When Ann Patchett’s Whistler was selected for our book club’s next read, I did not have any inclination about what to expect. My dear friend, Jheri, chose Whistler, and seeing as she has impeccable taste when it comes to reading, I began reading with assurance and trust that this book would be great.
I am pleased to report that my assumptions were correct.
This was the first book by Patchett I have ever read, but because I enjoyed her storytelling and writing so thoroughly in Whistler, I imagine I will be reading more of her work in the near future.
The following is a description of this book from goodreads.com.
“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,” the excerpt reads.
This book reminded me a lot of Theo of Golden, which I also loved, and I can’t begin to express how absolutely beautiful the simplicity of this story is. Whistler serves as a reminder that each and every choice we make in our lives somehow influences the trajectory of our future, and Patchett’s writing is exquisite and heartwarming. This book is, without any doubt, a read.
Photo by Pieter van Noorden on Unsplash
