Tom Lake

Synopsis: Lara Nelson is enjoying the company of her three adult 20-something daughters, Emily, Maisie and Nell. It’s the spring of 2020, and circumstances have led to these adult children coming home to roost for a few months, and thank goodness! Lara and Joe Nelson own a cherry farm in northern Michigan, and there are cherries to pick. The girls have always known that Lara once dated Peter Duke, an actor who would later become famous and win an Oscar, but the details provided have been sketchy. The girls want to know What Really Happened and demand to know everything. Lara must spill. The narrative alternates between present day Michigan and the same state in 1988, when Lara spent a summer not so far away at Tom Lake, where she starred opposite the young Duke in a summer stock production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town.

Review: I’ve been late coming to the Ann Patchett party. She has many previous books of note (Bel Canto, State of Wonder, Commonwealth), but my only previous Patchett read was The Dutch House. This book convinced me that I need to be a Patchett disciple! While this is set during the pandemic, it is most definitely NOT a pandemic novel, for which I was grateful. In the novel, Lara becomes a young actress playing the lead role of Emily in Our Town, first in high school and then in college. Her fledging acting career leads to a summer theater gig in Michigan at Tom Lake. In many ways the novel is an homage to Our Town, and I was inspired to read it, though its not necessary to thoroughly enjoy this book. This novel covers it all: comedy, tragedy, drama. It’s a meditation on love in all its forms, young love, married love, love for our children, love of a place. You honestly feel like you are sitting at the kitchen table listening to your mother or aunt tell stories about their youth! It’s about choices made, and the urging to enjoy life in the moment and appreciate what is yours. I could go on and on but will simply say, READ THIS BOOK! Or listen to it, as I did. Meryl Streep reads the story in the audio version, and she is amazing.

Rating: 5/5

Recipe: For a novel centered in a cherry orchard, we have to make a cherry pie, of coursee!

Ingredients:

4 cups fresh or frozen tart cherries

1-1 1/2 cups sugar

4 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Your favorite pie crust (mine comes from the refrigerator section in the grocery store)

1 1/2 tablespoons butter, to dot

1 tablespoon sugar to sprinkle

1). Place cherries in medium saucepan and place over medium heat until they release their juice. Mix sugar and cornstarch into hot cherries and mix well. Add almond extract. Return to stove and cook over low heat until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let cool. If filling is to thick, add a little water, if too thin add a little cornstarch

2) Heat oven to 375 degrees.

3) Place one crust in an 8-9 inch pie pan. Poor the cooled cherries into the crust. Dot with butter. Place the top crust on and flute the edges of the crust. Make a slit in the center of the pie for steam to escape. Sprinkle the top with extra sugar.

4) Bake for 50 minutes, or until done. Cool on a rack, then serve.