Reviews with content warning for Racism - Tom Lake

In Tom Lake by Anne Pratchett, Lara Kenison Nelson begins life with her grandmother in New Hampshire where she learns to sew everything from alterations to wedding dresses and ends up married with three grown daughters on a cherry farm in Michigan. In the interim, she stars in a movie, and as Emily in Thorton Wilder’s Our Town. She has a summer romance with Peter “Duke” Duke before he becomes a famous actor. The book is set during the cherry harvest where she recounts her life to her grown children. A beautiful romance of family, love, and finding your place to stay.

For my extended notes: https://1book42day.blogspot.com/2024/05/tom-lake-by-ann-pratchett.html

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Content Warnings

mariposa517's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

ressicajicks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Beautifully written and beautifully read by Meryl Streep. The pacing might have been too slow for me had I not listened to the audiobook, but I am so glad I did. Springtime in the year that I am the same age as Emily, the year that I will marry my Joe Nelson, was the perfect time in my life to have experienced this novel on walks around my neighborhood with my neighbors’ flower beds in bloom. I am so so lucky.

Content Warnings

emilywemily6's review against another edition

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reflective relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I adored this book. It was such a lovely treat to listen to, I could just dwell in the audiobook for as long as it would go on. It was a slow and calming read with a lot of nostalgia and romance (in the sense that life was romanticized, past and present, because of the good that came out of it in the end). It made me want to have more children and revel in their individuality and dreams and share with them my own past and dreams. It made me want to get involved with community theatre again. It made me want to move to Michigan and work on a cherry tree farm. There are definitely hardships/traumas mentioned, but not explicitly, since Lara is telling the story after years have gone by and she has a broader perspective. She also dictates how her story is told to her grown children and keeps a couple secrets to herself, though the reader gets let in on those secrets covertly. There isn’t really a climax or big reveal, though a few small twists and turns as you follow the story. I felt like Lara’s fourth daughter listening in on this story being told and I’m in a bit of a book hangover now that that world is over for me. It felt so realistic.

Content Warnings

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