Tom Lake
by Ann Patchett
“I look at my girls, my brilliant young women. I want them to think I was better than I was, and I want to tell them the truth in case the truth will be useful. Those two desires to not neatly coexist, but this is where we are in the story.” ― Ann Patchett, Tom Lake
Ann Patchett's 309-page novel Tom Lake explores the transient aspects of life, love, and death. The narrative centers on a mother who, while under COVID-19 quarantine, tells her grown children about her first love. The book investigates what it means to be content when everything around you is collapsing. One notable aspect of the novel was the influence of the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder.
This is not my first Ann Patchett novel, but it's the first that I have enjoyed, at least in part. As always, her book is well written and readable, but I began to lose interest in the narrative about halfway through the book. By the end, I wished that I had spent my time rereading Our Town, or one of Thornton Wilder's delightful novels.
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