Award-winning novelist and Nashville-based independent bookstore owner Ann Patchett is the writer to read in the first month of 2020. Her latest novel, The Dutch House, is narrated by Danny Conroy. Set between the suburbs of Philadelphia and New York City in the five decades after World War II, Danny tells how he and his older sister, Maeve, came to live in the wondrous Dutch House, and how they lost everything, including their home, to their stepmother, Andrea. Older, wiser, and mathematically gifted Maeve looks out for Danny in all things financial. She makes sure that Danny uses up every penny allotted to him by their deceased father for educational purposes. While Danny misses their father, Maeve longs for her mother who left the children, and the Dutch House, when Danny was a mere toddler. This is a phenomenal read and also a great listen. The audiobook is narrated by the actor, Tom Hanks.
Maureen Millea Smith is a librarian at the Edina Library and a Minnesota Book Award-winning novelist.
