--- product_id: 545355721 title: "Tom Lake: A Novel" brand: "ann patchett, meryl streep, harper" price: "€ 16.88" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.at/products/545355721-tom-lake-a-novel store_origin: AT region: Austria --- # Tom Lake: A Novel **Brand:** ann patchett, meryl streep, harper **Price:** € 16.88 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Tom Lake: A Novel by ann patchett, meryl streep, harper - **How much does it cost?** € 16.88 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.at](https://www.desertcart.at/products/545355721-tom-lake-a-novel) ## Best For - ann patchett, meryl streep, harper enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted ann patchett, meryl streep, harper brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER / A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK / AUDIOBOOK READ BY MERYL STREEP “Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature.”— The Guardian In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers. 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. ## Images ![Tom Lake: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91UMpRnuW1L.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Buddhist blend of Grovers Corners and northern Michigan *by on Reviewed in the United States August 10, 2023* Appreciating the little things in life, the joy of day-to-day existence, and the love for your family and your work is what Tom Lake meant to me. Tom Lake refers to a (fictional) summer stock theater in northern Michigan in the 1980s, close to the locale of the current 2020 timeline--- a cherry farm (and pears, and apples). The late eighties marked a luminous period for protagonist/narrator Lara, a time that she walked the fine line between adulting and adulthood, coming of age amid a torrent of drama that swept her up in its fury. And then there was Our Town, the play within the novel that portrayed Lara’s life on the stage (and backstage).Lara is telling her three twenty-something daughters about her short stint as an actress in her twenties, and the brief romantic affair with Peter Duke, a famous movie star before he was a famous movie star. The gorgeous cherry farm backdrop is like a staid but vivid character, with Lara, husband Joe, and the three girls all together for the first time in a while. Due to the pandemic, they don’t have the usual crew to help pick the fruit, so the storytelling unfolds as the family works the orchard during harvest time. Like the cherries, some parts are sweet, some tart, and all of it is juicy.I felt the air, inhaled the scents, the cherries, the land and the whole layout of the farm while reading. And there is the kindness, too, of this family, whose flaws are also part of their strengths. The chaos of Lara’s life as a young woman is juxtaposed with the serenity of her life now, and the two timelines fluidly alternate, sometimes gently, at other times with piercing intensity. And every storyline has at least two. So, when you read about Lara in the past, or present, you just can’t help sniffing around to see the connections, of what surprise is crouched in the corner or hidden behind the door. I verily slipped into Lara’s character and imagined what decisions I would make as her, given so many pressing options and dilemmas.Ann Patchett nails it every time, her characters are complex and her graceful pace is measured even when events are brutal. Lara is a radiant work-in-progress during her young years, many readers will see themselves in her. I was a local stage actor in Austin during my twenties, so I immersed myself in Tom Lake, pretending to be Lara acting as Emily Gibbs and then back to Lara again. The two timelines showed the difference between the fiery summer love of youth and the deep, tender, and mature love of family that you helped to create. The high points were explosive, even when they were pin-drop quiet. Lara’s low points stirred me almost to tears; I could feel her pulse against mine.If you’ve never seen a production or haven’t read Our Town, you’re about to get a spoiler’s worth in the novel. But I think Ms. Patchett has surmised that most of her readers are already familiar with Thornton Wilder’s play. She coalesced Our Town and Tom Lake together in a way that reveals her refined skill of integration. Tom Lake and Our Town were separate but conjoined. I know that doesn’t make sense, but it will when you read the book. She also quotes Chekhov at pique (and even peak) intervals; she shares the Russian writer’s work with spare but specific devotion.I recently learned that Patchett has never owned a smart phone, and doesn’t herself do social media (she talks to the camera and her staff completes the rest). She has never used Google, or researched on Wiki—she does it the old-fashioned way. And perhaps she’s that slightly eccentric but lovely gentlewoman you see carrying paper road maps!Tom Lake is thoughtful, deft, and life-affirming. (It isn’t a pandemic novel, even though it takes place during that time). There’s comedy, tragedy, drama—a look-back-at-your- own-life kind of book. It’s classic Ann Patchett.There’s this passage that really tickled me from the book. It’s toward the end but not a spoiler, it’s thematic with the rest of the narrative. Lara was so busy recounting the past for her daughters that she forgot to make lunch, which she said she should have been working on while talking. “The past need not be so all-encompassing that it renders us incapable of making egg salad.” Priorities! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A woman’s tale about life and possibilities *by on Reviewed in the United States June 6, 2026* I haven’t found a book by Ann Patchett that I haven’t found well written, beautifully character driven and totally engaging. This is one of her easiest and lightest written.It was also a totally believable story of one woman’s life, complete with mistakes, misadventures and the decency of a woman who finds herway without regrets. As read by Meryl Streep it was lovely. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Spectacular *by on Reviewed in the United States June 25, 2026* Ann Patchett is a magnificent storyteller, and this is her at her best. The proof is in the unforgettable characters. You’ll fall in love with Lara’s three daughters, and it will be because you feel that you them. And the rest? A story that meets and beats your expectations and at times leaves you breathless, like a swim in a cool lake. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.at/products/545355721-tom-lake-a-novel](https://www.desertcart.at/products/545355721-tom-lake-a-novel) --- *Product available on Desertcart Austria* *Store origin: AT* *Last updated: 2026-08-25*