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A review by chrissie_whitley
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
5.0
I was admittedly a bit nervous about picking this one up. While I loved [b:Commonwealth|28214365|Commonwealth|Ann Patchett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1483278132l/28214365._SY75_.jpg|48242398], I had recently tried [b:Bel Canto|5826|Bel Canto|Ann Patchett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1352997328l/5826._SY75_.jpg|859342] and found myself unable to finish it (or even really begin it, honestly). And that's all the Ann Patchett I had known up to that point. I wondered then if Commonwealth was just a fluke?
A short time ago, I had heard on a podcast a host describe Ann Patchett's earlier works as more plot-driven (which she, the host, normally prefers), adding that Commonwealth and The Dutch House were more character-driven stories (which she liked less). But that is actually what I do prefer. So...with fingers crossed I borrowed this one from the library. (Also, I was hesitant because all I could hear was that the brilliant Tom Hanks was performing the audio version of this one and I honestly didn't want him dictating the words for me just yet. I'm very tempted, now that I have finished, to borrow the audiobook version of this one and give it a re-read.)
The Dutch House is a wonderfully moving and explorative family story. With overlapping hints of [b:Sense and Sensibility|14935|Sense and Sensibility|Jane Austen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1397245675l/14935._SY75_.jpg|2809709] and [b:The Goldfinch|17333223|The Goldfinch|Donna Tartt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1378710146l/17333223._SY75_.jpg|24065147], The Dutch House delivers a touching and timeless tale centering around two siblings with plays on themes regarding loyalty, love, abandonment, forgiveness, and entitlement. This one was powerfully intimate and yet somehow not at all invasive.
”Our childhood was a fire.”
Danny Conroy, the narrator and younger sibling to Maeve (whose portrait is featured in the book and appears on the book's cover), is so relatable, so human. The ways in which he misunderstands himself and how he has actually processed his life throughout its different stages—specifically regarding his relationship with his mother, who is absent from his life after abruptly leaving when he was four—was so familiar to me and deeply reflective of things in my own life with which I have had to come to terms and analyze and re-examine.
While Danny supplies some of the flawed human side to life, the allowance to have made the wrong assumptions and not even realized it, Maeve, his older sister, supplies the powerful backbone and self-sacrificing side. Almost acting as a single unit at times, their bond was absolutely heartwarming to read. Covering almost fifty years, The Dutch House breathes some fresh life into the idea of picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and starting all over again.
A short time ago, I had heard on a podcast a host describe Ann Patchett's earlier works as more plot-driven (which she, the host, normally prefers), adding that Commonwealth and The Dutch House were more character-driven stories (which she liked less). But that is actually what I do prefer. So...with fingers crossed I borrowed this one from the library. (Also, I was hesitant because all I could hear was that the brilliant Tom Hanks was performing the audio version of this one and I honestly didn't want him dictating the words for me just yet. I'm very tempted, now that I have finished, to borrow the audiobook version of this one and give it a re-read.)
The Dutch House is a wonderfully moving and explorative family story. With overlapping hints of [b:Sense and Sensibility|14935|Sense and Sensibility|Jane Austen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1397245675l/14935._SY75_.jpg|2809709] and [b:The Goldfinch|17333223|The Goldfinch|Donna Tartt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1378710146l/17333223._SY75_.jpg|24065147], The Dutch House delivers a touching and timeless tale centering around two siblings with plays on themes regarding loyalty, love, abandonment, forgiveness, and entitlement. This one was powerfully intimate and yet somehow not at all invasive.
”Our childhood was a fire.”
Danny Conroy, the narrator and younger sibling to Maeve (whose portrait is featured in the book and appears on the book's cover), is so relatable, so human. The ways in which he misunderstands himself and how he has actually processed his life throughout its different stages—specifically regarding his relationship with his mother, who is absent from his life after abruptly leaving when he was four—was so familiar to me and deeply reflective of things in my own life with which I have had to come to terms and analyze and re-examine.
While Danny supplies some of the flawed human side to life, the allowance to have made the wrong assumptions and not even realized it, Maeve, his older sister, supplies the powerful backbone and self-sacrificing side. Almost acting as a single unit at times, their bond was absolutely heartwarming to read. Covering almost fifty years, The Dutch House breathes some fresh life into the idea of picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and starting all over again.