Tom Collins Lake

Welcome back! I have yet again been an absolute slow poke when it comes to reading this month. But I’m still trudging along. And I officially reached my Goodreads goal for the year—36 books! As of now, I’m sitting at exactly 36 books read so far this year. So, even with some slower months I’m still ahead of schedule. On to this month’s book of the month, I chose Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. And to accompany this review, I made a Tom Collins. And before we start, I’d like to do a little shout out to my amazing husband Tom who said I picked everything this month because of him.

Tom Collins Recipe

2oz Gin

1oz Lemon Juice

1/2oz Simple Syrup

~3oz Soda

~3 chopped Cherries*

1 Cherry*

*This is an optional ingredient.

In a Collins glass, add chopped cherries and muddle. Then add ice, gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup. Top with soda and stir. Add a cherry for garnish and enjoy!

This one is a classic. You really can’t go wrong with a Tom Collins. For my special ingredient this month, I added muddled cherries and changed the garnish from a lemon slice and a maraschino cherry to just a regular cherry. This was probably the easiest special ingredient I’ve ever had. I mean they spend the whole book picking cherries, so what else could I possibly do. And they were great! I got these cherries from our favourite stand at the farmer’s market (shout out to Matt’s Farm Fresh Produce) and they were delicious. They didn’t change the drink too much other than adding some more colour, tartness, and sweetness. But I’d definitely make this drink again.

Tom Lake Synopsis

(from book cover)

In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family’s orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theatre company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Review

“There is no explaining this simple truth about life: you will forget much of it.”

Wow, Tom Lake was just lovely. I was really captivated by this novel despite it not being the most exciting thing I’ve read lately. So, finally we are out of the 3-star slump! I’ve actually never read an Ann Patchett novel before, but I definitely will be reading more after this. But despite enjoying the novel, I actually had a hard time finding anything to comment on, good or bad. And while it definitely wasn’t perfect, there were no real glaring flaws. So, let’s just get into it.

Patchett’s writing is intoxicating. We’re reading from Lara’s perspective in both the past and present timelines and her voice is this calming, grounding presence throughout. The descriptions of scenery, characters, and emotions were perfect. I felt like I was right there with them in the farm picking cherries. And there was an almost dream-like, ethereal way the story was told. I don’t know if this was because of Lara’s rambling way of telling the story based on how she felt in the moment or because she was acting the part of her past self and editing the story, but it was lovely.

This sort of enchanting, almost intimate, style of writing was perfect for this novel. It matched both the idyllic beauty and feelings of youth and the past, as well as the slow, quiet beauty of the present. And this was perfect because when you really look at the plot of this novel not much happens. So, it is an exceptional feat to be able to make a novel with next to no conflict and nothing major happening impossible to put down. I truly could go on for days about how beautiful and fitting the writing was for this story, but alas we have to move on to other topics.

As I’ve mentioned, not much happens in Tom Lake. Looking at it from a timeline perspective, we see a few weeks of the present (mainly one) and a few years (mainly months) of the past. It’s just a snapshot into a largely normal life. And while that would typically be exceptionally boring, in this novel it’s beautiful because it’s emphasizing the specialness of the little things in life. However, if you prefer a novel with actual conflict or more excitement and intrigue this may not be the one for you. For me at this moment, I appreciated the slow story and the focus on intimate family dynamics.

I was worried Patchett would talk about the pandemic a lot and make it a huge central theme of the novel, but luckily it is just the backdrop and reason for everyone being together. And the way they have to be isolated and choose to be together adds to the intimacy of the story. I liked that the characters were dealing with the hardships of the pandemic, but not in a way that causes stress or elicits emotion in the reader. Also, it reminded me of staying with my mom during the first months of the pandemic.

Getting into my more negative comments, naming her daughter Emily gave me serious “Albus Severus Potter” vibes. It’s just I get it, but also it’s a bit corny. But obviously this is barely an issue and didn’t detract from the story at all. My bigger issue, which again isn’t huge, is with the ending. It felt like a bit of a let down. I’m not surprised by this because I did find myself thinking throughout the novel about how it could end and what could happen to make it dramatic. But it kind of just petered out and felt a bit rushed and slapped together. Again, this isn’t a huge problem for me because ending in this way suited the story. I just wanted more from it, but I also like that it didn’t give too much and detract from the rest of the novel.

All in all, this was a beautiful novel about daughters learning about their mother. And I think that is such a special and unique scenario. Especially because so rarely do kids ask their parents about their lives before they had kids. I found it really touching to see how the daughters all processed learning new information about their mom in different ways, and how each of them understood her feelings in different circumstances. And with being connected to the past, Tom Lake is also so rooted in nostalgia and the possible regrets a person can experience. But also in finding a way to not get stuck in the past or hung up on regrets and to instead be present, embrace changes, and find closure by working through the past with the people who understand you. Basically, it’s just really touching and beautiful.

I always say I don’t have much to say, then I ramble on for the same amount of paragraphs I always do. But I truly didn’t take any notes on this novel while I read, and that might be a first for me. I just genuinely enjoyed it. The writing is lovely, the story is captivating, and the themes are heartfelt and resonate easily. I’m also a sucker for allusions and references to other works of literature and there are plenty in this novel. So all that being said, I would absolutely recommend reading Tom Lake (or listening to the audiobook read by Meryl Streep because it’s probably amazing). I know I’ll be looking into other Ann Patchett novels myself. And as always, I recommend my version of the Tom Collins, as well.

My Rating:

Thanks for reading! And, if you read the book or try the cocktail let me know in a comment or on Instagram. Also, if you haven’t yet read my previous reviews, I recommend reading Hello Beautiful and The Vanishing Half if you liked this one!

Teghann

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