A Joyful Novel

I’m not even going to try to come up with a list of the best books I read in 2023. But I can tell you about the book that delighted me most: Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake. A review in the Guardian calls it “an engaging exploration of contentment,” but I’m glad I didn’t read that review—or any reviews—before I listened to the audiobook. That way, the book’s happiness could creep up on me slowly, so I could be surprised by joy.

The story is told by Lara, who lives on a Michigan fruit farm with her husband, Joe. Because of the Covid pandemic, the couple’s three adult daughters are at home picking the year’s cherry crop with their parents. Emily (26) studied agronomy and plans to marry Benny, her childhood sweetheart, and take her parents’ place caring for the orchards that have been in Joe’s family for generations. Maisie (24) is studying to be a vet, and Nell (22) is in drama school and desperate to become an actress.

Tom Lake is a story within a story, and Patchett does a brilliant job of narrating its different threads. At times, we are on the farm with Lara, Joe, and their daughters, learning about harvesting fruit for a living, getting to know Lara as a mother, and sharing the girls’ concerns about their futures. Sometimes, as cherry-picking fills the hours, we listen to Lara tell her daughters a tale they have often heard before but request repeatedly. It’s about the summer when Lara was in her early twenties and played the role of Emily in a production of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” at a resort called Tom Lake. We hear the daughters ask Lara for details about her romance with Peter Duke, another character in “Our Town” that summer. Unlike Lara, Duke made acting his career and became a Hollywood superstar.

In a third twist of the chronicle, we find ourselves in Lara’s mind as she relives the truth of her affair with Duke: not the sweet story of love she is telling her daughters but the tale of their terrific sex and of Duke’s wild and hurtful behavior. Effortlessly, Patchett braids these separate strands into a deeply satisfying novel, never once losing or confusing her readers. In her skillful hands, the threads of narrative form an all-but-perfect whole. The audiobook is read by Meryl Streep, whose portrayal of the different characters also approaches perfection.

Although Tom Lake‘s reviews are generally positive, several reviewers are dubious about Lara’s happiness. No one, they argue, can be as content as she is, even during a single summer. Why isn’t the heroine more conflicted about her life? More suspicious of her bliss?

Did I ask myself these questions? Nope! Lara’s joy didn’t trouble me; it fed me. I can’t remember the last time I felt so deeply satisfied at the end of an adult novel. Not that I’m calling Tom Lake childish, but the story filled me with the same sense of well-being that re-reading a favorite book from childhood can sometimes do.

Although I wholeheartedly recommend this book, I have one caveat. I’m not sure if it will be as satisfying a read for men as it was for me. The male characters in the novel are by no means simplistic, but none of them has the depth of Lara or even—in my opinion—the three daughters. If a man reading this post has read Tom Lake or reads it soon, please tell us your opinion of it. In fact, I hope anyone who has read the novel will share their thoughts below in a comment.

The orchard photograph is by Cz Jen, the picture of cherries by Clem Onojeghuo, and this portrait of Ann Patchett was taken by Emily Dorio.