other announcements. This is a one-way announcements list, meaning the only messages you’ll receive will come from me. So, you can rest assured that this list is low-traffic. Send a blank email to: newsfrommycorner+subscribe@groups.io You’ll receive a confirmation email. Reply to that with another blank message, and you should be good to go.
New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me
Copyright 2021 by Abbie Johnson Taylor.
Independently published with the help of DLD Books.
Photo Resize and Description
by Two Pentacles Publishing
Sixteen-year-old Natalie’s grandmother, suffering from dementia and confined to a wheelchair, lives in a nursing home and rarely recognizes Natalie. But one Halloween night, she tells her a shocking secret that only she and Natalie’s mother know. Natalie is the product of a one-night stand between her mother, who is a college English teacher, and another professor.
After some research, Natalie learns that people with dementia often have vivid memories of past events. Still not wanting to believe what her grandmother has told her, she finds her biological father online. The resemblance between them is undeniable. Not knowing what else to do, she shows his photo and website to her parents.
Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.
Her younger sister, Sarah, senses their parents’ marital difficulties. At Thanksgiving, when she has an opportunity to see Santa Claus, she asks him to bring them together again. Can the jolly old elf grant her request?
My Corner 
2 thoughts on “A Heartwarming Novel about Family and stage: My Review of Tom Lake by Ann Patchett #FantasticFridayReads #Fiction #Inspiration”