Date: 25 February 2024
Location: Jay & Gina
A near full house of 17 bookers met to discuss Ann Patchett’s lastest novel, Tom Lake.
Six of the bookers had finished the book and several more were almost through with it; and it appears that everyone enjoyed the book very much.
The novel is set on Joe and Lara’s cherry farm near Traverse City, Michigan at the height of the pandemic. Their three, twenty-something daughters – Emily, Maisie and Nell – are living at home (or right next door) and helping with the cherry harvest since there are no hired workers available.
Much of the story is of Lara explaining to her daughters how she became an actress and starred as Emily in Thorton Wilder’s Our Town at the renown summer stock theater at Tom Lake. There she had an affair with Peter Duke, who would later become a world famous movie superstar. It was also at the theater group where she met Joe, her husband to be, and first visited the cherry farm.
At times the book was a little confusing with the numerous flashbacks and changes in settings, but things gradually became clearer and more interesting as the book progressed. Ann Patchett is an excellent writer with a wonderful talent for developing interesting and believable characters, and I think we all found it a very satisfying read.
Regarding our standard question: How did the author treat women? Of course, we all agreed that she did a great job portraying women. It is, in fact, in many regards a woman’s book. Even so, I believe the guys who finished the book liked it as well.
After our discussions we had another delightful dinner of chicken with vegetables and various sides and appetizers brought by the different bookers. One member contributed a delicious cherry crumble – a tie-in to the importance of the cherry farm in the novel.
— Bob