The Dutch House

Danny and Maeve spent their formative years in the Dutch House, a home their upwardly mobile real estate magnate father (Cyril) had bought to surprise their mother (Elna) but she was never happy there. She chafed under the grandness of her surroundings and eventually went off to do good deeds in India, leaving the children in the care of their somewhat distant father. Danny was just five years old and Maeve, being seven years older, adopted a maternal role with the support of caring domestic staff. Before too long Cyril married Andrea who had two young daughters of her own. Sadly she turns out to be the evil stepmother stereotype personified and, after Cyril dies, she pushes Danny and Maeve out of their home, forcing them into lives of relative financial deprivation. The Dutch House is where the characters of Danny and Maeve were formed and it is also a character in this story. As Danny puts it: "like swallows, like salmon, we were the helpless captives of our migratory patterns. We pretended that what we had lost was the house, not our mother, not our father." The bond between the siblings grows stronger in the face of repeated abandonment and the two return to the family home together periodically well into their middle years. They sit in the car out front and reflect on their time there. Having lived through emotional abuse and trauma there is a hope that by returning to the site where these things happened, they can both find some healing. 

Patchett's eighth novel is a poignant family drama, a modern fairytale told with compassion, replete with evil stepmother, stepsisters and a pair of dispossessed orphans. There is loss galore and some mild revenge. Like most of Patchett's work it is a delight to read and I recommend it.