The Dutch House by Ann Patchett is an adult fiction novel about a house, a family and their journey through life.
After being injured in the war, Cyril Conroy comes home ready to change his life. A self made man, Conroy uses his real-estate savvy to go from poverty to wealthy and the first thing he does is buy an enormous house, The Dutch House. Meant as a surprise for his wife, this purchase signifies the beginning of the end of the Conroy family.
Told from the perspective of Danny and Maeve, Conroy’s children and set over the time period of 5 decades, The Dutch House is the story about highs and lows, obsession and regret, and the bond between brother and sister.
The Dutch House was selected as the read for my book club this month and I can’t wait to see what everyone thinks about it. I have a feeling that this one will have mixed reviews. I for one, found it slow moving and not overly exciting.
That being said, the character development was amazing. Each of the characters in this book were fully developed and diverse and dynamic in their own ways. It also doesn’t hurt that I listened to the audio book, which was recorded by the ever awesome Tom Hanks.
The relationship between Maeve and Danny was that of siblings, surrogate mother/son, best friend, and more. They were basically all each other had and because of this they cling to their relationship, almost to an unhealthy extent, one that becomes more apparent as they get older.
A lot of people loved this book, according to online reviews. But as much as I wanted to know what happened, I just didn’t feel invested at all. I don’t know why, but I was waiting for a scandal or a murder or something. I know so not the intent of the book, so I don’t know what I was thinking.
Overall, this wasn’t a bad read. It was good but didn’t wow me. It’ll be interesting to see what everyone else has to say. This one gets 3 stars from me.
That’s all for now!
-M-