Book Blurb:
When Daphne Fuller and her husband Jonathan visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they notice an older, white-haired gentleman following them. The man turns out to be Eddie Triplett, her former stepfather, who had been married to her mother for a little more than year when Daphne was nine. Now fifty-three, Daphne hasn’t seen Eddie for many years, not since the fateful event that changed the direction of both their lives. Meeting again, time falls away; while their relationship was brief, it had a profound impact on them both, and now that they are reunited, they have no intention of ever being separated again. Whistler is a story about two adults looking back over the choices they made, and the choices that were made for them. It’s a story about bravery, memory, the often small yet consequential moments that define our lives, and the endless stream of loss that in time comes for us all. Beautiful in its simplicity, it is ultimately about how love endures, and how the feeling of being known by one other person, even for a short period of time, can change everything.
My Review: 4.75 stars
Whistler by Ann Patchett proves once again, she is one of the best writers of our time. She writes what seems to be effortlessly, on the most ordinary topics, yet is able to weave a brilliant story out of them.
Overall, this is a family story, yet it focuses most on Daphne and her estranged stepfather with whom she loved dearly. Patchett has perfected the way kids often have a different way at looking at the past as they age. Memory plays a large role in the book as does the fear of dying.
This is a book that is best gone into blind so you can just fall into the story. Patchett narrates the novel with brilliance. Book clubs will love it.
Quotes I liked:
Our mother, who had annoyed me deeply throughout most of my life, managed something so heroic that there should have been songs written about her to be sung around campfires by Girl Scouts.”
“It’s an awful business, loving another person.”
“You lived, both of you. What sort of better ending are you looking for?”
“You get to be a certain age and you realize that time isn’t stretching out forever.”
Shop on Amazon Here!
