Sign in with Facebook
Kate O'Shea's Reviews > Tom Lake
Tom Lake
by
by
I don't fall in love with many books but this one is too beautiful not to.
So my advice would be that if you haven't already seen Our Town then you either read the play or watch the movie (even though they changed the end of the 1940 version) because this book is an homage to that play.
The story of Lara Kinnison, Joe Nelson and Peter Duke is a mirror of Our Town by Thornton Wilder. Lara is a small town girl who plays Emily from Our Town in a community theatre production. Some producer sees her and whisks her away to Hollywood but events conspire and Lara finds herself back in Michigan at Tom Lake playing summer stock as Emily opposite the charismatic Peter Duke.
This novel is steeped in the same spell that Our Town casts. It follows Lara into the next generation where, years later, she is a wife and mother -- her grown daughters home during lockdown to help bring in the cherry harvest on the family farm. As they work Lara recounts her life as an actress, her love affair with Duke and how she ended up with the real hero of the story, their father.
This is my first Ann Patchett, it won't be my last. I found the rhythm of her prose hypnotic. I found myself speaking the dialogue with the same slow drawl as used in Our Town. It is primarily a book about family and continuity, about ambitions and real dreams, about love and acceptance and understanding. It is about knowing who you really are and what you really want from life.
I honestly loved this book and I certainly didn't expect to.
Highly recommended. Thankyou to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the advanced review copy.
So my advice would be that if you haven't already seen Our Town then you either read the play or watch the movie (even though they changed the end of the 1940 version) because this book is an homage to that play.
The story of Lara Kinnison, Joe Nelson and Peter Duke is a mirror of Our Town by Thornton Wilder. Lara is a small town girl who plays Emily from Our Town in a community theatre production. Some producer sees her and whisks her away to Hollywood but events conspire and Lara finds herself back in Michigan at Tom Lake playing summer stock as Emily opposite the charismatic Peter Duke.
This novel is steeped in the same spell that Our Town casts. It follows Lara into the next generation where, years later, she is a wife and mother -- her grown daughters home during lockdown to help bring in the cherry harvest on the family farm. As they work Lara recounts her life as an actress, her love affair with Duke and how she ended up with the real hero of the story, their father.
This is my first Ann Patchett, it won't be my last. I found the rhythm of her prose hypnotic. I found myself speaking the dialogue with the same slow drawl as used in Our Town. It is primarily a book about family and continuity, about ambitions and real dreams, about love and acceptance and understanding. It is about knowing who you really are and what you really want from life.
I honestly loved this book and I certainly didn't expect to.
Highly recommended. Thankyou to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the advanced review copy.
Sign into Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ to see if any of your friends have read
Tom Lake.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
Comments Showing 1-16 of 16 (16 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Tiffany
(new)
-
rated it 5 stars
Jul 04, 2023 08:25PM
Lovely review. Glad you enjoyed it so much. I’m a fan of Patchett’s and am looking forward to this.
reply
|
flag
Lovely review. Added the book to my tbr list 🩷
Check out The Dutch House and Commonwealth -- my two favorites of her's (and her non-fiction, Truth & Beauty)
Tom Lake is in Michigan. She goes back to NH but that is later.
Oops sorry. I always get lost somewhere. I'll amend it. Thankyou.
I have this coming up soon, great review Kate
I am reading this now and loving it. FWiW, I hate Our Town (sadly I have seen it multiple times) and still love the book completely. I think the book is still wonderful for those who have no connection to the play.
I loved this book and found the film of Our Town really annoying! Maybe Our Town is one of those things where if it's part of your culture it has nostalgic value but otherwise it's unpalatable. Like Twinkies.
Verity wrote: "I loved this book and found the film of Our Town really annoying! Maybe Our Town is one of those things where if it's part of your culture it has nostalgic value but otherwise it's unpalatable. Lik..."LOL Verity! I love that comparison. Yes, Our Town = Twinkies (which have about the same level of sweetness as Our Town.)
I'd have thought Our Town was of its time. Not sure about sweet though. The end is a bit dark.
Kate wrote: "I'd have thought Our Town was of its time. Not sure about sweet though. The end is a bit dark."I don't know, it might have been of its time but maybe it did not age well? I looked up movies from that same time and there are so many I still love. You Can't take it With You, Dark Victory, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. They are sappy and melodramatic by today's standards, but also legitimately affecting, even to me. I thought Our Town was syrupy sad, like Love Story or Beaches, not authentically sad. But that is just one audience member's opinion. Obviously the play endures and is prized because most people relate to it. Notwithstanding all of that, this book is REALLY GOOD!
Oh Dark Victory. I admit it. I'm a soppy lump. I cry at everything. But yes, the book is excellent.
I stopped reading this book. I found it slow, confusing and ABSOLUTELY boring.
Horses for courses etc
