Notes from the Shelf

This post contains affiliate links to Bookshop.org. If you make a purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. Your support helps sustain independent bookstores and keeps this blog going.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett – Memory & Motherhood
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 309
Rating:  ★★★★★
Buy: Bookshop.org

This post contains spoilers.

Book Summary

In the stillness of a Michigan summer during lockdown, three daughters return home to their family’s cherry orchard—and to the quiet stories their mother has never told. As Lara revisits a long-ago romance with a now-famous actor, her past unfurls like a play she never meant to stage. Tom Lake is a tender meditation on motherhood, the choices we make, and the versions of ourselves we leave behind, written with Ann Patchett’s signature grace and emotional depth.

My Thoughts

“The painful things you were certain you’d never be able to let go? Now you’re not entirely sure when they happened…”

Tom Lake

I didn’t expect to like Tom Lake as much as I did. I haven’t connected with many books set during Covid, but this one felt different, mainly because the pandemic wasn’t the central focus. Instead, the heart of the story is Lara’s acting career in her early twenties, which she recounts to her daughters while they’re all staying at the family’s cherry farm during lockdown. Covid is mentioned, but only in passing, which I appreciated.

One detail I really enjoyed was how the book explained the origins of each daughter’s name. It’s funny that Emily got her name simply because Lara played Emily in Our Town so often, while the other two were named after relatives from Lara and Joe’s families.

One thing that did throw me was how Joe was introduced as “Mr. Nelson” early on, presumably to preserve the mid-story reveal that Lara married the director. Some readers have said the daughters would’ve interjected with, “You mean Dad?”—and maybe they would have—but I figured they’ve heard the story so many times they were just letting their mom tell it her way. It did make me wonder about the age difference between Lara and Joe, since she was around 25 during that summer and he was already a director, but the book never really dives into that.

What stuck with me most was the theme of time and how we look back on our lives. Lara reflects on how content she is on the farm with her family and how this life is everything she never knew she wanted. In her twenties, it might have seemed too quiet or predictable, but with time, it became something deeply fulfilling. That thread of reflection, moving between past and present, was beautifully done. The only thing that briefly confused me was how Lara was called “Emily” during the play and her daughter is also named Emily—it sometimes made it tricky to track what timeline we were in.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I found Tom Lake to be moving, nostalgic, and quietly powerful. It captures that bittersweet realization of how life rarely goes as planned but often turns out to be exactly what we needed. The way Ann Patchett weaves past and present together gives the story a meditative rhythm that stays with you in a quiet, comforting way. I also think it would make a great movie—something slow, atmospheric, and full of emotional undercurrents. It’s a story about memory, motherhood, and the quiet beauty of ordinary days, and I’m really glad I gave it a chance.

If you want to buy Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, consider purchasing it through Bookshop.org. Supporting this link helps sustain independent bookstores and keeps this blog thriving.

Read Other Literary Fiction Reviews:
The Sun was Electric Light
The Vaster Wilds
Unsheltered

Love what you’re reading here? Support the blog and fuel my next cozy reading session by buying me a coffee.