Ann Patchett’s newest novel, “Tom Lake,” takes us to the cherry orchards of northern Michigan.
The COVID pandemic has reunited Joe and Lara Nelson with their adult daughters. And while the family works together to harvest the fruit, Emily, Maisie and Nell beg their mother to tell them the story of her long-ago love affair with the recently deceased movie star Peter Duke.
Lara explains that she met Peter during a summer-stock performance of “Our Town” at Tom Lake. Lara played Emily, Peter played Emily’s father, and the two spent all their time together that summer — playing tennis, swimming in the lake, hanging out with friends and generally cavorting the way young lovers do.
The novel switches back-and-forth between these two storylines — Lara in her blissful younger days, and her family in the mysterious and unsettling early days of the pandemic. Her daughters interrupt often to press for more details or to correct their mother when she says something that goes against modern social standards. And Joe Nelson hovers in the background like the Stage Manager in “Our Town,” an omniscient narrator who’s also focused on running the cherry orchard.
The story within the stories is one about paths not taken, and how much children can or should know about their parents’ lives before they existed. Patchett flair for story structure shines, as does her skill with portraying sibling and family dynamics.
“Tom Lake” transported me to another place and time, and it made me think about my own life’s journey. And isn’t that what great novels do?
