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Tom Lake
by Ann Patchett
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Ann Patchett's ability to both skewer and comfort—sometimes in the same proverbial breath—is a real marvel and makes for a satisfying experience anytime I pick up a piece of writing with her name on it. For the most part, Tom Lake was no different. The story of a mother telling her three grown daughters about that time in her youth when she was an actress in love with someone who went on to achieve great stardom is set up like many novels are now: jumping back and forth in time and seeming to be about one thing, until the past catches up with the present and you realize it was really about something else all along. Usually, it feels like a gimmick, a necessary sleight of hand to prop up an otherwise flimsy plot.
Patchett, however, manages to make the structure feel earned, even necessary. There's a reason this mother is telling the story now and why she's telling it in a particular way. And when we get to the why, it all makes sense. It feels relatable and human. Back in 2020, who wasn't desperately seeking connection to those in our past or our immediate present, to those in the bubbles we couldn't escape, to stories and relationships easily taken for granted? Patchett's incisive yet caring dissection of family dynamics—the complicated ones we are born into, the momentary families you find yourself in when you're starting out in the world and those that we build for ourselves over a lifetime—lifts what I often find a tired framework into something solid and meaningful.
I stop short of giving Tom Lake five stars because it felt a little slow to start, in part because Our Town is in that corner of American theater devoted to small town Americana that just doesn't speak to me. I also didn't buy the idea that Lara was a good actor, and it was hard to push past that skepticism. She seemed to me merely a pretty girl who looked like the sweet, small-town girl character the men around her couldn't help but fetishize. (That all the men in the book continue to insist she's the best actress/Emily they'd ever seen right up until the end, more or less affirmed this for me.) I found her willful naïveté as a young woman a bit frustrating and difficult to connect to the more wise matriarch telling us the story. What she reveals and doesn't at the end bridges that gap somewhat. The story as a whole comes to a close in a way that I found unexpectedly sentimental, but also not at all surprising because Patchett is good at endings. This is why I like her so much. This is not her very best (Commonwealth), but it's still quite good.
Patchett, however, manages to make the structure feel earned, even necessary. There's a reason this mother is telling the story now and why she's telling it in a particular way. And when we get to the why, it all makes sense. It feels relatable and human. Back in 2020, who wasn't desperately seeking connection to those in our past or our immediate present, to those in the bubbles we couldn't escape, to stories and relationships easily taken for granted? Patchett's incisive yet caring dissection of family dynamics—the complicated ones we are born into, the momentary families you find yourself in when you're starting out in the world and those that we build for ourselves over a lifetime—lifts what I often find a tired framework into something solid and meaningful.
I stop short of giving Tom Lake five stars because it felt a little slow to start, in part because Our Town is in that corner of American theater devoted to small town Americana that just doesn't speak to me. I also didn't buy the idea that Lara was a good actor, and it was hard to push past that skepticism. She seemed to me merely a pretty girl who looked like the sweet, small-town girl character the men around her couldn't help but fetishize. (That all the men in the book continue to insist she's the best actress/Emily they'd ever seen right up until the end, more or less affirmed this for me.) I found her willful naïveté as a young woman a bit frustrating and difficult to connect to the more wise matriarch telling us the story. What she reveals and doesn't at the end bridges that gap somewhat. The story as a whole comes to a close in a way that I found unexpectedly sentimental, but also not at all surprising because Patchett is good at endings. This is why I like her so much. This is not her very best (Commonwealth), but it's still quite good.