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Content snapshot
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Violence
None
No violence
Language
Barely any
Mild language in Patchett's literary register
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content
Substance Use
Barely any
Some social drinking in the affluent setting
Emotional Intensity
Some
The psychological weight of childhood displacement and the long shadow cast by a lost home define the novel's emotional register; the resentment between siblings and the mystery of their mother add layers
What this book is about
Ann Patchett's novel follows Danny Conroy and his older sister Maeve from their wealthy Philadelphia childhood in the Dutch House through decades of adult life that keep returning to what was taken from them. Their father's second wife removed them from the house after his death; for fifty years, Danny and Maeve sit outside it in a car, narrating what they remember. Patchett writes about class, memory, and the stories families tell about themselves with her characteristic precision and warmth.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
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