Tom Lake : A Novel : Ann Patchett

Paperback | Fiction | Coming-of-Age

From Ann Patchett—one of America’s most celebrated contemporary authors—comes this beautifully written and deeply moving #1 New York Times bestseller and Reese’s Book Club Pick. This poignant coming-of-age novel explores family bonds, first love, memory, and the way stories shape who we become.

Set in Northern Michigan in the spring of 2020, the story follows Lara as her three grown daughters return home to help harvest cherries in the family orchard. During long days in the fields, they ask their mother to share the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom Lara once shared both a stage and a romance at a summer theater company called Tom Lake.

As Lara revisits her past, her daughters begin to reflect on their own lives and their relationship with their mother—challenging their assumptions about love, ambition, and the world around them. Told with warmth and emotional depth, this novel is a powerful meditation on family, nostalgia, motherhood, and growing up.