Lara and Joe Nelson own a cherry orchard in Michigan, and have their three twenty-something daughters staying with them during the first year of the pandemic. It is harvest time, and many of the families of migrant pickers are not showing up this year, so the family must pull together during this critical period to perform the necessary, mundane, and seemingly endless chore of cherry picking. Seeing the family movies in the movie bin, the daughters are reminded of their childhood obsession with the actor Peter Duke, the bombshell their father drops of when their mother acted with the young, undiscovered actor, and the opportunity for an enticing tale to relieve the tedium is born. Patchett is a master at gently planting psychological themes, such as the thrill in your twenties of hearing a story of your mother’s life when she was your age, experiencing her first adult romance and sexual relationship, embarking on the start of her career, finding her feet in the world. We all experience a confluence of emotions around these stories: excitement, horror, amazement, disgust. We see our parents with new eyes, and struggle to understand how they could ever be satisfied living the dull family life they created for you.

Lara plays the role of Emily in her New Hampshire town’s production of Our Town. It turns out to be a role she is born to play, and later goes on to reprise the role in a college production. It is here where a Hollywood producer happens to see her performance, and entices her to audition for, and act in a similar part in a movie he is making. As the final release of the movie is delayed, he finds a summer stock production of Our Town in Michigan that is in need of an Emily. Upon arrival at Tom Lake, Lara meets Peter Duke, who will play her father, Mr. Webb, but the sexual chemistry is immediate and spicy. In addition to the cast, Lara bonds with Pallace, the actress and dancer who is her understudy in Our Town and part of the dance company for a production of Cabaret; and Sebastian, Peter’s brother, who travels 3 hours each weekend from his summer job as tennis instructor at a country club, to round out the adventurous quartet.

The Nelson girls hear an edited version of this coming-of-age story, while we are privy to most all the salacious details. We are left wondering about several questions: Why does Lara abandon her career at the very first difficult turn? Why does Joe, who is quite successful as a director, choose to abandon theater for life as a cherry farmer, a path he knows will be difficult. Do they ever have regrets? Lara seems convinced that sharing this story is a way to parent her daughters as adults. What lessons does she hope to impart? Lara never reveals the full extent of Peter Duke’s mental illness, although when they hear of his recent death and its circumstances, it can only be understood to be a suicide.

I think, by choosing the life of Joe and the cherry orchard, Lara got to live her life in the play Our Town. Notice the similarities of her kitchen and Emily’s kitchen, the town cemetery and the farm cemetery on the hill. Patchett is a very clever author. Her characters are believable, unique. Her scenes are luscious in detail. The book should really be read during cherry season, savored with a bowl of ripe cherries. This may be your favorite fiction novel of the year. Add to the pleasure by listening to the audiobook, read by Meryl Streep. No need to purchase—borrow it from your public library for free.