Ann Patchett’s latest novel, Tom Lake, is another winner. It’s a story within a story; the frame is a cherry farm, where Lara is telling her three grown daughters—home because of covid, unable to get on with their lives—about her brief theatre career. The novel is richer for that enclosed story to rely so heavily on Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town, with allusions as well to Anton Chekov’s Cherry Orchard. Readers get glimpses of each of three young women’s lives, and of their preoccupation with an actor their mother knew. The ending caught me unprepared, and yes, I did get teary. It’s a beautiful story.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
What I’m ReadingI began working in libraries as a seventh grader, courtesy of scoliosis. My orthopedic surgeon wrote me a pass to miss gym class, so I began working in the school library to feed my love of reading. Even after my surgery to correct the curvature, I kept getting out of gym to work in my high school library and then in my college library (for pay, at last!).
So began my eventual career as a college reference librarian—after a detour into teaching high school English. Later I worked for an educational publisher before going back to libraries.
I have a reading and writing life now. I devour both fiction and nonfiction, and will tell you about some of my favorite reads, both old friends and new discoveries.
Here's some library-themed music to get you in the mood.
Archives
April 2024
Categories |