Tom Lake

About the book

During the 2020 pandemic, Lara gathers with her three adult daughters on their family cherry orchard in Michigan. As they pick fruit, the daughters press Lara to recount her youthful romance with Peter Duke, a world-famous actor with whom she once shared a stage and a bed at a summer theater company called Tom Lake. The narrative shifts between the present-day harvest and Lara’s memories of her brief acting career, her relationship with the charismatic Duke, and the specific choices that led her away from Hollywood and toward a quiet life as a mother and wife.

Readers interested in the complexities of maternal identity and the long-term mechanics of marriage will find value in this story. It describes how past versions of ourselves coexist with our current roles and how adult children eventually view their parents as independent individuals with private histories. The book offers a meditation on contentment, demonstrating how a person moves from the intensity of youthful ambition to the steady satisfaction found in domestic routines and intentional stillness.

Details

Published

2023

Publisher

Harper

ISBN

9780063327528

Language

EN