American writer Ann Patchett's new novel is reminiscent of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale expanded to the scale of a family epic. The story of the main characters, Danny Conroy and his sister Maeve, spans the entire second half of the 20th century, and their destinies become fatefully intertwined with the Dutch House—a mansion in eastern Pennsylvania that once belonged to the ruined Vanhoebuyck dynasty of Dutch magnates. The Dutch House itself isn't haunted, but anyone who crosses its threshold becomes, in a sense, the house's ghost—carrying this image with them wherever they go or live. For Danny and Maeve, that's all they have: a father who died prematurely, a mother long since faded into memory, a stepmother who seems to have emerged from a nightmare, and the ominous family mansion. And also the adult life that never quite begins: the curse of childhood, the mark of orphanhood, the impossibility of breaking bonds once formed. 'The Dutch House' is a story about the triumph of love over evil. A victory steeped in loss and, in many ways, unforeseen, because ultimately, the reader must figure out for themselves whose side they are on and whether there was a villain. And if so, who?