Ann Patchett is just so good at helping herself to generous heaps of my time. Our introduction was her beautiful novel Bel Canto, an almost can't stop read, I loved it. Loved it. I've read a couple of her other books, which reside in our living room library shelves because my husband, a hardback lover, is a big fan of Ann's work. None of them have lingered recreationally. They all seem to wrap around my arm and tug me to the chair, like a clingy, but adorable, boyfriend. This though, is about The Dutch House. A work of near-perfection. I bought the book for my Dear, but when someone recommended Tom Hanks' reading on Audible I had to start there. I love reading. I love driving. I love listening. So, I occasionally, if not often, I grab the book and the audio (see Libby) and go. To begin, I loved Tom Hanks as narrator. His voice and style helped me get a feel for Danny as I read. Not a downside, but I see where it might point one in a direction.This was fine by me, because first, I was reading when not listening and also, Tom Hanks. He's offered so many roles with a core of strength and tenderness he didn't do anything but enhance the experience.
Danny and Maeve are brother and sister, raised by their dad in the grand and glorious Dutch House. Their mother left them inexplicably and while Maeve took on the mom role, Danny was learning some of his dad's role in real estate management. At a point, Andrea, their stepmother enters with all the injustice this entry can bring.
What we find, hold in our hands, welcome through our ears, is a story of connection and detachment, cruelty and inability, forgiveness and understanding. Danny's story is full of hardship but told through a heart willing to test each step taken without expected malice or prejudice. We're involved in the learning, the unfolding. Here the young children create their own family/echelon within the structure and bond in ways adults can't imagine. In some ways, the story was aligned to instances in my own experience. That's of course, a different post, but the resonance turns out to be more universal than I might have thought. More than one friend talked about how they'd experienced some part of Danny and Maeve's tale.
It's beautiful with ugly pits and promises.
And, as I said, I loved it.
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