Whistler

 

Whistler by Ann Patchett

Fiction

2026

Finished on July 22, 2026

Rating: 5/5 (Excellent)

Publisher's Blurb:

The acclaimed, prize-winning #1 New York Times bestselling writer returns with a moving, luminous novel that reminds us of the sweetness and impermanence of life and the power of connection to defy time.

When Daphne Fuller and her husband Jonathan visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they notice an older, white-haired gentleman following them. The man turns out to be Eddie Triplett, her former stepfather, who had been married to her mother for a little more than year when Daphne was nine. Now fifty-three, Daphne hasn’t seen Eddie for many years, not since the fateful event that changed the direction of both their lives. Meeting again, time falls away; while their relationship was brief, it had a profound impact on them both, and now that they are reunited, they have no intention of ever being separated again.

Whistler is a story about two adults looking back over the choices they made, and the choices that were made for them. It’s a story about bravery, memory, the often small yet consequential moments that define our lives, and the endless stream of loss that in time comes for us all. Beautiful in its simplicity, it is ultimately about how love endures, and how the feeling of being known by one other person, even for a short period of time, can change everything.

A delightful novel!

I finished Whistler a week ago and I'm still thinking about this wonderful story and its characters. It's the sort of novel that one can read very quickly, perhaps in a single day, yet I wanted to savor each page, forcing myself to read slowly, and yet I still finished in record speed. This is a book that is impossible not to tear through without pause!

What did I love? The relationships, all of them, but especially the one between Daphne and Eddie. I loved the backdrop of literature and the publishing world. I loved that Daphne recommended books much as the author does in her reels for Parnassus Books. (I added The Bee Sting, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, and Independent People to my TBR list). I loved the setting, wishing I could visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I think the last time I was there was with my daughter in 1996! I loved the story within a story within another story (which sounds confusing, but it works). And I love the way in which Patchett writes about family dynamics. When I think of her more recent works, I feel that they are centered around family relationships, unlike her earlier novels (Bel Canto and State of Wonder, specifically). Oh, and I especially loved that this is told from one point of view, and is more or less linear (aside from the flashbacks centered around an incident in Daphne's childhood). The last half dozen books that I've recently read included dual points of view, as well as alternating timelines. Whistler felt like a breath of fresh air!

Reading Whistler gives one a sense of deja vu. Anyone who has read Patchett's memoir, These Precious Days, or her New York Times essay, "My Three Fathers," may wonder if Whistler is autobiographical. There appear to be parallels to her life, but while she may draw on personal experiences, the book is not a story of Ann Patchett's life.

I loved Whistler. It may be my favorite book of 2026. It may even be my favorite by the author. And the ending couldn't have been more perfect! I won't be surprised if I read it a second time before the year is over. 

Highly recommend!!

Working on being an Ann Patchett "completist," I have only three remaining novels left to read. She is obviously one of my favorite writers.

Novels:

Tom Lake (5/5)

The Dutch House (4/5)

Commonwealth (4/5)

State of Wonder (5/5)

Bel Canto (5/5)

The Magician's Assistant (3.5/5)

Nonfiction:

These Precious Days (5/5)

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage (4.5/5)

What Now? (pre-blogging days)

Truth and Beauty (3/5)

To Be Read:

Run

Taft

The Patron Saint of Liars

Truth & Beauty

 

Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett

Nonfiction - Memoir

2004

Finished on November 4, 2025

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Ann Patchett and the late Lucy Grealy met in college in 1981, and, after enrolling in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, began a friendship that would be as defining to both of their lives as their work. In Grealy’s critically acclaimed memoir Autobiography of a Face, she wrote about losing part of her jaw to childhood cancer, years of chemotherapy and radiation, and endless reconstructive surgeries. In Truth and Beauty, the story isn’t Lucy’s life or Ann’s life but the parts of their lives they shared. This is a portrait of unwavering commitment that spans twenty years, from the long winters of the Midwest to surgical wards to book parties in New York. Through love, fame, drugs, and despair, this is what it means to be part of two lives that are intertwined--and what happens when one is left behind.

I wanted to love this book, but I got weary of Lucy's constant neediness and craving for reassurance, begging to be loved by Ann, whining about never finding a man who would love her, lying to Ann and other friends about her drug use. Truth & Beauty started off great, and I love Patchett's prose, but the story of her friendship with Grealy was bleak and drawn out far too long.

But in the evenings when we sat in front of the fireplace talking, it always came back to the same things: she was lonely, she was depressed, she wanted a boyfriend, she couldn't understand why no one loved her. She told me that she often had a couple of drinks and a couple of Percocets before getting in her car after midnight in Vermont and driving a hundred miles an hour over the icy back roads to New York. She said that she wanted to tempt fate.

I love this metaphor:

Oh, people like to say when they hear this part of the story, this is why you and Lucy are so close. You went through the same thing. [Referring to Ann's plastic surgery after an accident.] But nothing could be farther from the truth. I read one slim volume of the available information. Lucy read the library.

In reference to writing:

We shared our ideas like sweaters, with easy exchange and lack of ownership.

Truth & Beauty is an honest and brutal (if not exhausting) account of deep friendship. There is a lot to think about when reading this memoir. What constitutes a healthy friendship? Who has a right to share such intimate details of an individual while their family members are grieving? (See Lucy's sister's article here.) Despite my frustration with Lucy, I still intend to read her memoir, Autobiography of a Face. 

Tom Lake

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

Fiction

2023 Harper

Finished on August 17, 2023

Rating: 5/5 (Excellent!)

Publisher's Blurb:

In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.

"Patchett’s intricate and subtle thematic web…enfolds the nature of storytelling, the evolving dynamics of a family, and the complex interaction between destiny and choice….These braided strands culminate in a denouement at once deeply sad and tenderly life-affirming. Poignant and reflective, cementing Patchett’s stature as one of our finest novelists." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

I'm not sure if I know how to review this marvelous novel! I loved the entire book, savoring each sentence, and as the final pages drew near, I told my husband that I hated to say goodbye to Patchett's characters; they felt so real! The book could have been a thousand pages and it wouldn't have been long enough.

To begin, I'm very happy that I decided to get a copy of Our Town to read in advance of starting Tom Lake. Somehow, I managed to go through life without ever reading Our Town. I've also never seen the play, but had a vague idea of its premise. I suppose one could read Tom Lake without knowing a thing about Thornton Wilder's classic, but it's a much richer experience knowing the role of the actors, and how they influenced Patchett's story.

Not only does Ann Patchett create memorable characters who feel like family, she also paints a beautiful image of the setting....

Tom Lake turned out to be crushingly pretty. There was a huge covered amphitheater sunk into the rolling lawns. The musical ran in the amphitheater. They also had a black box theater where they staged the straight plays like Our Town and Fool for Love. There were tennis courts with a clubhouse that served iced tea and sandwiches. A smattering of lovely houses--some that had been turned into administrative offices, some for boarding the actors and designers and technicians, and some where regular people spent the summer--spread along the shore of a tremendous lake. Fruit trees bloomed, paths meandered, hills swelled, like someone had clipped pictures out of a pile of magazines and then glued the very best ones together on a single page. A couple of miles away was a small town that took most of its annual revenue from the summer tourists who came to stay in one of the two hotels, have supper, and spend the next morning wandering through the little shops before coming over with their theater tickets. The most ambitious ones walked in for a show then caught a shuttle bus back. They wore Tom Lake T-shirts and Tom Lake hats as they paddled rented canoes past the diving platform and out across the lake. The whole thing was a fragile ecosystem, as small towns and theater companies usually are, but as far as I could see it was thriving.

I also love this gem of a passage:

There's no explaining this simple truth about life: you will forget much of it. The painful things you were certain you'd never be able to let go? Now you're not entirely sure when they happened, while the thrilling parts, the heart-stopping joys, splintered and scatted and became something else. Memories are then replaced by different joys and larger sorrows, and unbelievably, those things get knocked aside as well, until one morning you're picking cherries with your three grown daughters and your husband goes by on the Gator and you are positive that this is all you've ever wanted in the world. 

and

“We clump together in our sorrow. In joy we may wander off in our separate directions, but in sorrow we prefer to hold hands.” 

I know that Tom Lake is a book I'll read again, and I'm eager to listen to the audio production, which is narrated by the ever-so-talented Meryl Streep!

I also can't wait to return to Nashville, not only to see my daughter and son-in-law, but to pay another visit to Parnassus Books. Maybe I'll get to meet my favorite author face-to-face!

This is one you'll hug to your chest, whispering "Great book! Bravo." Highly recommend.

This made my day!

These Precious Days

 

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

Nonfiction - Essays

2021 Harper

Finished on February 14, 2023

Rating: 5/5 (Excellent)

Note to Reader: No, you are not imagining things. I already posted a review for this book (click here to read) in November. I decided to read it again for my upcoming book group discussion. 

Publisher's Blurb:

“Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart.

At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a suprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores “what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self.” When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks’ short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman—Tom’s brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both.

A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create gold: engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer’s eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be.

From the enchantments of Kate DiCamillo’s children’s books to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz’s Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author’s grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark—and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time.

You know that feeling when you meet someone for the first time and think to yourself, "Wow. I really like her. We have so much in common. I hope I get another chance to spend more time with her!" Well, that's exactly how I felt after reading These Precious Days, and when I finished reading it for the second time this morning, my feelings hadn't changed. This is a gem of a book! I still haven't taken the time to sit down and write a fan letter to the author (can I just call her Ann?), but I plan to. Until then, I can gush about the book on Thursday with my book group. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did.

In response to an Instagram comment, I had another thought that I'd like to share here: That initial experience when reading a book (or meeting a kindred spirit) is often overshadowed by the flush of excitement to have all of one's questions answered. The second visit is more calm and allows for a discovery of hidden treasures.

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage

 

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett

Nonfiction - Essays

2013 Harper Perennial

Finished on December 8, 2022

Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good)

"As the best personal essays often do, Patchett's is a two-way mirror, reflecting both the author and her readers." --New York Times Book Review

Publisher's Blurb:

Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder, Run, and Bel Canto, examines her deepest commitments — to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband — creating a resonant portrait of a life in This is the Story of a Happy Marriage.

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage takes us into the very real world of Ann Patchett’s life. Stretching from her childhood to the present day, from a disastrous early marriage to a later happy one, it covers a multitude of topics, including relationships with family and friends, and charts the hard work and joy of writing, and the unexpected thrill of opening a bookstore.

As she shares stories of the people, places, ideals, and art to which she has remained indelibly committed, Ann Patchett brings into focus the large experiences and small moments that have shaped her as a daughter, wife, and writer.

Another winner by Ann Patchett! I tried to listen to This is the Story of a Happy Marriage several years ago, but the audio didn't work for me. I bought a signed copy of the book at Parnassus (Patchett's bookstore in Nashville) and as you can see from the above photo, it hit the mark and resonated greatly with me. 

I've always enjoyed, if not loved, Patchett's novels, but I recently read These Precious Days, which is an outstanding collection of essays. Now having read this earlier collection, I can confidently say that Ann Patchett's is not only a stellar writer, but someone with whom I would love to meet. Her essays are thought-provoking and articulate, yet conversational and personal. She prompts the reader to stop and think about something she's just written. Patchett is high on my list for "Which Five Famous People Would You Invite to a Dinner Party?"

Whatever I've become as an essayist, this collection bears the stamp of a writer who got her start in women's magazines: it is full of example and advice. I will never be a war correspondent or an investigative reporter, but the tradition I come from is an honorable one, and at times, daunting. Many of the essays I'm proudest of were made from the things that were at hand--writing and love, work and loss. I may have roamed in my fiction, but this work tends to reflect a life lived close to home. 

Prior to writing her best-selling novels, Patchett worked for eight years as a freelance writer for Seventeen magazine, GQ, Bridal Guide, New York Times Magazine, and Gourmet. In This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, Patchett shares details about her family history, her views on marriage, divorce, and her desire to not have children. Her essay about caring for her grandmother is deeply moving and intimate. She writes about her upbringing and education in the Catholic faith, her friendship with one of the nuns who taught her how to read (in third grade!), how she came to be a co-owner of a bookstore, finally accepting her husband's marriage proposal, and her absolute love for her dog, Rose.

On Writing & Revision:

One method of revision that I find both loathsome and indispensable is reading my work aloud when I'm finished. There are things I can hear--the repetition of words, a particularly flat sentence--that I don't otherwise catch. My friend Jane Hamilton, who is a paragon of patience, has me read my novels to her once I finish. She'll lie across the sofa, eyes closed, listening, and from time to time she'll raise her hand. "Bad metaphor," she'll say, or, "You've already used the word inculcate." She's never wrong.

On Hand Selling Books:

When we had our grand opening the following Saturday, an all-day extravaganza that stretched from early-morning puppet shows to late-night wine and cheese, an estimated three thousand Nashvillians came through the store, devouring books like locusts sweeping through a field of summer wheat. All of us who worked there (not a number I normally include myself in, but in this case I was among them) had waited so long for customers that once they finally came we could not stop telling them what we wanted them to read. One more joy I had failed to consider: that I can talk strangers into reading books that I love. 

As one would expect, I loved "My Road to Hell Was Paved", an essay about traveling with her husband, Karl, in a Winnebago motorhome. She states, 

I believe this is the Fourth Great RV Truth: People who don't like them have never been in one.

I feel like I went out to report on the evils of crack and have come back with a butane torch and a pipe. I went undercover to expose a cult and have returned in saffron robes with my head shaved. I have fallen in love with my recreational vehicle.

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage is an absolute joy to read! I'm looking forward to her upcoming release of Tom Lake (due out in August 2023), but until then, I have Truth & Beauty: A Friendship (which she mentions in her essay "Fact vs. Fiction") yet to read. 

Have you visited Parnassus in Nashville? I highly recommend it, especially if you love dogs! 

Photo Credit: Author's Website

These Precious Days

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

Nonfiction - Essays

2021 Harper

Finished on November 7, 2022

Rating: 5/5 (Outstanding)

Publisher's Blurb:

“Any story that starts will also end.”

As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart.

At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores "what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self." When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks' short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman–Tom's brilliant assistant Sooki–with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both.

A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create gold: engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer's eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be.

From the enchantments of Kate DiCamillo's children's books (author of the upcoming The Beatryce Prophecy) to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz's Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author's grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark--and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time.

Last night, I fell asleep composing a fan letter in my head to Ann Patchett. I have often thought of sending such a letter to several of my favorite authors, usually the moment I finish one of their terrific books, but I never follow through. Maybe this time I will.

I have always read more fiction than nonfiction, but when I pick up a nonfiction book, I gravitate toward memoirs and essays. I have read and loved several of Ann Patchett's novels, but These Precious Days is my first venture into her works of nonfiction. Anna Quindlen (Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake), Nora Ephron (I Feel Bad About My Neck), Laurie Colwin (Home Cooking), Barbara Kingsolver (Small Wonder), and Kelly Corrigan (Tell Me More) have written some of my favorite collections of essays. With over two dozen sticky notes littering my copy of These Precious Days, Patchett has joined ranks with that group of amazing authors. 

Typically, a book of essays has some great pieces along with some that don't resonate, but that doesn't hold true with These Precious Days; I loved each and every one of the twenty-two essays, as well as the introduction and epilogue. Like Quindlen, Ephron, Colwin, Kingsolver, and Corrigan, I would love to spend an afternoon, sipping a glass of wine while chatting with Patchett about her bookstore (which I visited last spring while visiting my daughter in Franklin), her novels (and the importance of good cover art), Nashville, Tom Hanks, and why we don't need four colanders and thirty-five dish towels. I would ask her about her favorite authors and which of their books she would recommend. (I love how she wrote about The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty, not just touching on Welty as an author, but speaking specifically about a few of her stories.) 

As I gulped down essay after essay, hopelessly ignoring my inner voice that kept telling me to slow down and savor them, I caught myself thinking about the connections I felt to this woman I had never met. Her husband had a heart scare that turned out not to be a heart attack. But the fear of loss was real, and a fear that I know all too well.

I remember again how valuable he is, how lucky we are. Karl isn't having a heart attack. Byron didn't know what might have caused the pain. Indigestion? Stress? It didn't matter. Karl is beside me. The meeting I'm missing doesn't matter, and Sparky is fine with his dog friends at the bookstore. For as many times as the horrible thing happens, a thousand times in every day the horrible thing passes us by. A meteor could be skating past Earth's atmosphere this very minute. We'll never know how close we came to annihilation, but today I saw it--everything I had and stood to lose and did not lose. Thanks to this fleeting clarity, the glow from the fluorescent tubes on the ceiling of this small cardiac recovery room lights up the entire world. 

I spent over a decade working in bookstores and can wholeheartedly agree with the joy of handselling:

As every reader knows, the social contract between you and a book you love is not complete until you hand that book to someone else and say, Here, you're going to love this. I always thought that sharing the books I loved with my students, requiring them to read those books, was the biggest perk of being a teacher. But at the bookstore, people who actually want my recommendations walk through the door all day long. The students were captives, the customers are volunteers.

Patchett writes about her personal experience with book jackets (and titles) that didn't live up to her expectations.

"Never judge a book by its cover" is a good way of saying that people shouldn't be evaluated on the basis of looks alone, but the adage doesn't apply to actual books. Where books are concerned, covers are what we have to go on. We might be familiar with the author's name or like the title, but absent that information, it's the jacket design--the size and shape of the font, the color, the image or absence of image--that makes us stop at the new releases table of our local independent bookstore and pick up one novel instead of another. Book covers should entice readers the way roses entice bees--like their survival depends on it.

I doubt I'm the only reader guilty of judging books by their cover art. While working in the bookstore, I could tell which face-outs would grab someone's attention and which would be quickly dismissed. I was thrilled when my husband's recent book was published with such an appealing cover. If only I were still working in a bookstore where I could place copies on the new release table, faced out on the appropriate shelf, and stacked neatly near each cash register. Oh, how I'd love to hand sell this book during the Christmas shopping season! Would Ann Patchett be drawn to Rod's beautiful book? And if so, would she pass it on to Tom Hanks? It never hurts to dream!

I can hardly wait to read Patchett's previous work of nonfiction, This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage, which I bought while visiting Parnassus last spring. She is such an exceptional writer!

Commonwealth

 

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Fiction

2016 Harper

Finished on April 10, 2021

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

The acclaimed, bestselling author—winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize—tells the enthralling story of how an unexpected romantic encounter irrevocably changes two families’ lives.

One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating’s christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny’s mother, Beverly—thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families.

Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Spending summers together in Virginia, the Keating and Cousins children forge a lasting bond that is based on a shared disillusionment with their parents and the strange and genuine affection that grows up between them. 

When, in her twenties, Franny begins an affair with the legendary author Leon Posen and tells him about her family, the story of her siblings is no longer hers to control. Their childhood becomes the basis for his wildly successful book, ultimately forcing them to come to terms with their losses, their guilt, and the deeply loyal connection they feel for one another.

Told with equal measures of humor and heartbreak, Commonwealth is a meditation on inspiration, interpretation, and the ownership of stories. It is a brilliant and tender tale of the far-reaching ties of love and responsibility that bind us together.

Last year I read not only one, but two novels written by Ann Patchett. Like her previous books, Commonwealth is peopled with strongly defined characters, believable dialogue and well-set scenes; all the makings for creating an unforgettable read. I enjoyed the book quite well, but the jumps across the decades, combined with the two blended families, kept me on my toes as I struggled to keep track of who's who (and their relationships to one another). I'm glad I read this in print rather than listening to the audio, as I had to flip back and forth to reacquaint myself with more than one of the children. 

Bel Canto and State of Wonder remain my favorite works of Patchett's, and yet Commonwealth is one that I would enjoy revisiting at a later date. There is so much going on in this novel and I feel as if I missed the beauty of the writing as I consciously worked to figure out what was going on within each family. Narrated from multiple points-of-view and an expansive scope, Commonwealth is a challenging, yet rewarding read and which I highly recommend, especially to those who have enjoyed family dramas such as The Children's Crusade (Ann Packer), Wish You Were Here (Stewart O'Nan), The Arrivals (Meg Mitchell More) and Unsheltered (Barbara Kingsolver). 

The Dutch House

 

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Fiction

2019 HarperAudio

Read by Tom Hanks

Finished on September 29, 2020

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

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.

The Dutch House is the second book by Ann Patchett that I have read this year. In July, I read State of Wonder, which I thought was outstanding. As with State of Wonder, I was quickly drawn into the narrative, eager to see where the story would lead as I came to know the characters. As the final pages drew near, I realized that there would be no big surprise or twists of fate. This is not an action-packed novel, but rather a quiet character study, very much like Patchett's earlier work, Bel Canto, which is another favorite of mine. We come to know the characters through their conversations, but there is little in the way of action to propel the narrative, just lives lived, one generation not really any different than the previous: birth, school, marriage, divorce, remarriage, work, and ultimately, death. 

Patchett's novel is comprised of numerous themes including love, betrayal, abandonment, jealousy, obsession, revenge, and forgiveness. Sounds a bit bleak, doesn't it? And yet, it isn't. I enjoyed the story (and even felt sympathetic toward Danny and Maeve), never once feeling the urge to quit reading.

On abandonment:

To grow up with a mother who had run off to India, never to be heard from again, that was one thing--there was closure in that, its own kind of death. But to find out she was fifteen stops away on the Number One train to Canal and had failed to be in touch was barbaric. Whatever romantic notions I might have harbored, whatever excuses or allowances my heart had ever made on her behalf, blew out like a match.

I've never done a read/listen combo, but after hearing great things about the audiobook, which is narrated by Tom Hanks, I knew I wanted to listen rather than read the book. As it turned out, I also wound up with a print copy, so I decided to listen on my walks and read at night. It was the best of both worlds; I was able to mark a few passages in the book and have Hanks entertain me while I walked. Speaking of Hanks, he is a great audiobook reader! I appreciated that other than softening his tone for the women, he didn't try to alter his voice between characters; no dreaded high-pitched female voices, which is so annoying. Hank's pacing was perfect and he was able to convey feelings with authentic emotion, whether it be humor, surprise, anger or sadness. I'm not sure whether Hanks became Danny or Danny became Hanks, but his voice rings true. If he (Hanks) ever wants to give up his day job, I would gladly listen to more audiobooks narrated by him!

As I began writing this review, my initial reaction was that while I enjoyed reading The Dutch House, it wasn't an outstanding book. Danny and Maeve are well-developed characters, but neither is terribly likeable. I was entertained, but the ending fell short of my expectations. The novel was selected by my book group for our October discussion, so once I finished, I dove into the internet and started reading reviews and author interviews. I still feel that the ending was too neat and tidy, but having done said literary research, I gained a greater appreciation for Patchett's work. The Dutch House is a sad book about a broken family, but in the hands of this accomplished writer, it's one that I couldn't put down and didn't want to end. I'm looking forward to my book group meeting and I have a feeling there will be quite a bit to discuss and analyze.

Highly recommend!

State of Wonder

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Fiction
2011 HarperCollins
Finished on July 3, 2020
Rating: 5/5 (Outstanding!)

Publisher's Blurb:

Years ago, Marina Singh traded the hard decisions and intensity of medical practice for the quieter world of research at a phamaceutical company, a choice that has haunted her life. Enveloping herself in safety, limiting emotional risk, she shares a quiet intimacy with her widowed older boss, Mr. Fox, and a warm friendship with her colleague Anders Eckman. But Marina's security is shaken when she learns that Anders, sent to the Amazon to check on a field team, is dead--and Mr. Fox wants her to go into the jungle to discover what happened.

Plagued by trepidation, Marina embarks on an odyssey into the unknown, down into the Amazonian delta, deep into the dense, insect-infested jungle, to find answers from the company's research team. Led by the formidable Dr. Annick Swenson, the scientists are looking into the development of a new drug that could have a profound impact on Western society. But the team has been silent for two years, and Dr. Swenson does not like interlopers inserting themselves into her work, as Marina well knows. The eminent and fiercely uncompromising doctor was once her mentor, the woman she admired, emulated, and feared. To fulfill her mission, Marina must confront the ghosts of her past, as well as unfulfilled dreams and expectations--on a journey that will force her to make painful moral choices and take her to the depths of her own heart of darkness.

A rich narrative, lush with atmosphere and full of deeply realized characters, packed with amazing twists and surprises--encounters with an anaconda, cannibals, death, and birth--State of Wonder is Ann Patchett's most enthralling and confident novel, a tale that will leave readers in their own state of wonder, examining their own values and beliefs.

Bravo! Every reader knows the joy of discovering an outstanding read and State of Wonder is a literary gem. I have owned an ARC of Ann Patchett's novel since early 2011, but wasn't drawn to it until recently. Perhaps I hesitated due to the setting (I do not like spiders or snakes) and although there are a few scenes involving those, I only held my breath once or twice, anxiously awaiting the outcome of those encounters. I have two other books by Patchett (Commonwealth and The Dutch House) in my TBR stacks and it was this stockpile that inspired me to finally move this older work to my summer reading shelf.

State of Wonder is a slow burn and it wasn't until Marina reached the research facility in the jungle that I became fully invested in the story. As mentioned in the publisher's blurb, the characters are fully realized, many of whom I came to care about greatly and bringing to mind Mary Doria Russell's wonderful cast of characters in her exceptional novel, The Sparrow (another all-time favorite work of literary fiction). The acerbic Dr. Swenson and mute Easter, as well as helpful and protective Milton, stole my heart. Speaking of The Sparrow, I found myself reflecting on that narrative as I read State of Wonder, as both involve the interaction between scientists and doctors and an indigenous society in which the language and social mores are not shared. There are surprises and twists in both of these novels and the suspenseful plots keep the pages turning. 

Favorite Passages:

It was as if Dr. Swenson had vanished from the boat, as surely as Easter had vanished from it when he went over the side. Marina watched the hammock until its motion had settled. It was a magic trick: wrap her in a blanket and she's gone. The quiet that was left without her was layered, subtle: at first Marina heard it only as silence, the absence of human voices, but once her ear had settled into it the other sounds began to rise, the deeply forested chirping, the caw that came from the tops of trees, the chattering of lower primates, the incessant sawing of insect life. It was not unlike the overture of the opera in which the well-trained listener could draw forth the piccolos, the soft French horn, a single meaningful viola.

and

The question is whether or not you choose to disturb the world around you, or if you choose to let it go on as if you had never arrived. That is how one respects indigenous people. If you pay any attention at all you’ll realize that you could never convert them to your way of life anyway. They are an intractable race. Any progress you advance to them will be undone before your back is turned. You might as well come down here to unbend the river. The point, then, is to observe the life they themselves have put in place and learn from it.

I've read two other books by Patchett, but this may be my favorite, with Bel Canto in a close second place. I liked The Magician's Assistant, but didn't feel it had the same rich detail as the others.

If one were to review my annual top ten lists, literary fiction is undoubtedly the winner every time. Novels such as The Sparrow, The Help, Beach Music, All the Light We Cannot See, Atonement (at least the first time around), The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Cutting for Stone, Flight Behavior, Ordinary Grace and A Gentleman in Moscow are all richly descriptive and peopled with memorable characters. These are the sort of books that pull me in and stay with me for years, if not decades, after I finish the final page. They're the books that I long to read again in order to not only discover something I may have missed, but to return to the wonderful characters whom I miss as if they were actual friends. And, they're the books that I recommend to everyone who loves great literature. So, if by chance, you missed reading this novel, I urge you to get a copy. I'm already looking forward to my second read, which might be in the audio format rather than print. Highly recommend!

Bel Canto

After recently reading Booklogged's reviews for Bel Canto and Birds in Fall, I decided to dig out my reading journal for 2004 and post the following review. This is more a compilation of reading journal/online book group discussion notes than my normal review format. Please excuse the less-than-polished (read: repetitive) style.

My review for Birds In Fall can be found here. Look for a review for Blindness in the coming days.



Bel Canto by Anne Patchett
Contemporary Fiction
Finished on 3/13/04
Rating: 5/5 (Excellent)
Top Ten 2004

Book Description

Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxanne Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening -- until a band of gunwielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different continents become compatriots, intimate friends, and lovers.

Definitely the best book I've read this year [2004]! Every chance I got, I wanted to read it, yet as the final pages drew closer, I had to put it down so as to savor the finale. Not a lot happens in this very internalized novel, yet I didn't find it slow or boring. I actually found myself reading more slowly than usual, luxuriating in each and every sentence.

In spite of Patchett's characterization, I pictured Roxanne Coss, the soprano, as a brunette much like John Singer Sargent's "Madame X." I found the chess games symbolic of the stalemate between the terrorists and the government. Amazing interactions between the terrorists (who weren't violent, angry men) and the hostages (who seemed to accept their fate with complacency). Simply a lovely book. Beautifully evocative prose. I was quite surprised, as I was expecting something less tender. Very thought provoking, reminding me of my reaction to Jose Saramago's Blindness. I highly recommend Bel Canto and look forward to reading more by Patchett.

I have to say this book surprised the heck out of me. I don't know what I was expecting, but it turned out to be a great read. I think the minute I heard that it was about terrorists and hostages, I instantly decided it wouldn't be anything I'd be interested in. But those two words really are a poor way of describing the book. It's more about humanity and what takes place when two very different groups of individuals are forced together for a lengthy period of time. I thought it was extremely well-written and quite moving. I held my breath as I read the last pages and found myself crying and couldn't start in on another book for a good hour. I think I knew how it would end (had completely forgotten about the revelation at the beginning - to be honest, I think I missed it, as I have no recollection of the spoiler!), but I kept hoping there'd be a happy ending somehow. Not unlike the hostages, I suppose.

I am so sorry I didn't read Bel Canto last year when my city read it for one of their "One Read" selections. I know I would've thoroughly enjoyed going to many of the discussions since it's one of those books that one could talk about for days. What a gem! Pardon the cliche, but I didn't want it to end, yet couldn't put it down. I only had a couple of dozen pages left to read on Sunday, but I found myself reading two or three pages, then setting it aside to both ponder what I'd read as well as prolong the inevitable of finishing.

I think I'm in the minority, but this is a book I will highly recommend. Not a lot happens, as it's a very internal story, but like Gail Tsukiyama's The Samurai's Garden, I enjoyed the pace which actually forced me to read more slowly, savoring each and every sentence, even going back to re-read some if I found myself not giving it 100% of my attention. I came to care about all the characters and I know they'll stay with me in the weeks to come.

And as with Ian McEwan's Atonement (which I absolutely loved), I'm shocked that others were disappointed with this remarkable novel. I know everyone has their own reading tastes, but it always surprises me when I feel a personal sadness/frustration/disbelief when others don't share my enthusiasm for a great book.

Patchett states in an interview:

Also, the narrative structure in this book is much more ambitious. I've always wanted to write a book with a truly omniscient narrative voice that switched easily from character to character. It's the thing I'm most proud of in this book and the thing that probably no one will notice.

I noticed!! I kept thinking how marvelous is was to go from one character's thoughts and actions to another's. The narration reminded me of a beautiful tapestry, seamlessly woven into a stunning design. I never felt jarred from one person to the next.

It had so many elements that were compelling to me: confinement, survival, the construction of family.

This is what reminded me of Jose Saramago's Blindness. The unvoluntary confinement. The will to survive. The elements of family. I think the two books would be an excellent choice for a comparison/contrast paper or discussion.

I think this is the sort of novel in which one must suspend disbelief. Again, to compare it to Saramago's Blindness, it's not a story that is 100% logical or even plausible, yet I don't think that was Patchett's intent. I think the actual hostage situation is more of a backdrop for the real story which involves the interplay between the various characters from both sides of the predicament.

The Magician's Assistant

The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett
Contemporary Fiction
Finished 3/9/06
Rating: B+ (7/10 Good)

Ann Patchett has written four novels and a memoir and up until now, I’d only read Bel Canto (which, incidentally, made my Top Ten list for 2004). The Magician’s Assistant is one of those books I kept hearing good things about, but which remained on my shelf far too long –- until last month when I wandered around the house and picked out an armful of books that I’d always meant to get to -- sort of a “determination stack” for my March reading list. (So far, so good. The stack is actually getting smaller in spite of my frequent visits to the library.)

As I discovered with Bel Canto, this is not a book for everyone. It’s a quiet, character-driven read with very little action, although there is a foreboding sense of drama that is slowly revealed in the second half of the narrative. While it could have been a quick read, I chose to take my time (as I did with Bel Canto), savoring Patchett’s prose, lingering over the minute details of the story. I would have given the book a higher rating, but the abrupt ending was somewhat disappointing, although not entirely surprising.

The story takes place in both L.A. and Alliance, Nebraska, the latter of which is unfortunately depicted in somewhat of a negative manner (“In fact, the entire state of Nebraska defied imagination. Who actually lives there?”). Newly widowed Sabine learns the truth of her husband’s past and discovers love and friendship as she comes to terms with her own role in the unfolding drama and future in her newly acquired family. This is a story of truth and deception, all in the name of love and family. Smoke and mirrors. Trap doors and distraction. As with magic, not all is as it appears to be, and not everything that appears to be real truly is.