The Dutch House: A Read with Jenna Pick

Pulitzer Prize Finalist | New York Times Bestseller | A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick | New York Times Book Review Notable Book | TIME Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of the Year

Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, the Washington Post; O: The Oprah Magazine, Real SimpleGood Housekeeping, Vogue, Refinery29, and Buzzfeed

From Ann Patchett, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth, comes a powerful, richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go. The Dutch House is the story of a paradise lost, a tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance, love and forgiveness, of how we want to see ourselves and of who we really are.

At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves.

The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakeable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures.

Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.

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Published Jan 5, 2021

352 pages

Average rating: 7.57

1,445 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

sweetlemoneade
Mar 05, 2025
8/10 stars
This book was incredible. I did listen to the audiobook version that was narrated by Tom Hanks, but I still think reading it would’ve been just as impactful. It’s so rich, and I love how the author is so descriptive in her language.
Anonymous
Jan 14, 2025
8/10 stars
Having grown up outside of Philadelphia, I found the setting of The Dutch House well written and very familiar.
frannie-puckett
Mar 17, 2024
10/10 stars
Loved this book; narration by Tom Hanks is superb.
Emma Thompson
Dec 10, 2020
9/10 stars
We had a great discussion of The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. It was such a wonderful and thoughtful exploration of a book that received some mixed reviews from the group. A few found it slow and perhaps a bit frustrating in the way the author resolved, or didn’t resolve, some of the characters or their issues. Others loved it. Some loved the audio reading (Tom Hanks narrating), some thought that it might have been better without him. All of those differing reactions led to a very interesting discussion! I really loved the book, and that audio, and I also could really see the perspective of the folks who had a different experience with it. One of the things that we all tended to agree on was that the author was able to craft some nuanced characters (some remained more “generic”) and explore some of the complex emotions wrapped up in parent-child and sibling-sibling relationships. The other things that we all agreed on it that it is a pretty hard sell to a group of moms to make a mom who abandons her kids as a sympathetic or understandable character! I wish that I had the book in front of me so that I could capture some of Ann Patchett's writing. And I equally wish I had the audiobook playing so that I could hear Tom Hanks reading to me some more. We had a great time discussing The Dutch House on Monday, even with a few folks not quite to the end (sorry for the spoilers). We reflected, more than once, how it was interesting that Ann Patchett had created a book that we all enjoyed so much where not much happened. Sure, people grew older and passed in and out of each other's lives, but it was a "quiet" sort of book there well drawn characters lived emotionally nuanced lives and even the "villain", Andrea, was the recipient of kindness that we don't quite know if she deserved. One thing that we all really enjoyed is that the main characters did not seem "weighed down" or "turned dark" by the hardships in their lives. There was enough love in their relationships and enough support from one another than they each seemed to be able to make a life for themselves that was more happiness than sorrow. And part of that was a deliberate choice. As Maeve explains to Danny when their mother returns ... "“There is a finite amount of time,” Maeve said. “Maybe I understand that better now. I’ve wanted my mother back since I was ten years old, and now she’s here. I can use the time I’ve got to be furious, or I can feel like the luckiest person in the world.” She makes the choice to use the time to have relationship rather than hatred. Even Maeve and Danny's pilgrimages to the Dutch House were not steeped in bile or bitterness, but seemed almost a reverent happenstance ... it was just where they met to pass the time. Patchett also explored a character that we see pop up again and again in books ... the less than perfect mother. In this instance, it was the mom who felt that helping others was perhaps more important than being there for her children. Maeve talks about the double standard ... "“Men!” Maeve said, nearly shouting. “Men leave their children all the time and the world celebrates them for it. The Buddha left and Odysseus left and no one gave a shit about their sons. They set out on their noble journeys to do whatever the hell they wanted to do and thousands of years later we’re still singing about it. Our mother left and she came back and we’re fine. We didn’t like it but we survived it." As an author, she seems to want to grant forgiveness to her .. or at least some understanding (Sandy and Jocelyn love her, Maeve forgivers her) .. but as a reader I had a hard time with it. But the book as a whole, no hard time at all!
Anonymous
Apr 19, 2025
8/10 stars
4.5 stars.
This was such a good story about a family and a house. The author was so good at character development even the house was a character in book.

I listened to the audio book narrated by Tom Hanks. It was strange at first hearing Woody tell the story

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