Talking Volumes with Ann Patchett

Minnesota Public Radio and the Star Tribune are proud to announce the 23rd season of Talking Volumes. Talking Volumes is hosted by award-winning journalist Kerri Miller. We are happy to announce that we will be back in the cozy confines of the Fitzgerald Theater this fall for discussions with four great authors.

Tom Lake to be released August 1, 2023, Harper

About the Author

Ann Patchett is the author of several novels, works of nonfiction, and children’s books. She has been the recipient of numerous awards including a National Humanities Medal (awarded her in March 2023), the PEN/Faulkner, the Women’s Prize in the U.K., 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. TIME magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she is the owner of Parnassus Books.

About the Book

TOM LAKE, Ann Patchett’s eagerly-awaited new novel, probes many aspects of love—from the turbulence of youthful passion to the contentment of marriage to the welcome embrace of family when the outside world falls apart. As three sisters, sheltering on the family cherry farm during the pandemic, urge their mother to share details of an early romance with a now-famous actor, the at-once hopeful and elegiac narrative unspools in many directions, weaving a tapestry of past and present. With Chekhovian wisdom and her customary genius for enveloping storytelling, Patchett follows up her bestselling The Dutch House with a different take on family, love, and growing up. Harper is also delighted to share that Meryl Streep is recording the audiobook version of TOM LAKE. You can begin reading here on NetGalley; advance reader’s editions and PDFs available upon request.

Lara never set out to be an actress all those years ago, but a serendipitous discovery while performing in a college play landed her a film role and launched a short-lived career. During July of 1998, while performing Emily in Our Town in Michigan summer stock, Lara had a tumultuous affair with another young actor, Duke. Twenty-four years later, Duke is one of the most famous actors in the world, but for Lara, merely a remnant of a rarely revisited past. It is another July, and her daughters, now young women themselves, have returned home in retreat from the pandemic-shuttered reality. To pass the time while harvesting cherries, they cajole Lara into sharing the story of that summer when she was in love with a future movie star. It proves a resonant story that sheds light not only on their mother’s life and choices, but on broader family dynamics as well.