The Dutch House: A Read with Jenna Pick

An Amazon Best Book of September 2019: The best authors make the pages they write come to life: their words and characters shimmer with authenticity, motivation, and desire. The story can be simple or complex, familiar or otherworldly, but without connection, it is nothing. In Ann Patchett’s eighth novel, The Dutch House, everyone and everything bustles with vitality. It is a story about the interminable bond between siblings and it is an absolute joy to read. The novel follows a brother and sister who grow up in a fairy tale—a huge house, a loving father, and a caring staff. The only thing that’s missing is their mother, who had a more fraught existence, and fled the pressures of managing the household when they were young. When their father dies and leaves his fortune to their stepmother, the kids are left to fend for themselves, going on to live a drastically different life than they had imagined. The house of their youth haunts them through adulthood, and revenge is their desire—but not in the way you imagine. The Dutch House is moving and thoughtful—a quietly brilliant novel that has quickly become a favorite. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Book Review