From the Bookshelf of Retro Chapter Chicks …

The Dutch House

Ann Patchett

Start date: March 1, 2021

Finish date: March 31, 2021

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Chapter Chick Reading

September-October 2025: The River Knows Your Name
By Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴… , Founding Retro Chick · 1 post · 8 views

last updated Aug 23, 2025 07:26PM

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What Members Thought

Apr 03, 2021 Maureen rated it really liked it

Shelves: nyt-best-books-21-centuty, audio-books, favorite-audio

I listened to the audio version of this book. It was very enjoyable.
It is the story of Maeve and Danny Conroy narrated by by Tom Hanks, told in the voice of Danny.
Cyril Conroy buys this amazing house to surprise his wife. It is called the Dutch House. His wife dislikes it from the beginning. She abandons her husband and children to help the poor.
Maeve and Danny have a strong bond to one another. Cyril remarries and the ugly stepmother tells Danny he must leave, after the death of his father.
Mae ...more

44 likes · Like · see review

Mar 31, 2022 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: if-i-don-t-give-a-review-don-t-ask, paperback-own, audio, beautiful-cover, unhauled, 4-stars

4 Stars

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

37 likes · Like · see review

Mar 08, 2020 Celia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction-read, kindle-list, the-sentence-book-list, ten-year-challenge, 2020-read, vero-book-club, book-club, book-club-unread

I really liked the book. The relationships in this story are full of discussion potential.

The Dutch House was originally owned by... some people from the Netherlands. Who would have guessed? They died and the house fell into disrepair. Along comes Cyril Conroy, a rich man who has bought many houses, and snatches it up.

Cyril, Elna, Maeve and Danny - the Conroys. Cyril bought the house, Elna hates it, Maeve and her brother Danny are good with it. Danny tells this story, starting with their move to ...more

16 likes · Like · see review

Jan 03, 2020 Tasha rated it really liked it

Shelves: own

One of my favorite authors and I really enjoyed this one. Strong characters and an engaging story.

13 likes · Like · see review

Nov 27, 2019 Kris (My Novelesque Life) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-edelweiss, contemporary, historical-fiction, america, fiction, literary

RATING: 4.5 STARS
2019; Harper/HarperCollins

The Dutch House is a gorgeous read. It is steeped in character studies and imagery. It is a novel that readers will get absorbed in, or will not finding engaging. I listened to this on audiobook, and loved Tom Hanks' narration. He took the time to give the characters the unique voice Ann Patchett developed. While, as the title suggests, this novel is about a home, it is more about what makes a home. In this case we have two siblings trying to find answe ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Oct 14, 2020 Book Concierge rated it really liked it

Shelves: concierge, strong-women, library, audio, new-york, literary-fiction, family, pennsylvania

Digital audiobook performed by Tom Hanks.
4****

Patchett uses the youngest member of the Conroy family, Danny, to tell this decades-long story of the family’s fortunes. Dad, Cyril, builds a real-estate empire in the years following WW 2, and presents his wife with a surprise – a palatial mansion the family knows as the Dutch House. But his wife is not pleased and eventually she leaves the family. Danny and his older sister Maeve cling to one another, especially after their father remarries.

I lov ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Mar 07, 2021 Samantha rated it liked it

The Dutch House follows the lives of a brother and sister from early childhood until late life and death, mapping the journey of loss and forgiveness post losing their mother and father early in life.

The plot is simple, and at times I was ready to give up on this book as the first half really is nothing but a soap-opera of sorts: daughter/son don't like step-mother, step-mother takes all money kicks out kids, kids stay angry at step-mother for a long time. And the fixation with the house I found ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jun 03, 2021 ˜”*°•.˜”*°• Sheri •°*”˜.•°*”˜ rated it liked it

Shelves: in-person-book-club, retro-chicks-group-read

There was something about this book that kept me reading it but for the life of me I can't figure out what.

The plot: the dad dies and the step mother throws the step children, still young enough to be living in the home, out without a thought or a cent. The children see a lawyer who says it can't be fixed. (I don't think that's true. I think in the real world children under a certain age would be entitled to some of the dads vast wealth.) Oh right, their biological mother, who everyone calls a ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 18, 2020 Nancy rated it liked it

Shelves: 2020-books

3.5

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 17, 2019 Lory Sakay rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club-reads

This author has such a way of highlighting the nuances and complications of a family that seemingly, to the outside eye is "normal" and just like every other family. Patchett's ability to do this makes what might seem mundane and rote as intriguing and heartfelt. The Conroys are like any other family, with it's share of tragedy and challenges. Yet, Daniel and Maeve's childhood to adult life is chronicled in detail, and their thoughts, memories, and actions are continuously tied back to significa This author has such a way of highlighting the nuances and complications of a family that seemingly, to the outside eye is "normal" and just like every other family. Patchett's ability to do this makes what might seem mundane and rote as intriguing and heartfelt. The Conroys are like any other family, with it's share of tragedy and challenges. Yet, Daniel and Maeve's childhood to adult life is chronicled in detail, and their thoughts, memories, and actions are continuously tied back to significant formative years and events that have impacted them forever (just like many of our lives, right?). On the outside they are normal, run of the mill people but Patchett skillfully reveals what drives, shapes, and even haunts them throughout the book- a microscopic view, if you will, of all the ins and out of their seemingly standard lives. One review I read noted the difference in influence of memory within members of a family, and how these varying perceptions greatly shape our lives. I view this aspect more deeply - trauma is defined by perception and, therefore, experiencing a trauma, and the variations as how we define and absorb trauma as individuals, forever alters our lives, relationships, and character as we move through adulthood. The supporting characters in this novel lend to these varying memories and bring added depth and empathy to the story of the Conroy children. Therefore, this novel delves into deep, psychological aspects of people and how we become who we are yet this is all shared in a very straightforward way, which is also how behaviors are observed in our world too (we don't know why people do what they do, we only see what we see). That Patchett weaves the Dutch House, Danny and Maeve's childhood home, as an additional character to this tale is even more influential and arguably the most pivotal aspect of this book. The Dutch House is formidable, unique, and holds a different meaning to each of those who entered it. Creating a characterization of a house in a novel adds a layer to a story that we often overlook. Homes are pivotal in our rearing and their influences, symbolism, and memories remain in our hearts forever as their presence also creates a time limited bond between people and their interactions. The Dutch House was just that for Danny and Maeve - a deep connection, the only "living" connection that remained after their parents disappeared. In many ways the house became their parents, their strength, their lighthouse, and their comfort throughout the rest of their lives.

I could go on, on, and on. The ending could have me writing a whole essay - it was just completely revealing and perfect. This story was just so good and Tom Hanks narrating it made it even better. The Dutch House is a definite must-read, a family saga for modern times. I do have mixed feelings on the book cover - it's a very good depiction of the story content, but wow do I find it creepy, a bit like those paintings who seem to be watching you when you walk into a haunted house. LoL ...more

1 like · Like · see review