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by Ann Patchett (Author)
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.
