Genre Fiction
![Ann Patchett - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B000AQ6QAW.jpg)
The Dutch House: A Novel
New 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 2019
Named one of the Best Books of the Year by 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.
Named one of the Best Books of the Year by 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.
Editorial Reviews
"The Dutch House has the richness, allusiveness, and emotional heft of the best fiction." -- Boston Globe
"As always, the author draws us close to her protagonists swiftly and gracefully." -- Wall Street Journal
"Patchett's prose is confident, unfussy and unadorned." -- New York Times
"A big-hearted, capacious novel..." -- Chapter 16
"Patchett is a master storyteller." -- O, the Oprah Magazine
"Patchett's splendid novel is a thoughtful, compassionate exploration of obsession and forgiveness, what people acquire, keep, lose or give away, and what they leave behind." -- Publishers Weekly(starred review)
"A lavishly gifted writer." -- Los Angeles Times
"Patchett writes enviable prose-fluid, simple, direct, clear, and fearless." -- Esquire
"Patchett is at her subtle yet shining finest in this gloriously incisive, often droll, quietly suspenseful drama of family, ambition, and home. . . . With echoes of F. Scott Fitzgerald and in sync with Alice McDermott, Patchett gracefully choreographs surprising revelations and reunions as her characters struggle with the need to be one's true self." -- Booklist
"Enchanting." -- PEOPLE Magazine, Best Books of Fall 2019
"For Patchett fans who have been waiting for years, it's a worthwhile read." -- Evening Standard (London)
"Ann Patchett spins a dark, compelling fairy tale in The Dutch House." -- Entertainment Weekly
"The Dutch House confirms what we've always known: Ann Patchett doesn't write a bad book." -- BookPage
"This finely textured novel is made up of many such small, intimate moments, yet the effect is sweeping, grand, and lavish-and all deeply moving." -- New York Journal of Books
"As always, Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature." -- The Guardian
"The Dutch House is unusual, thoughtful and oddly exciting, as well-told domestic dramas can be." -- Columbus Dispatch
"Patchett's storytelling abilities shine in this gratifying novel." -- Associated Press
"Expect miracles when you read Ann Patchett's fiction." -- New York Times Book Review
"This is a serious and poignant story, but also a delightfully funny one." -- Washington Independent Review of Books
"This...
"As always, the author draws us close to her protagonists swiftly and gracefully." -- Wall Street Journal
"Patchett's prose is confident, unfussy and unadorned." -- New York Times
"A big-hearted, capacious novel..." -- Chapter 16
"Patchett is a master storyteller." -- O, the Oprah Magazine
"Patchett's splendid novel is a thoughtful, compassionate exploration of obsession and forgiveness, what people acquire, keep, lose or give away, and what they leave behind." -- Publishers Weekly(starred review)
"A lavishly gifted writer." -- Los Angeles Times
"Patchett writes enviable prose-fluid, simple, direct, clear, and fearless." -- Esquire
"Patchett is at her subtle yet shining finest in this gloriously incisive, often droll, quietly suspenseful drama of family, ambition, and home. . . . With echoes of F. Scott Fitzgerald and in sync with Alice McDermott, Patchett gracefully choreographs surprising revelations and reunions as her characters struggle with the need to be one's true self." -- Booklist
"Enchanting." -- PEOPLE Magazine, Best Books of Fall 2019
"For Patchett fans who have been waiting for years, it's a worthwhile read." -- Evening Standard (London)
"Ann Patchett spins a dark, compelling fairy tale in The Dutch House." -- Entertainment Weekly
"The Dutch House confirms what we've always known: Ann Patchett doesn't write a bad book." -- BookPage
"This finely textured novel is made up of many such small, intimate moments, yet the effect is sweeping, grand, and lavish-and all deeply moving." -- New York Journal of Books
"As always, Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature." -- The Guardian
"The Dutch House is unusual, thoughtful and oddly exciting, as well-told domestic dramas can be." -- Columbus Dispatch
"Patchett's storytelling abilities shine in this gratifying novel." -- Associated Press
"Expect miracles when you read Ann Patchett's fiction." -- New York Times Book Review
"This is a serious and poignant story, but also a delightfully funny one." -- Washington Independent Review of Books
"This...
Readers Top Reviews
Hugh Cummins
Another over-praised novel. Not bad, but not nearly as good as the rave reviews. Reviewers and critics, I think, get fed up reading bad books. When a slightly different book comes along, they over-react. Dutch House is 'non-linear', that is, it jerks forward and back ward through time. Confusing? Or a comment on memory? It's a bit like a year of 'Neighbours' programs, but with the episodes jumbled. But still a soap opera. And I thought Danny and Maeve's obsession with a house a bit absurd. For all that - readable, and the characters likeable.
Lucille Grant
Exceptionally well crafted American family saga in which a sumptuous house, built by a Dutch couple, is a character in its own right. After Danny and Maeve's mother leaves their father he remarries. Andrea has two young daughters of her own. and is the epitome of a bad stepmother. She resents her stepchildren to the extent that when their father dies unexpectedly she throws them out. During the ensuing years they go back to the house, sitting outside and watching from their car but never once do they venture inside. The story is told in two timelines from Danny's point of view and the only flaw in the book is that sometimes the switch although sometimes seamless, is hard to follow. The characters are superbly drawn and the plotting leaves no loose ends Highly recommend for fans of Anne Tyler and Elizabeth Strout.
Ralph BlumenaupgTit
The handsome and characterful house had been built by a Dutch couple called VanHoebeek in 1922 when it was in the open country just outside Philadelphia, and it had been bought by Cyril Conroy in 1946 who also had a lot of other properties he rented out. He was a Catholic and lived there with his wife Elna and two children, Maeve and, seven years younger, Danny. Although Mr Conroy said that he had bought the house for his wife, Elna identified with poor and felt a mission to minister to them. She hated the house, and had gone to India, leaving the family when Danny, the narrator, was just three; and Maeve had looked after her brother. As Danny grew older, he monitored Maeve’s diabetes whenever he could. They were devoted to each other. Maeve was aided by two splendid housekeepers, Sandy and Jocelyn, and initially by Fiona, a nanny they called Fluffy, who had worked for the Van Hoebeckes. Fluffy had been dismissed because, in a fit of irritation, she had hit little Danny with a wooden spoon, so hard that it left a scar near his eye. At the age of 49, Mr Doyle married again: Andrea, a Protestant of 31 with two young daughters of her own, Norma and Bright, respectively three and five years younger than Danny, whom she brought into the house. The little girls took to Danny and Maeve, though Andrea did not. She was a Protestant whereas the Conroys were Catholics. It was not a good marriage. Mr Conroy once said that Andrea had married him because she wanted the house. Perhaps he married her because, unlike his previous wife, she shared his love for the house and its contents. Andrea almost always got her way: her husband rarely stood up to her wishes. Maeve and Danny had disliked Andrea from the start, and the dislike was mutual. Andrea also constantly found reasons to criticize Sandy and Jocelyn. When Maeve was away at school in New York, Andrea reorganized the house, moved her eldest daughter into Maeve’s room and when Maeve was home of the holidays, she was moved into a small room up in the attic. So she hardly ever stayed at home – living in her dorm in New York during the holidays or staying with friends. When she graduated, she returned to Philadelphia, got a job helping to run a business and lived in a little apartment instead of in the Dutch House. Mr Conroy died in 1963, when Danny was 15. Andrea never forgave Danny and Maeve for having told her the news only after they had been to their father dead in the hospital, and for having arranged for their father to be buried in a Catholic cemetery instead of a Protestant one. Mr Conroy had left the house to her, not to his own children. All he had done for Danny and Andrea’s children was to set up a trust for their education through high school and college. He had also made Andrea a partner in his business. Maeve and Danny offered to take over running the Conroy business: ...
Kristen
I’m not sure this book would be for everyone but I absolutely loved it! It is a slow burn and you’re never totally sure where the story is going to go. There is also no huge climatic ending. However, I am a huge fan of family sagas and this one was perfect. I loved Danny (possibly because he narrated the story and I switched back and forth between reading and Audible and Danny was TOM HANKS). I also loved the relationship between Danny and Maeve and can only hope my own children would cling to eachother this tightly in good and bad. If you are a fan of Ann Patchett’s writing and enjoy stories of family, faith and forgiveness then I highly recommend this book.
joan whitePJMAVirgin
Although the author writes well and the characters are engaging, the plot is ridiculous. After finishing the book, I felt like I had overindulged in an all-you-can eat buffet, full of empty calories. The best novels either make you see life in a different way or at least encourage you to examine important questions. This, on the other hand, is pure tripe.
