** spoiler alert ** It's interesting why this book is so popular. I had it on hold for four months before it was available to download. When I got it and realized it was chock full of dysfunctional family members it made me wonder why do people like to read about dysfunctional families so much?? Is it because there are so many of them? Or they're from one?? So it makes us feel less abnormal? Whatever the case, this book exemplifies the human condition and despite its flaws, the crazy, mixed-up ways family dynamics are formed.
Just for fun, I think we should review this book by dissecting the characters.
Cyril Conroy = the most emotionally closed off/unavailable, uncommunicative, passive aggressive man. His strength was building a financial empire. The last people on his priority list ~ his family. We learned very little about his childhood so who knows how that contributed to forming his person? He was absolutely inept at talking to his children (or anyone else for that matter) so everyone was operating in a vacuum about what was going on in the family. He was married but basically behaved as an independent entity. If only he could have brought himself to converse, a majority of the problems that occurred, could have been resolved.
The absolute worst person in the whole book (and I cut her no slack whatsoever) is Elna Conroy, the "supposed" Mother. You probably thought I was going to say Andrea ~ the step-mom??? Nope. She doesn't even come close to matching Elna. Elna should have never been pulled from the nunnery. She should have followed her first instincts, navigated her way there and never, EVER left the sheltering confines of those walls. It's almost impossible to believe, but Cyril must have had a brief moment of persuasive glibness to convince her to leave there and marry him?? It will forever perplex me how it happened?? I wish it hadn't. If this selfish woman wanted to help people, she should have helped her children. If she hated the idea of being wealthy, spend the fricking money on the needy. Make Cyril double down and earn more. Distribute it, buy food, buy clothes, donate it, whatever. I can think of infinite ways it could have done good, without her traipsing around the world in the guise of a homeless person, convincing herself she was ministering to the downtrodden, all the while totally screwing up her own family. I didn't buy that she felt any guilt whatsoever when she reappeared in the picture? It was narcissistic to expect mercy for her actions or for God's sake, be referred to as "Saint-like???" Far from it, what a piece of work.
Maeve and Danny. Theirs was a complex sister brother relationship but rightly so. The only two real victims of their parents foibles. I understand why Danny felt so compelled his whole life to be connected to his sister. Who wouldn't when that person was your anchor after everything else in his life became unmoored. Those two had only each other to count on and that's what they did. Was it unhealthy? Did they cling to each other too much? Probably. But who am I to fault them for it?? I might do the exact thing especially if I was Danny's age when I got thrown out on my own. As strong as Maeve presents, she clearly wanted her Mother back and felt the void of her loss. I hated that she accepted her back without reservations tho and I know hate is a strong word. I thought Danny had the more "normal" response in his feelings toward his Mother. In the end, I think it truly did kill Maeve that she only got her Mother back, to lose her again to Andrea. The poisonous Elna strikes havoc again, always looking to do good for anyone BUT her biological family. Is it obvious how much I disliked her? Egads. The woman should never have been a parent and then maybe she would have garnered more respect for her choices.
Danny's children and Celeste were the most grounded characters in the book. May was my absolute favorite.
In the end, the house ended up in the hands it should have rightfully descended to from the beginning. It just took a huge toll on all their lives getting to that point. As beautiful as 'The Dutch House' was portrayed to be, it should never have had the power it was attributed nor dictated how the lives inside its walls lived. That's the sadness of this story. Everybody placing importance on things except what was truly valuable.
