On the farm in Northern Michigan that has been in her husband’s family for generations, Lara has been coaxed by her three grown daughters to tell them about her relationship with Peter Duke, a now famous movie star. There has been a triggering event for these stories, but we don’t learn about it for a long time. In any case, these stories take place between sessions of cherry picking and other hard work.
Lara becomes an actress without planning to. When she is in high school helping with auditions for Our Town, the girls trying out for Emily are so bad that she tries out herself and gets the part. Later in college, she takes the part again, and it happens that Ripley, a movie producer, has been persuaded to attend to see his niece. Instead, he decides that Lara is perfect for an upcoming role.
Lara makes a movie, but there is a long delay before it comes out, so she ends up taking the part of Emily again at a summer stock theater in Michigan called Tom Lake. At Tom Lake, she is swept into an affair with Peter Duke, a young, charismatic actor, on her first day. The summer starts out magical, but Lara has a lot to learn about acting, herself, and Duke.
The present-time novel is set during the pandemic, but even though the story has some heart-wrenching parts, its overall atmosphere is so cozy, so happy in its setting, that it feels like the family has its own little nest. You want to go and live with this fictional family. I was born and grew up in Michigan, and although I never lived on a cherry farm, this book made me nostalgic.
Patchett is also a terrific storyteller. This novel is paced brilliantly. The sections where she tells her story seem just about right in length while the rest portrays a warm family life and hard work on the farm. I loved this book.
What? Me Read? 