Review of "The Dutch House" by Ann Patchett

I bought this novel when Ann Patchett came to Dallas on her book tour before the pandemic shut everything down, but I misplaced the book and ended up buying it again as an audiobook to prep for my trip to Marfa. The first two CDs out of 8 were quite boring, as I found the character of Andrea the stepmother rather stilted and predictable. This was what I put up with while I was driving toward Marfa, and frankly I was glad to arrive, and I also listened to other CDs on the way, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. But after the b!tch (Andrea) kicks her husband's young children out, and got out of the story, I found the novel to be spellbinding. (That was on the return trip.) I was driving through West Texas and couldn't stop listening.

It may have helped that Tom Hanks was doing the narrating, but the story was also rock solid and truly moved me. Ann Patchett knows exactly when to summarize events and when to focus on feelings, and the feelings are what kept me engaged, so in her way she taught me a thing or two about writing novels in the process. I felt gut-punched so many times in this book - when the kids are forced out of the house, when Danny learns about his mother, when the mother shows up, and more (can't tell you what in order not to spoil the story). The story is one of a beautiful sister-brother friendship that stretches over decades and many hardships. Patchett's insights are mind-blowingly spot on. So although the book has a slow start (in its first 25%), it really ends up glowing. And making the reader feel some things that are not often felt.

And the young girl on the cover is of course supposed to be Maeve, Danny's older sister, whom Andrea kicks out of the Dutch House along with Danny. And given Maeve's fate at the end, this was the perfect cover, so absolutely moving, and perfectly chosen. It took me a while to decide what to rate this book but I started at two stars out of five and then increased it to three, then four, and by the end I had decided this book was truly a five stars out of five.