Tom Lake

Tom Lake is considered a pandemic novel. How does Ann Patchett explore the pandemic through the lives and stories of the Nelson family?

How does the novel discuss the effects of memory on personal history? What conclusions does the novel come to about the way memory shapes our sense of self?

Consider the passages where Lara’s present is overlaid with memories from her daughters’ childhoods. What is the effect of the passages in which the past and the present are intertwined?