Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
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.
