Flipping through its pages, I feel myself drawn into the understated and engrossing story of Danny and Maeve Conroy. The Question and Answer section for The Dutch House is a great See the archives. Elna moves in with Maeve. Elna and May do lots of things together, and Maeve seems healthy and very happy. The Dutch House is the story of Danny Conroy and his older sister, Maeve. After the VanHoebeeks died, the house went up for sale. Maeve and Danny eventually decide to stop going to the Dutch House, realizing how much they’d made a fetish of their misery. Fluffy also tells Danny that she saw Elna alive and well in New York; she’d been back in the States for a while. By doing so, she allows her father to ultimately find a degree of peace with his past. Cyril and Andrea marry. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, A family drama about two siblings making sense of their childhood. Perhaps returning to their Children seemed like the opposite of love to Elna. Narrated by Danny and moving back and forth in their history over the span of five decades, the novel chronicles how the siblings come to terms with the trauma of their early life. Patchett was inspired to use Elkins Park as the novel's setting because when she was a student at Sarah Lawrence College she would spend holidays and weekends in Wyncote, Elkins Park, and Jenkintown. Even if you feel like I did, I think you’ll probably still find something of value in this story anyway. Their children, Danny and Maeve, were raised in the Dutch House. I loved Bel Canto but haven’t read anything else by Patchett. Published in 2019, the novel tells the story of what happens to Danny Conroy and his older sister Maeve Conroy when their stepmother, Andrea Smith, expels them from their sumptuous childhood home after the death of their father, Cyril Conroy . They (reluctantly) go and discover that Andrea now has a degenerative mental condition and doesn't recognize them. Danny does not want to do any of that, but he defers to his sister. He meets a pretty young woman named Celeste and they start dating. The conclusion of the novel felt a little too quaint or simplistic and a bit devoid of realism. Maeve essentially raises Danny, along with Sandy, the housekeeper, and Jocelyn, the cook and Sandy’s sister. Danny and Maeve occasionally park outside the Dutch House and spy on Andrea voyeuristically. Fluffy becomes their nanny, and Sandy and Jocelyn are a part of their lives, too. Not affiliated with Harvard College. When he starts making money as a medical intern, he's able to make his first real estate investments and pursue that instead. Fluffy didn't tell Maeve in fear of upsetting her. Maeve has an adversarial relationship with Andrea. It tells the story of a brother and sister over the course of five decades. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. One day, Cyril brings home Andrea, a young, pretty woman with two young girls, Norma and Bright. Maeve and Danny are astonished, especially when Andrea spontaneously includes Sandy and Jocelyn in the exile. When Cyril dies from a heart attack, Andrea bans both Maeve and Danny from the house, which is now hers along with Cyril's entire business. They grow up in a grand house, known as the Dutch House. Instead, Maeve helps to take care of the girls and Danny. The household help, Sandy (housekeeper) and Jocelyn (cook), help to raise them as well. Maeve runs into Fluffy, their former nanny, one day. Maeve gets out to try to pull her off. Their mother Elna left when they were younger. When they get near the house, Andrea, now a very old woman, comes running out, hysterically crying and flinging herself on Danny. Their children, Danny and Maeve, were raised in the Dutch House. Believe it! Andrea is haughty, dispassionate, and self-interested. I am sure this book is great for our Book club discussions. The children live with their parents in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, in the astonishingly grandiose and old-fashioned Dutch House. Danny visits the Dutch House one day and talks with his mother. Norma has recently moved back to the Dutch House to take care of Andrea, and Bright is estranged from Andrea. Whereas Maeve has come to terms with the past and is glad to have a mother again, Danny has trouble forgiving Elna and does not like her presence in their lives. And I found the character of their mother a little improbable as well, since her motivations and personality just didn’t make sense to me. It’s neither too sparse or too flowery, instead it’s crisp, clear and confident in an unassuming way. Follow along on Goodreads, or keep in touch via the newsletter. Section-by-Section Summary of The Dutch House. She holds this against the children forever. Like Hansel & Gretel, Maeve and Danny are forced to lean on each other and, as adults, are trying to pick up the pieces of their childhood and find a way back home. For the Detailed Plot Summary, click here or scroll all the way down. I totally agree! In Part II, Danny is in college now. Her name is on the house, the business, and everything else, and she does not want these spiteful children here anymore. "[9], Donna Liquori of the Associated Press wrote, "Patchett's storytelling abilities shine in this gratifying novel. Osborne-Bartucca, Kristen. The house is nicknamed The Dutch House, after the wealthy Dutch family that once inhabited it. Cyril Conroy, a self-made real estate mogul, bought the mansion in 1946 to surprise his wife Elna. I loved the audiobook. Suduiko, Aaron ed. As much as I enjoy flashier mystery or fantasy or adventurous stories, there is a special place in my heart I reserve for subtle stories that are elegantly told. The Dutch House follows Maeve and Danny lives over many, many years as they revisit and struggle to make sense of their childhood. Read the Study Guide for The Dutch House…, View the lesson plan for The Dutch House…, View Wikipedia Entries for The Dutch House…. I have read some comments detailing disbelief that Elna would leave her Children. After Elna leaves, Cyril has a sexual relationship with Fluffy, but he has no intention of marrying her even though she wishes he would. [5], Publishers Weekly gave the novel a rave review, writing, "Patchett's splendid novel is a thoughtful, compassionate exploration of obsession and forgiveness, what people acquire, keep, lose or give away, and what they leave behind. Cyril is also more interested in nurturing Danny than Maeve, since Danny is male and will take over his real estate business someday. Danny finishes boarding school and goes to Columbia as pre-med. In Part III, Maeve gets very sick (she has diabetes), so Fluffy reaches out to Elna, who shows up at the hospital. So if that’s what you’re interested in, you might want to skip this. In The Dutch House, Maeve and Danny are siblings who grow up in a grand house in Elkins Park. When Andrea finds out, she is deeply wounded by not only her husband’s death but also being the last to find out. Narrated by Danny and moving back and forth in their history over the span of five decades, the novel chronicles how the siblings come to terms with the trauma of their early life. Celeste and Maeve despise each other, and Danny tries to manage their acrimony. They grow up in a wealthy household but lose everything, their mother is presumed to be dead, Andrea plays the role of the evil stepmother, and their stepsisters Nora and Bright are brought in and given preferential treatment. When Danny is three and Maeve is seven, Elna, deemed “crazy” by many people, leaves her family permanently to go work for the poor in India. Maeve and Danny are siblings who grow up in a grand house in Elkins Park. Their father is more interested in his real estate holdings than in them, and Maeve and Danny's relationship with Andrea is fractious and later overtly hostile. This disrupts Maeve's plans for grad school. Cyril and Andrea are indifferent parents. Thanks for your thoughts. The house was completed in 1922 by the VanHoebeeks, who made their fortune in cigarette distribution. Maeve is delighted, but Danny is resentful. Cyril is a reserved man whose fortune is in real estate. She is eventually fired for accidentally hitting Danny when he grabs at her skirt when she is cooking on the stove. The novel is narrated by an adult Danny Conroy. It certainly made me think about my own childhood and the stories I’ve formed around it. They mourn with Sandy and Jocelyn but forget to notify Andrea. "[7], Donna Seaman of Booklist praised the novel, comparing it the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Alice McDermott and saying, "Patchett is at her subtle yet shining finest.

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