You could say this is just a story about a woman and a movie star. And it is, but it is also so much more.

Ann’s writing style is something I feel I cannot compare to any other author. Tom Lake reads so easily, as if it were a breeze to write. Yet on the flip side, part of you can just tell each sentence has been deeply mulled over and crafted with care. I felt as though Ann knew what the reader would want at the perfect time.

Gracefully, we flick through past and present. In the past, we are watching Lara grow up. We see her first unexpected audition in Our Town, to her first interactions with the movie star and love interest, Duke. Lara’s career progression is quick, exciting and forgein. Her success in theatre was not where she expected her life to go yet her experiences brought her to where she is now, and that’s on a her family run cherry farm, with her husband Joe and retelling her life story to her three early 20’s daughters during Covid-19.

Lara retelling her story to her three daughters is fascinating and a topic our book club really chose to flesh out. We all agreed that after reading this book, there must be so many parts of our parents lives that we just don’t know. For me, I think these thoughts swirled as we heard Lara relay areas of her life in a certain way to paint a certain picture or image of herself and others around her at the time. Lara also chooses to not tell certain parts of her life to her daughters because they are too harrowing, raw and would change their perception of her. I think this could be true for so many parents. As listeners and readers, we take certain parts of a story and flesh out the bits in between with our own imagination. I think Ann painted a really great narrative around this action and how it can impact familial relationships and memories we thought we knew so well.

Tom Lake has been my first Anne Patchett novel and I can safely say, it won’t be my last. And I must admit, I know have a temptation to pick up more Reece Witherspoon Book Club books as this is the 2nd I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.

Happy reading book friends ⭐️