Book set in a house, The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Submitted: 23rd September 2019

A book set in a house, where the house is the storyteller.

Book set in a house, The Dutch House by Ann Patchett – Reading a book set in a house is a wonderful way to enter some of the most fascinating homes you will ever visit. There are some very memorable ones in literature. You can’t forget the huge gothic mansion in Jane Eyre or the one in Wuthering Heights can you? What about Hundreds Hall in The Little Stranger? There’s homes with secret passages, homes with secrets in its walls and a sense that every home is covered in invisible fingerprints of its previous occupants..

The Dutch House has a few fingerprints and secrets to share…

BookTrail Travel to the locations in The Dutch House

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When I was first sent this novel, the title alone intrigued me. What is the Dutch House? Who is that woman in the cover painting? Is this book set in the Netherlands or maybe in the art world? All good questions with good answers in this sumptuous novel of family, family bonds and one house that sees it all. Never has the phrase, ‘if walls had ears’ been more apt.

In summary then; The Dutch House is located just outside of Pennsylvania and is a grand home with huge windows and an impressive facade as well as interiors to die for. The father of the family has bought the house and how lives there with the son and daughter. We learn that he wanted this house and was very keen to buy it when the previous owners died. The mum is no longer around (we learn why later on) and now they have a stepmother… A stepmother with an obsession…

When the father dies, the house becomes part of a painful tug of war….it’s then that secrets start to come tumbling out.

Ann Patchett is known for her strong characterization. With this in mind, I do think The Dutch House itself is one of her strongest. Can a house have a personality and a purpose? Well, yes, it can. It’s this house which allows the family to live there, to be there,which overlooks the changes over the years, views the family dynamics and more. It’s the litmus paper of the family dynamics over the years. If you look at the litmus paper, it would change constantly throughout the novel…..and then just look by the time you get to the end.

An insightful look into family bonds, the meaning of home and how a house can affect those within.