Finalist for the Pulitzer PrizeNew York Times Bestseller | A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick | A New York Times Book Review Notable Book | TIME Magazine’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2019Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, The Washington Post; O: The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, Vogue, Refinery29, and BuzzfeedAnn Patchett, the #1 New York Times bestselling … NPR, The Washington Post; O: The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, Vogue, Refinery29, and Buzzfeed
Ann Patchett, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth, delivers her most powerful novel to date: a richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go. The Dutch House is the story of a paradise lost, a tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance, love and forgiveness, of how we want to see ourselves and of who we really are.
At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves.
The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakeable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures.
Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.
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A little quieter than other Ann Patchett novels I’ve read. But the writing is gorgeous and so vivid that I feel like I must have lived in the Dutch House at some point. If you like stories that center on family, this is a good one.
Since reading Bel Canto years ago, I have said I will read anything Ann Patchett writes. When I heard The Dutch House was coming out and saw its distinctive cover I put it on my TBDWIR (To Be Devoured When It Releases) list pronto.
And then it released and people were talking about it, and it was popping up on bestsellers lists all over the place and audio book lovers were swooning over this tale being read to them by the venerable Tom Hanks. I hurried through the other required reading I was working on, and made space in my life to enjoy The Dutch House. I had already bought it, it was just there on my cluttered nightstand awaiting me.
I hadn’t read much about the novel, which is my usual thing. I don’t read the back copy of books I know I am going to want to read. Sometimes there are mini spoilers there. So I didn’t know what The Dutch House was or who lived in it or what it meant to them. I didn’t know what the evocative painting on the front meant and I certainly couldn’t know how I would be affected when Patchett revealed the significance of that painting, and this at a time in the story when I had already fallen in love with these perfectly drawn characters. It was the kind of book that I couldn’t wait to get back to, not because I just had to know what happened next, but because I just had to know what happened to these characters next. Here is just one of the beautifully composed thoughts penned in its pages.
“There are a few times in life when you leap up and the past that you’d been standing on falls away behind you, and the future you mean to land on is not yet in place, and for a moment you’re suspended knowing nothing and no one, not even yourself.”
I was going to use the back cover copy to tell you what the book is about but I’m not going to. I will just say it’s a book about a brother and sister, and their childhood home, and everything that the word “home” might and should conjure up in your mind when you hear that word spoken. I loved it so much I am going to use one of my Audible credits and have Tom Hanks read it to me. I hardly ever read books twice because, you know, so many books, so little time. So you know it’s a good one when I tell you I’ll be “reading” this one again. Soon.
Highly recommend.
One of my friends asked for an audio recommendation. I had to throw in my fave audiobook of the year thus far – Tom Hanks reading THE DUTCH HOUSE by Ann Patchett. Oh. My. I’m telling you – there is something about his frank narration — and it is frank — that just worked for me. I adore acting in an audiobook read, truly appreciate when the narrator can take on the characters with different voices and inflections (Julia Whelan is one of the best at this, BTW. I will listen to anything she reads.) But Hanks just goes straight at this, and I felt like I was being told a story by a friend sitting across from me at a restaurant table. Seriously brilliant stuff.
The Dutch House is a beautifully structured novel about a brother and sister who live in their memories as much as in the present moment. I was enraptured by the language and by the characters as well. There are ghosts in all of our lives, but witnessing Danny and Maeve negotiate with theirs was magical… and for their reappearance in adult life – offering an opportunity to reconcile and forgive – magical!
Ann Patchett deserves all the praise and recognition she receives–she’s a truly wonderful author. The story is engaging, her attention to detail and descriptive passages are captivating. I’m an author myself and appreciate the opportunity to better my writing by reading such great books as this. Thank you, Ann.
Another beautiful family story by Ann Patchett – filled with uniquely real characters, a moving plot and brimming with subtlety and things to ponder.
I thought this book started out a little slow, but maybe 20 percent in I became involved with the characters. The house is a character in the book, giving the story continuity. It’s a good book to make one think about life and how it slowly unfolds and sometimes takes unfortunate turns. It reminds one of how much in life we do to please others, how we perhaps too often bargain for one thing by giving up another, and how anger is ultimately destructive. Yet in the end, fences are mended and much of what was wrong is righted.
I’m a big fan of Ann Patchett, and so I’m not surprised I loved The Dutch House so much, even though at moments it was heartbreaking The writing is gorgeous but what I adored the most is the exploration of the bond between a brother and sister, something you don’t see all that much in fiction.
This was the very first book I read this year and what a way to start the year! I absolutely lost myself in the beautifully rendered sibling relationship between Maeve and Danny. We see their bond shift and change over childhood, adolescence and adulthood and through many difficulties, misunderstandings and so much love. The titular Dutch House is a brooding, complicated presence in the story too. All up, it’s one of those books you can’t stop thinking about for a long time after you finish.
Ann Patchett delivers as usual. Very well written book – deals with how we remember and deal with the past. This is the story of two children who grew up in the “Dutch” house and takes us through their adult life. It is written from the younger child’s perspective. During the course of the book, their mother leaves, their father remarries, their father dies, and their stepmother totally disowns them – sounds almost like a fairytale story line. The house itself is so unique that it plays a character in the story itself, as it has caused impacts on the human characters, many of which readers may find unlikeable, but intriguing.
This is a good read. I always enjoy Ann Patchett’s books. Her “Bel Canto” is on my list of best books ever.
This character driven novel broodily unpacks the drama of a family over five decades.
Right after WW2, Cyril Conroy buys a run-down mansion as surprise for his wife, Elna. With their daughter Maeve, they move into the house which is still filled with the previous family’s abandoned belongings. Elna is uncomfortable and unhappy with the ostentatiousness of her new surroundings and Cyril brings in servants to help in the mistaken belief that this will make his wife happy. Elna has a son Danny, ten years after Maeve and she continues to be restless disappearing for days when finally, when Danny is three, she inexplicably abandons her family and disappears for good.
Danny is the unreliable narrator of this story. He tries to make sense of his past as well as his present. He remembers little of his mother and his father is remote. He relies on the servants and his older sister for his care. When his father marries Andrea, two more children are brought into the house. Life becomes more difficult for Danny and his sister when it’s clear that Andrea is a reluctant step-mother. When his father dies, Andrea throws fifteen-year-old Danny and her sister out to look after themselves.
The thing about an unreliable narrator like Danny is that he is on the periphery of the family story. As an adult, he is almost clueless about the women of this family, including his wife, struggling to understand how they think and why. Yet his clingy possessiveness of his sister (mother substitute) affects him for life.
Is your childhood home as central to who you are? In this case it’s pivotal. The Dutch House is a symbol for what was good and bad in the brother and sisters’ lives.
I found it interesting that Danny wanted so much to be like his father. A father who became rich without his wife knowing, who bought her The Dutch House as a romantic and generous gesture not knowing his wife hated it.
‘God’s truth,’ Maeve said. ‘Our father was a man who had never met his own wife.’
Danny falls into the trap himself with his own wife and history repeats itself except that he eventually comes to realise it. His reliance on his sister was interesting and almost stifling. And although we learn a lot about Maeve through his eyes, there’s a lot we don’t know. We never know if Maeve had romantic interests or friends and I wonder if the closeness Danny had for her was not as close as it could have been.
The same can be said of the step-mother painted as evil and money hungry who loved the house, yet she is as mysterious to brother and sister and reader alike.
It’s a modern-day Cinderella story up to a point and the love between the siblings is intense and tender. I love Patchett’s writing style, easy to read, yet beautifully crafted. It’s a slow burn of a story, so take your time and enjoy it.
Dutch House is so well-done, such deeply drawn characters, so superbly written–and I say that after thinking it sounded boring! (Sometimes I need the push of my book club!). I HIGHLY recommend Audio because TOM HANKS is the narrator, and he nails it!
Captivating and compelling – what an unexpected story of siblings, love, and loss
This story about a family shows us how distorted our view can become about others and how forgiveness can finally bring peace. Patchett develops characters who have deep and abiding loyalties. She is a master story teller.
An extraordinary story, some of the characters tragic and cruel. It was not the plot I expected, and really appreciate that!
What an incredible audiobook. Tom Hanks lulls and entertains with every sentence of this beautiful story. I listened to THE DUTCH HOUSE while helping pack up my childhood home with my only sibling, and I found such comfort in the journey Danny and Maeve shared with nothing but humor and strength. They are memorable characters, and this is not a novel I will forget.
This is one of those books you’d call “sweeping.” It follows several generations, with flashbacks to fill in the holes. I loved the relationship between the brother and sister, and their relationship to the family home. Sometimes, I felt like the brother sounded too feminine to be real, but that’s a small complaint for an overall wonderful book.
This book is fantastic. I’m a character driven reader and writer and Ann Patchett’s characters are always stellar. This one does not disappoint.
Ann Patchett is amazing as always.
A book club member chose this book, but once I started reading I was hooked. Beautiful writing, but I was impressed with the way Patchett developed the story line, moving the characters with ease as the tale opens up about family, loss and a house with its own story.