While training at medical school Danny meets Celeste, a bright young woman who could have been a doctor herself but because of the time period decides to be a doctor's wife instead. Maeve decides to send Danny to the most expensive schools she can find in order to drain the trust sending Danny to Choate Rosemary Hall, Columbia University, and to Columbia Medical School. An infuriated Maeve discovers that the only thing she could possibly access is a trust fund for education set up in the names of Danny, Norma and Bright. Two weeks later Andrea, having assured herself of the fact that her husband's property passed entirely to her, kicks Danny out of the house and fires the housekeeper and cook who have acted as surrogate mothers to the Conroy children. His employees call in Maeve who calls Danny and no one thinks to inform Andrea until later. When Danny is 15 and Maeve is 22 their father abruptly dies of a heart attack at work. Nevertheless Cyril and Andrea's marriage is not a success and Andrea maintains a distance between herself and the Conroy children.

While Maeve and Danny do not like Andrea, Cyril eventually marries her, the two having bonded over their love of the Dutch house. Cyril eventually introduces the children to Andrea, a much younger woman with two daughters of her own, Norma and Bright. Plot ĭanny Conroy grows up in an elaborate mansion in Elkins Park known as the Dutch House, and is raised by his real estate investor father and his older sister Maeve, his mother having abandoned the family years earlier.ĭanny's father Cyril is an emotionally distant man but raises his children to understand his business which involves investing in real estate and working as a landlord and property manager.

Saterstrom created a portrait to match Patchett's description. The novel heavily references a painted portrait of Maeve wearing a red coat that was commissioned when she was 10. cover featured a portrait by Noah Saterstrom that was specifically created for the cover. The novel was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It tells the story of a brother and sister, Danny and Maeve Conroy, who grow up in a mansion known as the Dutch House, and their lives over five decades. It was published by Harper on September 24, 2019. The Dutch House is a 2019 novel by Ann Patchett.

The dutch house book