Tom Lake

By: Ann Patchett

Narrated by: Meryl Streep

Bloomsbury presents Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, read by Meryl Streep.

The breathtaking new novel from Ann Patchett – a Sunday Times and No. 1 New York Times bestseller

‘Filled with the moments I live for in a story’
BONNIE GARMUS, author of Lessons in Chemistry

‘[Tom Lake] has it all ... Young love, sibling rivalry and deep mother-daughter relationships’
REESE WITHERSPOON

‘One of the most beloved authors of her generation’
SUNDAY TIMES

There's more to every love story than what we choose to tell...

It’s spring and Lara’s three grown daughters have returned to the family orchard. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the one story they’ve always longed to hear – of the film star with whom she shared a stage, and a romance, years before.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents lead before their children are born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart.

‘One of our greatest living chroniclers of love and marriage … Expect wonder; Patchett always delivers’ ELLE

* SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2023 *
* A REESE WITHERSPOON AND BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK *
* A 2023 BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE TIMES *

©2023 Ann Patchett (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic reviews

Filled with the moments I live for in a story – careful, compelling insights into human nature, the most effortless humour, and the kind of vivid descriptions that reveal exactly how something is (Bonnie Garmus, bestselling author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY)

The love

Loved that the narrator was an actor herself, important story about the first real love in ones life always making a big impression.

Cannot fault this audible book

This is a beautiful book and the narration by Meryl Streep adds to the experience - I would have given it 6 stars if I could.

Beautiful descriptions

This book is light, cheerful, poetic at times and very wholesome. I felt like I was swimming at Tom Lake or walking through the cherry trees.

The story.

One of my top 5 reads ever, I absolutely loved every single word. Outstanding read, perfectly read and just beautiful!

Feel-good easy read

This is an "All is well with the world" novel.

All's also well that ends well.

(Not to say that there are no plot twists....)

The performance is wonderful. Who can fault Meryl Streep's performance? (Ever!)

(PS This is not a "deep" read with a critical political message or social commentary like Prophet Song by Paul Lynch or The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida.
This is also much easier to read than, say, Demon Copperhead. Thus, it is a nice palate cleanser for those who like the heavier reads (like Booker Prize listed books) or it would just please those who like a pleasant and enjoyable yarn or a holiday relaxer. Ann Pratchett does well - as we have come to expect.)