Whistler by Ann Patchett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Like Patchett’s earlier book The Dutch House this book is beautifully written without a heavy reliance on plot. It is about relationships, about the choices we make in whom we love and mistakes we make and the consequences that has on our happiness. The characters are nearly all likeable though each is quite different from the others. There is a suspense generated that holds throughout the book. It surrounds how the narrator, Daphne, survived a life-threatening situation (a car wreck, but it’s more than that) in her childhood and why she thought it was her fault her parents divorced. Daphne and her family are basically book people (readers/editor/publicist) in Boston and New York at different times, and that explains how some came into contact with others, it doesn’t play a big role in the story. It’s more of a story about love – between spouses, sure, but also between parent and child, both “natural” and step. Patchett has great insight into human behavior.