Until then, I will think about this book. I’m an English major, so according to my calculations, making millions of dollars will take me.476 years. Plan B: I will make millions and millions of dollars and then become best friends with Ann Patchett and she and I will team up as co-architects to construct a real life version, and both of us will ignore the fact that we have no architecture experience and that I haven’t taken an actual math class in about 6 years (long story) and also that the Dutch House as a literary symbol brings only suffering and obsession.
Okay, so yes, the Dutch House is fictional. Recommended.Hang on, I swear I’m about to write this review, but first I need to call up every real estate agent in the greater Philadelphia area and inquire about purchasing the Dutch House. The story is told by Danny Conroy and Tom Hanks makes a very good, convincing job of sounding wholly. But overall this is a satisfyingly deep excursion into the adult life-paths of children blighted by the mis-judgements and errors of others. The ending takes the fairy tale element too far, I think - just too neat and unlikely - the realism suddenly vanishes. Other themes are also explored, most importantly the complex contradictory quality of sainthood (why are saints never saints to their families?), and of the possibiloty of restoration and forgiveness. As the subsequent complex sagas of Danny and Maeve unfold in multi-layered realism, the fairy tale elements become more obvious: the wicked stepmother the forbidding house of mysteries a lost mother.
Cyril marries her, not because he loves her, but because she 'lingered like a virus' and he hadn't the strength to get rid of her. Cyril brings a woman into the household: Andrea, an avaricious young woman who, like Cyril, dislikes children. Apparently saintly and ascetic, she abandons her children, Danny and his adored elder sister Maeve to devote herself to serving the poor in India.The children believe she is dead. She hates it, can't bear the willing house servants, the children's nanny, the opulence of it. Brimming with pride, Cyril displays the mansion to his new wife, Elna. By the end of the novel, generations have grown, and the hosue remains as powerful as ever. The massive 1920s villa with its marble Vermeer-like checked floors, vast rooms, Delft decorations and vast rooms is acquired by Cyril Conroy in 1946 when the Dutch owners go bankrupt leaving behind the house, crammed with its treasures.
The Dutch House itself is in some ways the main character. It could even benefit from a second listening to pick up all the nuanced clues evident from the start, the significance of which is appreciated only towards the end. As a good novel should, The Dutch House, Anne Patchett's first novel for 3 years, keeps you thinking once it has finished.
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