Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Dutch House

“We pretended that what we had lost was the house, not our mother, not our father. We pretended that what we had lost had been taken from us by the person who still lived inside.”

I’m so pleased that this was one of my book club reads for the year. It would have been a real shame to miss this one.

I’ve seen some reviews describe the house as a character in this story. I can’t go along with that but as a setting, it is central to this poignant exploration of family love and loss.

On the surface, it’s the sibling relationship that seems most important in this novel but for me, that was just another version of the parent-child dynamic that The Dutch House is really about. For our narrator, Danny, his older sister Maeve takes the place of the mother he barely remembers. Their difference in age, memories and childhood experiences drive this family history that spans about 50 years in post-war America.

There is a wicked stepmother and two step-sisters, household help as extended family, a physically absent mother and emotionally absent father.

While the ending was too tidy for my tastes, that was more than overcome by the compassionate, character-driven whole.

A highly recommended read but readers should beware triggers, especially around abandonment.

Content Warnings

sadiefc's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

amandaclaire's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I read this book because my mother has been telling me to read it for months now, and I only regret that I didn't pick it up sooner! The Dutch House felt a little like reading an old school fairy tale — the myth and opulence of the house, the cruel stepmother, and the string of misfortune that follows Danny and Maeve throughout their lives. I started this book with the idea that it was about two siblings unable to escape their past, but the more I think about it the more I'm convinced that this is a story about memory — how much our memories shape who we are, how memories can be inherited and impressed upon us, how the intersections of our histories bind us together. In that sense, this was a loving retrospective of Danny and Maeve's lives, their relationship and the house that became a monument to their lives.

Content Warnings