Summer at the Lake

What happened at the Lake Tom theater? Was it the happiest moment of Lara's life?

In the spring of 2020, Lara's three daughters return to the family orchard in Northern Michigan. During the long summer days spent among the cherry trees, they beg their mother to tell them the story of her youth and her affair with the famous actor Peter Duke.

As the woman reveals the secrets of her youth, her daughters look at their own lives and are forced to rethink everything they thought they knew about their parents. It turns out that missed opportunities and unfulfilled dreams can sometimes result in a truly beautiful life.

Summer at the Lake is a reflection on youthful love, marital love, and the lives their parents led before their children were born. Hopeful and melancholic, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling storytelling with an insightful look at family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, which demonstrates once again why she is one of today's most acclaimed literary talents.