I hadn’t known there was something in me to break, but there it was and break it did. I stepped back into an open crack in time and fell backwards.
Daphne and Jonathan have been married for two decades. Tomorrow, he will set off for Wisconsin to help his sister clear their mother’s house which has been in the family for generations. The dapper elderly man so interested in Daphne turns out to be her stepfather, the in between father before her publicist mother married one of her authors. Daphne adored Eddie, and he her, but she’s not seen him since the dramatic night when he drove into a tree on their way to see the stars, travelling back from visiting Daphne’s sister in hospital. Shortly afterwards, Eddie and Abigail divorced leaving nine-year-old Daphne to assume it was her fault. Now in her fifties, happily settled into adult life, Daphne wonders whether to pick up this long-buried relationship but can’t resist. Over the course of the next few days, with Jonathan reacquainting himself with his own childhood, Daphne and Eddie meet catching up on each other’s stories, filling in puzzling gaps and reminding each other of that night when Eddie told her the story he’d long wanted to publish to get them through the frigid night which could easily have ended badly for both of them.
I would gladly run all the way to Random House to throw my arms around his neck because somewhere deep inside myself, in a place inaccessible to me since I was nine, I had missed him every day of my life.
Families come in many different shapes and sizes, something Patchett often celebrates in her novels with a perceptive empathy. Daphne and Leda, tellingly now a therapist, have spent their adult lives on the fringes of their mother’s new family, on affectionate if distant terms with their half-brothers. Eddie had seemed the ideal stepfather, loving, careful and interested but his time with Abigail had been brief, banished for what Daphne had assumed to be the accident but turns out to be more complicated than that. Many stories are told throughout the novel, relationships seen from different angles, interpretations of events subtly varied. The relationship between Daphne and Eddie is a delight, echoing, perhaps, Patchett’s own relationships with her fathers: there’s a lovely photograph in her essay collection, These Precious Days, which prefaces the piece, Three Fathers featuring all of them looking delighted with her. I loved this warm, intimate portrayal of family, the many layers of stories which make a life and the renewal of a loving bond, almost forgotten, but which had become a bedrock of Daphne’s life almost without her knowing it.
Bloomsbury Books: London 9781037205316 320 pages Hardback
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This sounds wonderful. I love Ann Patchett books and this is a must.
It’s such a treat.
I have been watching out for this new release. I love her writing.
I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one, Lucy.
A very timely review, a copy is winging its way to me curtesy of Derbyshire Libraries!
A treat in store, Wendy! Hope it arrives soon.
Lovely review, Susan! I particularly like your title because I completely agree – this novel does showcase the sorts of things Ann Patchett can do that other writers can’t. Or not nearly so well. Having moved on from this to other novels, I’m finding that nothing is quite so well written. Her pacing, dialogue, character work and just the line by line storytelling are all outstanding.
Thanks, Victoria! And I agree with all your points. I’ve enjoyed most of her novels since I first read The Magician’s Assistant an age ago.
Patchett’s writing, characterisation and plotting always carry me nicely along. But I consistently find that her books don’t stay with me and I can’t really work out why.
That’s a shame. I’m a long term fan although not of Bel Canto, curiously, as that’s the one that made her name.
I seem to remember also feeling a bit indifferent towards BC.
I’m a Patchett fan and particularly liked The Dutch House, so am keen to get to this one.
I think it’s one of her best. Hope you enjoy it, Cathy.
I’m glad this wasn’t a disappointment! I have it waiting on my shelf, but I’ve been really hit and miss with Patchett’s latest books, so I can only hope I liked it as much as I liked Tom Lake and These Precious Days.
If you enjoyed the essay on her three fathers in These Precious Days I think there’s a pretty good chance you’ll like this one. Fingers crossed!
This sounds really lovely. I’ve fallen a bit behind with Patchett but must catch up!
It is! One of her best, I think.
I will come back and read this when I read the book myself. One of my colleagues has already read it though and thinks it is her best ever.
I’m inclined to agree with your colleague!
I haven’t started with Patchett, I was looking at Tom Lake but would you start somewhere else?
My favourites are Commonwealth, The Dutch House, Tom Lake and now, Whistler, any of which would be a good place to start. I hope you enjoy her writing as much I do, Jane.
I loved this one too!
Isn’t it great! Definitely one of my books of 2026.
I have mixed feelings about Ann Patchett as the first book of hers I read was Truth & Beauty, the memoir of her friendship with the poet Lucy , which left me feeling ( odd as it sounds) that she was a quite manipulative person . I tried Bel Canto, didn’t enjoy it and didn’t try another of her books until Commonwealth which I really enjoyed, also These Precious Days. I didn’t like The Dutch House, Tom Lake even less but I have to admit that I’m tempted by Whistler! Usually when I enjoy an author, I like pretty much all of their work, not so here.
* Lucy Grealy
I do remember some controversy surrounding that memoir. I don’t think you were alone in thinking she’d used her friend’s tragedy as material. Couldn’t get on with Bel Canto although I enjoyed the others you mention. I think if you enjoyed Commonwealth there’s a good chance you’ll like Whistler