Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
This is her lockdown book. But there’s barely a mention of the pandemic other than the narrator’s family are all together. What follows is an Arabian Nights tale. The story keeps getting interrupted. The family wants the next bit of the story as it reaches a succession of gentle cliffhangers. What’s interrupting them all the time is the need to pick the cherries (they run a cherry farm). Lockdown has meant there’s no additional families to do the work. It’s a beautiful construct. Towards the end the story wraps around itself very pleasingly.
– Alastair Creamer
Things I’ve enjoyed this month…
Reading: Salt on Your Tongue by Charlotte Runcie
Watching: Past Lives (Even better if you splash out on a fancy Everyman ticket and watch from the comfort of a sofa, as I did on my birthday. Wild, I know.)
Visiting: Norway! My top tip is to hire a car and take in some of the country’s official scenic routes. Just beautiful. And I enjoyed a very fine waffle with a very fine view as a result (at Flye 1389 – the highest point on the Valdresflye route).
– Sophie Gordon