The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett | Published September 24th 2019 by Harper |  337 Pages | Goodreads

✅ REVIEW

First, this is the best book I’ve read this year, I think it will be the best book of the year because it was so engaging and compelling.

I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Tom Hanks. I started listening to it without knowing he was going to be the narrator and as it went on the voice sounded so familiar, so likeable, then I realized it was him and he did such a great job, it really took the book to the next level of greatness.

This novel is not so much about the story as it is about the characters, and the house, which is a character in itself. The Dutch House had a magnetic pull on the characters and and the descriptions of it were were vivid and detailed. Overall, it was a delight to read.

Loved it and recommend it!

✅ PUBLISHER’S DESCRIPTION

“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 unshakable 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.

✅ BOOK SOURCE AND FORMAT

Loan from Miami-Dade’s Library Overdrive, audiobook