Tom Lake

Ann Patchett explores motherhood through Lara’s relationship with her daughters, particularly the eldest, Emily. Lara and Emily’s troubles go back to Emily’s infatuation with Peter Duke, which began when she was 14 years old, and continued for several years. During that time, Emily became convinced that Duke, who had dated Lara one summer, was actually her father, and that Lara was keeping them from one another. Lara recognizes that what was really behind Emily’s obsession with Duke was the need to individuate: “She was telling me how sick she was of us, that she hated being a teenager, hated her body, didn’t want to be stuck on a cherry orchard, […] But she didn’t have words for any of that” (34). Emily’s trouble separating herself from her mother is symbolized by her name—named after the role that was Lara’s triumph in the theater and a character Lara associates deeply with herself, Emily struggled not to be a mirror of her mother’s youth.

Years since Emily’s obsession, the family still tiptoes around the topic of Duke. When Maisie and Lara discover the news about Duke’s death, they are afraid to tell Emily. Lara, in particular, feels that although her relationship with Emily had been repaired, “expertly, repeatedly, this lumpy seam remains between us” (101). Her belief that their relationship is still damaged reemerges when she finds out that Emily and Benny are engaged. She is hurt that Emily didn’t tell her, and attributes it to another old conflict—Emily refusing to tell her mother details of her life. Emily’s need for autonomy and privacy gives Lara “a very old prick of exclusion. […] Emily, who didn’t tell me when she started her period and didn’t tell me when she decided to go to Michigan State, didn’t think to tell me that she was marrying Benny” (100). However, as the novel continues, Lara begins to see a shift in Emily’s connection to her.

As Lara reveals her history with Duke, her daughters develop a new kinship with her, particularly Emily. When uncomfortable truths about Duke’s cheating and selfish thoughtlessness are revealed, Emily is outraged on her mother’s behalf. Lara first feels this when she describes injuring herself and Emily focuses not on Duke’s role, but on Lara: “‘Could you walk at all?’ Emily asks. Why does it matter so much, the way she’s looking at me this minute? Like I am on the tennis court curled on my side and she is there, her hand on my shoulder” (213). Lara fears disillusioning Emily about Duke, and yet whenever she does, Emily remains on her mother’s side. Lara realizes that she has held on to her memories of a teenage Emily, refusing to allow her to change. By making herself vulnerable, and sharing uncomfortable truths with Emily, she has created an intimacy in which she and Emily can forge a new, more adult, relationship.