Tom Lake is about young love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Hopeful and wistful, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. Ann Patchett combines narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with intelligence and emotional maturity, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents of today.