Tom Lake, the story of 57-year-old Lara Nelson, recounts the story of her own youthful love affair while performing in summer stock at Michigan's Tom Lake. She relates the story to her three adult daughters. Over the years, Lara had revealed bits of the story to them, but now, as she and her family unexpectedly find themselves at their family home because of the Covid pandemic, her daughters cajole her into filling in the blanks and telling the whole story. Patchett plays with the juxtaposition of the pandemic's grim reality and Lara’s happy experience of it.
The novel is slow moving, with little action during its first two-thirds. I nearly DNFd it at the half-way mark. This reaction surprised me because I love literary fiction and rarely DNF. I don’t need high stakes, tension, and drama. I want to lose myself in beautiful scenes, breathe the air of landscapes, and connect with characters.
The big scenes in Tom Lake are by nature, beautiful: a cherry orchard, a summer-stock campus along a lake front, a cozy farmhouse. Patchett draws these images well, but doesn't go far enough. I don’t see grape-colored hydrangeas, nor smell the wisteria. At the farm, there is a barn and equipment and acres of beautiful cherry trees, but I don’t feel the distances. I don’t smell hay. The radio isn’t buzzing in the farm office. Given the lack of plot, the lack of vivid detail causes the book to drag.
The main character, and the only one I believe Patchett intended to elicit empathy, is Lara Nelson—but there is a vast cast of characters. In Lara’s family there are: her daughters, each with distinct personalities; her husband Joe; a future son-in-law; a grandmother; and an aunt and uncle from whom Joe bought the farm on which Lara and Joe now live. Additionally, we are introduced to an entourage of friends and acting contacts that Lara met during her short acting career at Tom Lake and before. These are, arguably, the most interesting characters in the book, but all of them live behind a kind of grey scrim, likely a deliberate method for indicating a flashback. The reader "sees" them, is aware of what they are doing, yet never truly knows or cares about them. Adding to this crowd are the characters contained in the two plays long-ago performed at Tom Lake: “Our Town” and “Fool For Love.” These characters are frequently referenced. A familiarity with one or both of these plays would enhance your experience of Tom Lake. Both Lara Nelson and her summer lover, Peter Duke, land important roles in both plays.
Knowing Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard” may also provide insight into Tom Lake. Chekhov’s play concerns an aristocratic family who risks losing their beloved cherry orchard to societal and cultural shifts. As Patchett was writing Tom Lake, most certainly, the world was in the midst of profound societal shifts. The looming threat of agribusiness, while not a major theme in Patchett’s novel, does parallel Chekhov. Tom Lake Americanizes “The Cherry Orchard’s” themes and might make Tom Lake a worthy contender for a 2024 Pulitzer.
The story really gets going in its last third. The book ultimately centers on Lara, a flawed person who is just trying to get by. The most poignant plot points are crammed in at the story's end. More than once, I wanted Patchett to explore them in greater depth. Instead, she squanders a lot of words conveying Lara’s hesitation to continue recounting her story. Before her marriage, Lara made decisions she isn’t proud of, causing her to keep secrets from her daughters and her husband. This relatable character detail leaves the reader to contemplate their own decisions and the secrets. Reflection is essential to appreciating this novel--so sleep on it.
Tom Lake successfully conveys an aspect of the dreadful summer of 2020: the stay-at-home experience when we clustered in our pods fretting and listening to depressing news, and hoping that one day all would be normal again. However, Patchett’s omissions from the pandemic experience make a story that doesn’t ring entirely true: a daughter leaves the farmhouse with regularity to treat ailing neighborhood animals (she is a veterinary student) yet never reaches for a mask; people show up unexpectedly (one even stays overnight); there is no mention of virus or masks. No one expresses any apprehension about being near these visitors. But before vaccines were available we all experienced that apprehension to be together. While not a story about the pandemic per se, the lack of contextual markers feels underdeveloped: no drive-up testing sites, no sanitizing of grocery items, no shortage of yeast or toilet paper. These details would have rendered the family’s happy reunion as being temporary, perhaps unsettled; instead, it feels like Eden.
I’ve puzzled over why I wasn't more affected by this book. Patchett seems to want you to empathize with Lara. However, I found her character flaws (presumably revealed only to us) made her disappointing enough that I didn’t feel sorry for her. I didn’t suffer with her. I’m glad she isn’t entirely a victim, but she's also no hero. Her summer fling, Peter Duke, has a sad story arch but the gauzy portrayal of his bad behavior did not make me empathize, nor even curious.
One reviewer wrote that Tom Lake is “agonizingly sad,” while another called it “hopeful and uplifting.” It's neither of those things. I’m prone to crying over novels. My eyes never grew dewy. I felt indifferent. Hope requires the reader to believe that difficulties might be positively resolved after the book ends. I didn’t perceive those hopeful notes, either. Patchett tells the story matter-of-factly: this is what happened, and how. This doesn’t leave one feeling uplifted. The three daughters seem likely to thrive though, a fact the reader can surmise early on. Lara will live out her life contentedly and Joe will continue to worry about the farm's economics while reveling in the miracle that Lara married him. I didn’t foresee any likely improvement of circumstances.
While I am voicing criticism of this novel and I didn’t give it a five-star rating, I am glad I read it. It is provocative. It portrayed the human condition realistically. Its characters and situations are believable, their mistakes are painfully human. Its definitely worth reading.
Since closing the book, I have enjoyed mulling over this novel. I’ve considered the choices the characters make—even very minor characters such as Lara’s grandmother. Their actions and mistakes are puzzling, confounding, and interesting. The novel’s themes, structure and setting are fun to discuss with other readers. As a writer myself, I have considered the paragraphs that Patchett might have cut while editing. Perhaps Joe, Lara’s husband, was a richer character but in order to fit everything in between the covers, she had to cut his role back?
It’s an American story, and one that will continue to ferment. Will it win the Pulitzer? I won’t be disappointed if it does. This is a book that you’ll want to discuss. It won’t be for everybody, but it won't give you nightmares, either.
Wow, in depth! I planned to read it, so I didn’t dig into your detail. Now I am thinking about whether I need to read it since your review may provide… although, yes, I see you are glad you endeavored. Interesting. Thank you.