Tom Lake – Ann Patchett
Expectation: The lauded writer swapping complex family dramas for a gauzy faux-Hollywood story.
Reality: Sentimental and affecting, it felt like a warm hug every time I revisited Lara’s past, even though not every memory is rose-colored.
My Take:
Call it the Evelyn Hugo effect, but it seems everyone wants to take a stab at the fictional Hollywood story. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Taylor Jenkins Reid may be running out of thank you cards.
Reid’s own novels aside, the past two years have seen several writers off note, including Maggie Shipstead, Curtis Sittenfeld, Anthony Marra and even Tom Hanks, offer their own take on the entertainment industry, so it was only a matter of time before an undisputed literary heavyweight joined the fray.
When I heard that Ann Patchett — a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and Women’s Prize for Fiction — was focusing her new novel on an ingénue-cum-cherry farmer reminiscing about her summer romance with the world’s biggest movie star, I was worried.
Not because I doubted the literary skills of the author, but because the subject matter seemed beneath her (and this is from someone who LOVES fictional Hollywood stories).
I read Patchett for the precision with which she dissects familial bonds. For the vulnerable characters she creates. For the gorgeous prose and extensive research she pours into her stories. In other words, I don’t read them for a gossipy love story.
In reality, there was no need to worry. In many ways “Tom Lake” represents the author's most accessible work. It’s literary and a tad pretentious, but it’s also relaxed and highly enjoyable. It appeals to readers who want escapist fun and readers who want complex character-driven stories.
To me, “Tom Lake'' was a celebration of family lore, and the history we tell and the secrets we keep — even from the people closest to us. Set on a cherry farm in Northern Michigan during our first pandemic spring, Lara’s three adult children beg her to recount her restless twenties spent pursuing a career that never quite suited her.
In many ways this is a straightforward story balancing Lara’s flashbacks with her children’s unease at a paused life. But any previous reader of Patchett knows, the writer has her layers, and they are slowly and expertly peeled back here in a way that is reminiscent of her inspiration, Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” which expertly balanced sentimentality with cynicism.
To dissect Patchett’s plot would simply ruin the surprises the author leaves for her reader, but I’ll say a few things:
There are two absolutely standout sections that rank among the best I’ve read this year: Uncle Wallace’s last performance, and Lara’s return to New Hampshire. Each falls in the second half of the novel, where Patchett lets the reader know Lara’s charmed, easy early adulthood is now over.
The incredibly understated way Patchett advocates for accepting your ambition – and not apologizing for it.
The pandemic — and other current events, like climate concern — is weaved into the plot in a way that made the conversations among the Nelson family feel organic and didn’t detract from the core narrative of Lara’s flashbacks. At first I worried it was a little “kitchen sink” but Patchett made it work.
The last third, which offers a few twists and a full circle conclusion that had me wiping away tears.
One thing I didn’t care for, and why this is just short of a five-star rating, is that for a story so intimate many of the characters are largely used as plot devices. Lara and Duke are fully-fleshed and even Joe, Lara’s husband, is to a certain extent.
But the daughters are treated more like a Greek chorus, and two key players from Lara’s past, Pallace and Sebastian, felt underdeveloped. Still, consider this a high recommendation.
Okay, let’s talk about the audiobook “performed” by Meryl Streep. It was a quintessential realization by the lauded actor and that both worked for the text and against it. Lara was a gifted actress simply because it felt like she wasn’t trying, but I definitely felt like Streep was trying too hard and didn’t quite nail the ethos of the character.
Further, her portrayal of the daughters was horrendous, especially Maizie, who is presented like a gruff Neanderthal more comfortable around animals than humans. Streep often treated the interactions between Lara and her daughters with incredulity, which sometimes felt like the narrator wanted more edge in an otherwise pleasant story.
I expressed these concerns to my husband, who also listened to “Tom Lake,” and he felt Streep performed with ambivalence, which actually fits Lara perfectly. This changed my opinion of the narration and caused me to rethink previous criticisms. All that to say, the audiobook is good but far from life-changing.
Rating (story): 4.5/5 stars
Rating (narration): 3.5/5 stars
Format: Audiobook (library loan)
Dates read: September 10 – September 15, 2023
Multi-tasking: You could, but then you’d miss Patchett’s excellent character development and subtle humor. Stick with low-focus activities, like walking.
