She does so tenderly, with a keen eye for detail and occasional wit, not to mention a lyrical way with words that makes the novel even easier to become absorbed in.Īlthough Danny is an authentically flawed narrator, with a tendency to dwell (as does his sister, though to a lesser extent) on the past and its perceived injustices, both he and Maeve are instantly likeable and I found myself caring greatly for them. As we follow the siblings over half a century, through their father’s second marriage to the archetypal evil stepmother and beyond, well into their own adulthood, Patchett creates an intimate portrait of two people whose relationship is the one thing that seems to anchor them, the central column around which the houses of their individual lives can be built. With their mother having walked out when Danny was too young to remember, it falls to Maeve to slip into the role of mother, and it is their incredibly close brother–sister relationship that forms the heart of the novel. Danny, our first-person narrator, grows up with his father and sister Maeve, older by seven years, in what is referred to as ‘the Dutch House’, an architectural marvel that catches the attention of all who glimpse it. The Dutch House is one of those works of fiction that are difficult to describe, because for much of the time not an awful lot is happening – it’s a novel that is simply about life.
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