Review: The Dutch House

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 stars.

"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.”

𝐓𝐋;𝐃𝐑:
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬: Described as a "modern fairy tale", The Dutch House focuses on the mansion in the Philadelphia suburbs where Danny and his older sister Maeve grow up and how the house serves as a keystone in their lives and their relationship.
𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭: Character study, house as its own character, modern fairy tale-esque
𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:Simple yet beautiful, jumping narratives/time-periods
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: Somewhat unlikeable yet complex and well-developed (with the exception possibly of stepmom Andrea)

Even with Ann Patchett's novels that don't do it for me (Commonwealth), her beautiful writing and character-building still shine through. The same is true for The Dutch House, although I liked it more than Commonwealth. I listened to the novel on audiobook, and even when not much was happening, I was still entranced, which is a major accomplishment, especially since I have a short attention span!

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬:
-Despite the character-driven/slow burn nature of the plot, the book is never boring!
-Realistic characterizations of Danny, Maeve, and other minor characters
-Utterly beautiful writing

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬:
-Overly unlikable characterizations of Elna (mother) and Andrea (stepmother)
-Not much happened, which isn't usually a big deal for Ann Patchett, but it just let me down ever so slightly

𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

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