The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

“I see the past as it actually was,” Maeve said. She was looking at the trees.

“But we overlay the present onto the past. We look back through the lens of what we know now, so we’re not seeing it as the people we were, we’re seeing it as the people we are, and that means the past has been radically altered.”

This book was published in 2019, so I am late to the game in reading The Dutch House. A staff member at the Library suggested I listen to it in audiobook format through our eLibrary and I am SO glad I did! This book is narrated by the one-and-only Tom Hanks and he read the story in such an engaging way (of course he did, right?!). Some reviewers on GoodReads found the main character who tells the story to be self-absorbed and while I can see where they are coming from, the character did not feel that way when read through the voice of Tom Hanks. If you are able, listen to this story!

On to a summary…Outside of Philadelphia stands the grand Dutch House. Cyril Conroy purchased the Dutch House after some wise investments came to fruition to surprise his wife and daughter, Maeve (son, Danny, comes later). Unfortunately for Cyril, the Dutch House unraveled all that he had built. When Danny and Maeve are forced to leave the Dutch House, it becomes an obsession for them and a force that guides decades of their lives.

This book felt like a bit of a family epic and dark fairy tale combined into one lyrical story. The way it showed how the past, and one’s perspective of the past, shaped the lives of all who lived in the Dutch House was brilliant. I loved the relationship between Danny and Maeve, even if it did become a wedge in Danny’s personal life. The descriptions of the house brought it alive and it became a character in its own right. While the story jumps back and forth in timeline, I did not struggle to follow as I listened to the story (again, in the hands of multi-Oscar-winning Tom Hanks). I don’t know if that would have been different if I had read the story in print.

I recommend The Dutch House by Ann Patchett…but listening to it is HIGHLY recommended!

Check out The Dutch House by Ann Patchett for yourself at the Library (https://catalog.lclibs.org/polaris/search/title.aspx…) or listen through the eLibrary at https://lclibs.overdrive.com/media/4624493.