Dr. Terryl Hallquist, Thornton Wilder scholar and Ann Patchett fan, joins us to discuss Patchett's newest novel, Tom Lake. Tom Lake centers around a pivotal summer Lara spent in a summer stock theatre company where she performed her signature role of Emily in Thornton Wilder's OUR TOWN. There she meets two men who will change her life. She falls in love with the soon-to-be famous actor Peter Duke and meets the director/aspiring cherry farmer, Joe Nelson. Lara recalls the summer to her three grown daughters, home during the pandemic, who beg her to tell them about her glamorous life as a young actress, her romance with Peter Duke, and her blockbuster film. There are lots of layers to this novel and we explore many with Terryl. Linny is calling in from her American Red Cross deployment in Asheville, North Carolina and Nancy is fresh off her trip to see Linny followed by a trip to New York City to see six shows in five days.

Ann Patchett's 2023 novel, Tom Lake, explores the permeability between past and present. While they are picking cherries to try to save the crop since the normal large migrant laborer crew is absent due to COVID, Lara's adult daughters ask their mom to tell them the story of how she once dated the famous actor, Peter Duke. In retelling parts of her story, we learn about Lara's evolving notions of love and purpose. Once a promising ingenue, Lara was known for her role as Emily in multiple productions of OUR TOWN. Patchett's love of the Thornton Wilder play shines through her writing, giving this novel a multi-layered depth. This is the first Patchett novel Linny and Nancy have read and it's good one.

Penn State Berks professor, Dr. Thomas Jay Lynn, joins us on the front porch to discuss Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Tom's book, Chinua Achebe and the Politics of Narration: Envisioning Language, has been called "a notable contribution to Achebe studies." Tom takes us deep into the world of Things Fall Apart and highlights important and lasting contributions Achebe made to world literature and the West's understanding of Africa and the impacts of colonization. We learn more about Achebe's Igbo way of viewing the duality of life and how that duality is represented in his writing and his very flawed main character, Okonkwo.