Book Club, April 7

Opinions were divided during our discussion of Ann Patchett’s The Dutch House. Some readers responded enthusiastically to the rich characterizations and family dynamics in the novel, while others found the characters’ obsessions with the house itself a puzzle or a limitation.  Our conversation started with an observation that the novel is narrated entirely by Danny Conroy, yet it is dominated by women and their concerns.  We considered the relationship of sister and brother, Maeve and Danny.  Maeve’s insistence that Danny attend medical school, to spend down the inheritance that would otherwise go to the children of Andrea, their stepmother, seems an elaborate kind of vengeance.  While the banishment of Maeve and Danny by their stepmother from the house (and Maeve’s response) seemed rather unconvincing to many of us, others saw it as one of many borrowings in the novel from fairy tales; at various points, the novel seems to echo tales of wicked stepmothers, children left to find their way in the forest, and magical castles.  

The Dutch House itself evoked a range of reflections and comments.  The role of the large front windows, both architecturally and as an ironic “transparence,” led to observations about actual Dutch houses and the odd presence of the original Dutch inhabitants through their portraits and possessions.  The servants who seem almost part of the furnishings, starting with Fluffy, were all richly drawn and interesting in themselves.  Andrea’s obsession with the house, and Maeve’s persistent return to watch the house from outside, suggested its power. Only when a party given by the new owner, Danny's daughter, celebrates new beginnings, does the house appear to have found its rightful owner.  The family, despite Maeve’s death, also appears more coherent in those final scenes, though the novel’s ending remains ambiguous.

Our next book will be The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David Mccullough. We will meet via Zoom on Wednesday, June 2. Meeting starts at 11 am Chicago time. However, the Zoom link will be open at 10:30, to make sure everyone can  establish a good connection.

Please contact Kathryn DeGraff or Helen Marlborough if you have any questions.

We enjoy catching up with our former colleagues and enjoy welcoming new members to the group. Zoom meetings have provided a great way for colleagues not in the immediate vicinity of the Lincoln Park Campus to participate.