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ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Daphne has always attracted older men, including her husband Jonathan who is 17 years senior to her, so she isn't particularly surprised when he tells her they are being followed in the Met by an old guy. But she is surprised when it turns out to be Eddie, her mother's second husband, and briefly Daphne's beloved stepfather around her ninth year. More than 43 years have passed since she last saw him, and she hasn't thought of him for most of those years, but they instantly resume a father/daughter relationship with great delight and joy.
So this gentle novel starts. It flows back and forth in time, showing how Daphne and her younger sister Leda grew up, how Daphne married Jonathan, how Eddie's life flourished, how they become close again – and the pivotal event when she was 9, that was the most dangerous, brave and daring thing she ever did, and which no one ever asked her about, because it got subsumed into other dramatic events of the time. It turned out to be the pivotal event of Eddie's life too, and this is all gradually unfolded as they both reconnect as adults...
Patchett's fans will read this anyway, whatever the story, whoever the characters, and they will not be disappointed. It's everything we love and expect – warm, observant, wise, and writing so pitch perfect and smooth as silk, yet sometimes so revealing about the human heart and its failings, whether intentional or inherent. If you haven't read Patchett before, do yourself a favour and pick this one up – you'll soon see why she has such a devoted following! Lindy
When Daphne notices an older gentleman following her around the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, she doesn’t expect it to be Eddie – her former stepfather.
FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING, PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE DUTCH HOUSE AND TOM LAKE
'One of the most beloved authors of her generation' SUNDAY TIMES
Married to her mother for a short time when Daphne was nine, she hasn’t seen Eddie for many years; not since the fateful event that changed the direction of both their lives.
Meeting again now, Daphne and Eddie feel that time has fallen away. Their earlier relationship was brief but had a profound impact on both of them. Together, they consider not only their past, but the joys of the present and their commitment to face the future together.
A moving, luminous story about how family, memory and love endures, Whistler paints an intimate portrait of how the feeling of being known by one other person, even for a short period of time, can change everything.
Ann Patchett is the author of nine previous novels, three works of non-fiction and two children’s books.. Her most recent book, Tom Lake, was a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, as well as a BBC Radio 2 and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick. Her novel The Dutch House was also a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, and longlisted for the 2020 Women's Prize. In 2002 she won the Orange Prize for Fiction with Bel Canto, a prize she has also twice been shortlisted for with The Magician’s Assistant in 1998 and State of Wonder in 2012. Her novels The Magician’s Assistant and State of Wonder were also both shortlisted for the Women’s Prize. Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award, she was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2012. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. She is the co-owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee, where she lives with her husband, Karl.
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Daphne has always attracted older men, including her husband Jonathan who is 17 years senior to her, so she isn't particularly surprised when he tells her they are being followed in the Met by an old guy. But she is surprised when it turns out to be Eddie, her mother's second husband, and briefly Daphne's beloved stepfather around her ninth year. More than 43 years have passed since she last saw him, and she hasn't thought of him for most of those years, but they instantly resume a father/daughter relationship with great delight and joy.
So this gentle novel starts. It flows back and forth in time, showing how Daphne and her younger sister Leda grew up, how Daphne married Jonathan, how Eddie's life flourished, how they become close again – and the pivotal event when she was 9, that was the most dangerous, brave and daring thing she ever did, and which no one ever asked her about, because it got subsumed into other dramatic events of the time. It turned out to be the pivotal event of Eddie's life too, and this is all gradually unfolded as they both reconnect as adults...
Patchett's fans will read this anyway, whatever the story, whoever the characters, and they will not be disappointed. It's everything we love and expect – warm, observant, wise, and writing so pitch perfect and smooth as silk, yet sometimes so revealing about the human heart and its failings, whether intentional or inherent. If you haven't read Patchett before, do yourself a favour and pick this one up – you'll soon see why she has such a devoted following! Lindy
Praise for Ann Patchett: ""One of the most beloved authors of her generation * Sunday Times * Ann Patchett leads us with the intelligence, detail, wit and nuance of the greatest chroniclers of human nature and relationships. Nothing escapes her -- Rachel Joyce
