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One of my favorite books of 2023 is Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. It is set in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. Lara Nelson and her husband Joe own a cherry orchard in northern Michigan. Their three daughters, Emily, Maisie, and Nell have returned home to the family farm as the world shuts down.

            While Lara and her daughters pick cherries, she tells them the story of the summer that she dated Peter Duke, a famous movie star who has recently died. Lara had a brief career as an actor which began in high school when she was cast as Emily in Our Town. I was immediately drawn into Lara’s story as I listened to it on audio. The book was narrated by Meryl Streep which made it even more delightful.

            When Lara auditioned for a Broadway production of Our Town, she didn’t get the part, but instead was offered the opportunity to play the same role at Tom Lake, a summer stock theater in Michigan. Lara met and fell in love with Peter Duke, who was at that time a young unknown actor. Their whirlwind romance came to an end when Lara was injured and forced to step down from the role of Emily.

            I have always enjoyed Ann Patchett’s writing, however, up until now, I have preferred her nonfiction essays to her fiction. I was completely captivated by Tom Lake and enjoyed it thoroughly. It is Ann Patchett’s 13th novel. Bel Canto, her fourth novel, is probably her best-known book, as it won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize, and was adapted into a film starring Julianne Moore. Patchett is the owner of Parnassus Books, an independent bookstore in Nashville.