A- A+

DSM Book Club

We think the best part of finishing a good book is talking about it with friends. That’s why we’ve started the DSM Book Club.

The DSM Book Club is a new online sharing session designed to showcase our favorite reads and get you ready to meet the authors at our March Festival. This Club will inspire you with a monthly pick and features an online Zoom book discussion. Each month will feature one book that is connected to The Festival and an individual registration for participation. We hope you will join us every month, but there’s no guilt if you miss one.

Participation in the DSM Book Club is FREE thanks to our sponsors.

May 2021: "The Dutch House" by Ann Patchett

Club Meeting: May 27 at 7 p.m. | Register Now

null

“The Dutch House” is a richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go.

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.