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Sign up todayTom Lake
A Novel
Narrator
Meryl Streep
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn more
Length
11 hours 22 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“Once again, Patchett does her thing. Expertly read. ”
— Kristine • Buttonwood Books and Toys
Bookseller recommendation
“Meryl Streep draws you into the family life beautifully portrayed by Ann Patchett as Lara weaves her story of a summer romance with a movie star. Meryl's narration is warm and engaging. ”
— Barb • Maria's Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“Does anyone *need* to be encouraged to listen to Meryl Streep read Ann Patchett? Probably not. But Streep, you’ll be unsurprised to hear, does a magnificent job with the nostalgia, the nuance and the Our Town of it all, bringing Patchett’s vivid past-and-present story to unforgettable life. ”
— Abby • Booked
Bookseller recommendation
“The power of Ann and Meryl is undeniable. Wow, wow, wow. The audio of this book was literally a movie in my head. Obviously Meryl Streep is a phenom in her own right, but her voice to this story crafted by Ann Patchett blew me away. Having been raised in northern Michigan myself, with a father from Detroit and a mother from Grosse Pointe I felt like this story was crafted for me. I have yet to read a better love letter to the magic that is northern Michigan in the summertime. Lara's story is beautiful and I think a wonderful show of all that is to grow into yourself as a young woman. It relishes the good, the bad, the ugly, and spits you out the other side feeling that connection to womanhood and the experience of raising yourself through adulthood. I cannot recommend this audio enough! The perfect read for all lovers of summer, and especially northern Michigan. ”
— Katie • McLean & Eakin Booksellers
Bookseller recommendation
“Storytelling at its very best!! Set during the pandemic summer of 2020 when they are toiling at harvesting the cherries on their Michigan farm during the lock-down, a mother regales her three 20-something daughters the story of her youth when she dated an actor who would later become famous. The performance of Meryl Streep, who reads this audio book, is just phenomenal! ”
— Anne • Newtonville Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Not only is this a phenomenal book of generational story telling, but MERYL STREEP IS NARRATING!!! She brings the characters to life. From her laugh to her tone; her character as Lara is spot on. She is engaging and motherly but keeps secrets to herself. This book transforms you to the essence of Traverse City, Michigan with the breeziness and humility of a true Northerner. Even the father, who has a small part in the novel is brought to life, I absolutely adored him. Looking for the perfect read to listen to in a hammock...this is the one! ”
— Amy • Plumfield Books
Bookseller recommendation
“I'm pretty sure we could listen to Meryl Streep read the phone book. Lucky for us, she is reading the latest novel by the incomparable Ann Patchett. Tom Lake is both a snapshot of time suspended during the pandemic, and a coming of age tale. I couldn't bear to speed up any of it, because the listening experience was so enjoyable. ”
— Kelli • The Novel Neighbor
Bookseller recommendation
“The audiobook is perhaps one of the best I've listened to in a while. Meryl Streep is the *perfect* narrator because you feel like she is telling her own story, had it gone slightly differently (young actress, three daughters). Savored every second of it.”
— Kimi • Buttonwood Books and Toys
Bookseller recommendation
“Tom Lake was such a beautiful journey of a book! We're in the Summer of 2020 in a family farm in Michigan, where Lara tells stories of her youth to her three daughters, who desperately want to know about their mom's love affair with a famous actor. So we're also in the late 80s, travelling with Lara around New Hampshire, Los Angeles, New York, and mostly Michigan where she spends a summer acting in a play at Tom Lake. It's a summer of work, friendship, love and betrayals, during which Lara learned a lot and grew more and more into adulthood. Tom Lake is a soothing novel, where love in its various forms is beautifully depicted, and where life ends up making sense despite all the chaos it sometimes feels like. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Meryl Streep, and what a joy it has been! Thanks to Libro.fm for the ALC! ”
— Marie • Emma's Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“This is a story of love for family, of past passions and people once loved, and their continuing influence on the present. With Ann Patchett’s wit and wryness finely tuned, Tom Lake is the perfect book for a summer weekend read.”
— Jenny • The Homer Bookstore
Bookseller recommendation
“I just started Ann Patchett’s new book, Tom Lake, which opens at auditions for a community theater production of Our Town in a small New Hampshire town that takes the play very much to heart. I’m already in love with the book, and its nostalgic feel of young love, mothers and daughters, and the juxtaposition of past and present. Added bonus: Meryl Streep reads the audiobook! A beautiful and moving novel, Tom Lake is wonderfully set against the backdrop of Thornton Wilder’s 1938 classic American play. Ann Patchett is a one of my favorite contemporary American writers; this book doesn’t disappoint! ”
— Genevieve • A Great Good Place for Books
Bookseller recommendation
“This story takes place in Michigan, which is always a bonus for me as a reader. The setting is during the pandemic but revolves around Lara's early life as an actress and her relationship with a man who later becomes a famous actor. Lara is retelling that experience in small doses to her three daughters. It is a story about relationships, disappointments, and the blessings of a good marriage. I listened to this story as an audiobook and what could be better than a story by Ann Patchett read by Meryl Streep?”
— Paula • Schuler Books
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • READ BY MERYL STREEP
In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers.
“Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature.” —The Guardian
In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.
Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.
Ann Patchett is the author of novels, most recently the #1 New York Times bestselling Tom Lake, works of nonfiction, and children's books. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the PEN/Faulkner, the Women's Prize for Fiction in the UK, and the Book Sense Book of the Year. Her novel The Dutch House was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages, and Time magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. President Biden awarded her the National Humanities Medal in recognition of her contributions to American culture. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she is the owner of Parnassus Books.
Meryl Streep has been nominated for an Academy Award® thirteen times, winning twice. Her numerous film credits include The Deer Hunter, Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie's Choice, Out of Africa, The Bridges of Madison County, Adaptation, and The Hours.
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