Apologies to horse fans everywhere: Despite the chestnut-colored beauty on the cover, Ann Patchett’s lartest novel, Whistler, is not about a horse.
But by no means should you pass on it — there is in fact a gem of a short story about a horse inside these pages.
No, this is a story about how family comes in all kinds of forms. And what can happen when we open our lives to the family that got away.
Daphne Fuller (If this name isn’t a metaphor for the book’s theme, I don’t know what is) is enjoying a day at the Met with her somewhat-much-older husband Jonathan. In her 50s, she’s happily childless, getting any kind of kid fix she needs from her English students at a private school and her nieces and nephews.
It’s that day at the Met though when her previous stepfather Eddie comes back into literal view. Readers learn over the course of the novel why this relationship is particularly special, though it was short-lived at the time. And once again, Eddie is welcomed back into a fatherly role.
I loved the story of Daphne and Eddie as together they navigate the memories of the past while creating new ones in the present. Patchett’s novel is an exploration of complicated relationships made only more so when all the details aren’t first disclosed. As Daphne comes to understand the reasons behind Eddie’s dismissal from the family, she also discovers the many ways in which people process loss, grief, abandonment and, Eddie’s favorite, impermanance.
It can be strange, the things that people do for love. Or in spite of it. I think my one question for Patchett would be if during the editing process we lost some of the plot line involving Jonathan helping his sister clean out their mother’s home. I suspect there was an emotional epiphany we only got to see part of. But I was grateful for the details behind Daphne’s unwillingness to fly. What first felt selfish, well … I do not blame her one bit. Sometimes trauma likes to go big.
If you love Ann Patchett, you’ll love “Whistler.” I personally thought this was better than “Tom Lake,” but somehow kept the gentleness that came with that book. It’s a sweet, sweet tale, an easy read and shouldn’t take more than a weekend curled up on a couch.
LitzyDitz 