"'Do you think it's possible to ever see the past as it
actually was?' I asked my sister. We were sitting in her car, parked in
front of the Dutch House in the broad daylight of early summer."
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.
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. Filled with suspense, you may read
it quickly to find out what happens, but what happens to Danny and Maeve
will stay with you for a very long time.
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