Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Tom Lake

By: Ann Patchett
Narrated by: Meryl Streep
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.63

Buy for $19.63

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

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
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Tom Lake

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    54
  • 4 Stars
    18
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    64
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    45
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Insightful / gentle cherry infused family story

Insightful of what happens to some in the movie/ acting world
Yet a gentle family centered story encapsulated by cherry trees

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

To life with Merle Streep

To say that Merle Streep brings this to life is an understatement. I was completely absorbed in this amazing rendition made possible by the eloquence, intelligence, sadness and kindness of the words of Ann Patchett. Will live with me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Great narrations

Nice reflection on mid life - very privileged rear view perspective on the covid period however tainted the story for me

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Lovely story, wonderfully read!

The characters are so real - so well developed. The plot is interwoven with a summer - stock production of Our Town, which adds richness to the book . It is simply a joy to experience Meryl Streep‘s reading of ‚Tom‘s Lake’. All in all, this is a super audio book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Sublime

Patchett and Streep - what could possibly go wrong? Nothing. One of the top listens of 23.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story superbly narrated

I love Streep as an actress and she is no less accomplished a narrator and adds much value to the lead character who narrates the story through jumping back and forth from past to present. A well constructed novel with interesting characters well built. Not quite a page turner but an excellent read nonetheless and I would read Patchett again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Utterly marvellous on every level

Possibly one of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to … the flow of the story, of Meryl’s voice… can’t imagine anyone else’s voice for the book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!