Mini book review: The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett, HarperCollins

This is a story of a brother, Danny, and his sister, Maeve, and the unbreakable bond between them. Ann Patchett is such a gifted writer that readers will find their own familial relationships reflected here, without consciously realizing the similarities.
There’s an absentee parent, a cold step-parent, a loving father who is fundamentally flawed, a man who sort of lets life happen to him rather than making any of his own choices and a woman who is strong, but alone and stoic.
How they relate to each other is what makes this novel the success it is. The house itself – although central – is really irrelevant. Readers will travel with Danny and Maude through childhood, the teen years and well into adulthood.
The Dutch House has been lauded by many and is a No. 1 New York Times bestseller. Patchett has written seven novels and three non-fiction books. As always, in The Dutch House, she is both funny and touching, sentimental but wry. Readers won’t go wrong with this one.
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