Their childhood is dislocated, and it seems like they return to the house in the hopes of someone catching a glimpse of their past selves. They visit the house and look through the large expansive glass panels, but are never allowed in. Maeve and Danny have a ritual of visiting the house, which boarders on masochism. The Dutch house reminds me of a palimpsest-where stories of different families and lives are written and rewritten in the house leaving the house faintly altered, yet one can only see this upon closer inspection.įor Danny and Maeve, who grew up in the Dutch house and were then later exiled from it by their stepmother, the house means different things. Yet the house with all of its different floors and staircases is much more complicated when you look again. The house has large glass panels that trick the onlooker to believe that the house is open, transparent, and clear. The house is grand and speaks to a time were opulence and old world money reigned. It is not a literary stretch to think of the dutch house in Patchett’s novel as one of the main protagonists, albeit a silent one. The themes in Patchett’s novel have resonated with me this week as I think about loss, the meaning we keep in certain places and people, and how these things can mean different things to different people. This is the first book I have ever read by Ann Patchett, despite knowing that there is a bit of a cult-reading following of her work. Book cover of Ann Patchett’s The Dutch House with hashtags, #whatareyoureading, #thedutchhouse, and #annpatchett

Reviews of the dutch house