elegiac--a story told with sorrow
I am in awe of Ann Patchett for many reasons. She co-owns a bookstore, loves opera, and is a successful novelist. She's living the dream. I have read almost everything she's written and vibe with her style a great deal.
Tom Lake is her latest novel. I listened to it on audio read by Meryl Streep. It was sublime. I received it in my Libby App but waited to start it. I knew the book would wreck me, and I needed to fortify myself against the elegiac thread stitched into Ann Patchett's prose and plucked powerfully by Meryl Streep. A writing teacher once told me suffering is plot. These women are masters of suffering. The combination of Patchett's writing and Streep's interpretation is devastating, but in the best way. I've seen Tom Lake described as the story of young love versus mature love, and I agree. What resonated for me was the love between mothers and daughters as it changes over time. Small children are physically consuming, teenagers are emotionally exhausting, and adult children are untethered from your ability to protect them.
The plot reminds me of nesting dolls. There is plot within plot within plot. It is the beginning of COVID, and Lara's three daughters, in their twenties, have returned home to the cherry farm in Michigan where they grew up. The book is told from Lara's perspective. As they work to hand pick sweet cherries, the daughters want to hear again about their mother's early life as an actress and her summer love affair with a not-yet-famous actor, Duke--the gritty details they've been too young to be told before now. There are many precarious minefields to navigate as the narrative moves between young aspiring actress Lara and the mature woman of fifty-eight Lara. Will the cherry farm stay afloat, or will it be destroyed by climate change? What daughters will stay? What does the future hold for the daughters? What was Lara's relationship with Duke? Why did she stop acting? Who does Lara love the most--her husband or her young love? What can she tell her daughters about her past? What needs to remain secret?
Tom Lake vibrates with symbolism and meaning that I won't fully understand until my fourth or fifth reading. There is much to be said about this book because it is wonderfully dense, like a great carrot cake filled with juicy raisins, bitter walnut pieces, and tender shreds of carrot, then covered with cream cheese frosting. So delicious and complex!
I predict this will be the best book I read this year.
🍒🪆🏊♀️
My daughter recommended the book, This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi, and I'm glad she did. It is a well-done fantasy book full of adventure, magic, and intrigue. As I approached the end of the book, I wondered how will Mafi, who'd been crushing it, end this fantastic book? There only so many pages left to do it justice . . . *gasp*. It's a trilogy. And the final one has yet to come out.
☹️
This Woven Kingdom reminds me of Cinderella. I wonder if Mafi had that in mind as her framework. It works well, but this isn't a Cinderella waiting to be rescued by a prince. Alizeh kicks butt. The story is told between Alizeh and the crown Prince, Kamran. There might be a bit of Romeo and Juliet going on as well. All these elements are skillfully blended into a crisp, fast-paced book stocked with likable characters trying to solve big problems with adeptness and tenacity.
These Infinite Threads is a worthy sequel to Tahereh Mafi's first book of her newest series, This Woven Kingdom. The characters grow in complexity, and while some problems are solved, larger ones arise. It continues to be fast-paced and attention-grabbing. My biggest complaint is Mafi likes to end her book on a giant cliffhanger. My subsequent complaint is the next one will be out sometime in 2024. My life is so hard. My reading life, at least.
🔮🪄❤️🧵🪡🧽🧹🧞♀️
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