My Rating: 4.5 stars
I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that I’m
probably one of the few people on this planet who, up until now, had never read
an Ann Patchett novel. Despite the fact that Patchett is an author I’ve
wanted to read for a long time -- I’ve had most of her previous works on
my TBR for quite some time and even own physical copies of several of her
books -- I unfortunately have not had the opportunity to actually crack open any
of them. Of course, all that changed last week when I saw that the next
book on my seemingly never-ending ARC list would be Patchett’s newly released
eighth novel The Dutch House (published in September 2019) – I
was thrilled that I would finally be able to experience one of her works for
myself, though at the same time, that also meant I would be going into this one
with relatively high expectations. Luckily, this one ended up being a
wonderful read, even better than I expected, which honestly doesn’t happen
often.
The story is narrated entirely from the perspective of
Danny Conroy, who is only a boy of 8 years old when the story opens. His
sister Maeve, herself only a teenager at 15 years old, took Danny under her
care after their mother Elna left them 5 years ago. Both children live in
the Dutch House, a see-through glass mansion of sorts that their father Cyril,
a real estate developer, had bought as a surprise gift for their mother.
Cyril is a distant father who is always consumed with his work and aside
from providing his children with the necessities — a cook to prepare food
for them to eat, a housekeeper to tend to the household duties, a nanny to tend
to their day-to-day needs — he could never be bothered with much else beyond
that. But Maeve and Danny had each other to lean on and along with the
love of their housekeeper and cook (sisters Sandy and Jocelyn who had been hired
by their mother back in the day), they were relatively happy and content with
their lives. All that changes however when Cyril decides to marry a young
woman named Andrea, who moves into the Dutch House with her 2 daughters in tow
— the profound impact that this decision ends up having on Danny’s and Maeve’s
futures becomes the basis upon which the entire story revolves.
This story is billed as a family saga spanning 5 decades,
which initially made me think that it would be so epic in scope that it would
take a longer time to read, but in actuality, I devoured this one, not wanting
to put it down once I started. Patchett is a masterful storyteller and
her writing here absolutely captivates — I was hooked from the very first page,
not just to the story but also to the characters. It’s extremely rare for
me to already like and connect with a story’s characters within the first few
chapters, but that’s exactly what happened with Danny and Maeve — two
characters I loved from the beginning and who continued to grow more endearing as
the story progressed. While all of Patchett’s characters in here were nuanced
and well-developed (even most of the minor characters), what made me gravitate
to Danny and Maeve the most was the unshakable bond that these two siblings
shared throughout their lives – a bond that continued to exist despite
everything that happens, no matter how many times their relationship is put to
the test. Needless to say, I was
genuinely moved by their relationship.
Speaking of characters, of course the Dutch House itself also
existed as a “character” central to the story, however the beauty here is that,
even though its presence was continually felt throughout the story, it never
once overtook the other characters. Despite the house’s significance to the plot,
it was quite clear from beginning to end that the story itself belonged to
Maeve and Danny. In this regard, the house
serves as a connection to their past and while this past is what shapes who they
eventually grow up to become as adults, it is also how they deal with this past
that forms the crux of their story. Here,
again, the brilliance of Patchett’s writing comes into play, as the transitions
between past and present throughout the book were seamless – no easy feat given
the extensive timeline that the story covered plus the fact that the plot
jumped around from one situation to the next in no particular order.
Up until the last few chapters, this actually had all the
makings of a 5-star read for me – the reason I eventually decided on 4.5 stars
was mainly because I wasn’t fond of the ending and also didn’t like how a few
plot points played out in the lasts few chapters. Though I must admit that I also had some
issues with the character of Elna Conroy (Danny and Maeve’s mother) – things that
made her character come across too unrealistic for me and made it difficult for
me to wholeheartedly accept some of the situations that happen because of
it. This small complaint aside, I still consider
this book a masterpiece – not quite perfect, but a masterpiece
nonetheless. While I eagerly wait to see
what Patchett has in store for us next, there’s no doubt that I will be exploring
her backlist of previous works very, very soon!
Received ARC from Harper via Edelweiss.
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