Get ready for an emotional deep dive with Tom Lake! Author Ann Patchett delivers a beautifully reflective story about love, memory, family, and the quiet choices that shape a life. As Lara shares the long-held secrets of her past with her daughters during a summer on their Northern Michigan orchard, the novel explores youthful passion, lasting devotion, and the bittersweet nature of hindsight. This book club guide will help you explore the tender emotions and thoughtful themes that make this novel an unforgettable experience.

Discussion Reading Guide

1. How does Lara’s storytelling shape her daughters’ understanding of her and their family?
2. Do you think Peter Duke represents something more than just a past love for Lara?
3. In what ways does the pandemic setting affect the tone and themes of the novel?
4. How do different characters define happiness throughout the novel?
5. Why do you think Lara chose to tell this story now?
6. What parallels can be drawn between youthful love and the love Lara has for her husband and children?
7. How does Patchett use the orchard as a metaphor throughout the book?
8. What did you make of the daughters’ reactions to their mother’s past?
9. How does memory serve as a comfort and a burden in the novel?
10. If Tom Lake were to be adapted into a film, who would you cast as Lara and Peter Duke?
11. How does the novel explore the idea of performance—on stage and in life?
12. Do you think Lara has any regrets? Why or why not?
13. How does the story reflect the way parents choose which parts of their past to share with their children?
14. What role does nature—the orchard, the seasons, the land—play in the emotional atmosphere of the novel?
15. How does the novel’s slow pace reflect its deeper themes of reflection, love, and letting go?