Audiobook performed by Tom Hanks

Pulitzer Prize Finalist | New York Times Bestseller | A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick | A New York Times Book Review Notable Book | TIME Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of the Year

Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, The Washington Post; O: The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, Vogue, Refinery29, and Buzzfeed

From Ann Patchett, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth, comes a powerful, richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go. The Dutch House is the story of a paradise lost, a tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance, love and forgiveness, of how we want to see ourselves and of who we really are.

At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves.

The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakeable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures.

Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.

Booklist Reviews

*Starred Review* Hanks couldn't be a more affable, ‘let's-enjoy-this-together' narrator for Patchett's (Commonwealth) marvelous latest. From the title all the way through to the ending credits, Hanks never ever falters, always performing his charming, ever-so-likable self: "Chapter threeee" lilts up to mimic ‘wheeeeee!; you won't stop grinning after hearing "Chaaaaaaaaaaapter seventeen." The 10 hours of storytelling pass too quickly as Hanks embodies three generations of the Conroy family over a half-century of rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-eventual-comfort. While amassing his real estate fortune, patriarch Cyril surprises his family by buying the titular Dutch House in a Philadelphia suburb—complete with all furnishings, including someone else's ancestor portraits. His wife feels so out of place, she disappears, leaving behind her two young children, Maeve and Danny. Cyril eventually remarries, and the second Mrs. Conroy quickly claims the majestic home as hers alone, eagerly ejecting her stepchildren when Cyril suddenly dies. For the decades that follow, their former home and their former lives will forever haunt the discarded siblings. Hanks never wavers from his genial self, yet manages to distinguish each character as he unravels Patchett's multi-layered narrative with uncanny empathy and affecting delight. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.