Books for Fans of Ann Patchett

The Dutch House

Author: Ann Patchett

Set at the end of World War II and told over five decades, this is the story of a brother, Danny, and sister, Maeve, whose stepmother casts them out of the estate of their childhood after their father’s death. The house looms large in their memories and their relationship, and they revisit it in various ways over the years, never quite able release its hold and its secrets.

Patchett crafts a dark fairy tale–without going over-the-top–and deftly examines the siblings commitment to one another and the differences in their perceptions of their youth. More info

Bel Canto

Author: Ann Patchett

At a party in the vice-presidential mansion of an unnamed South American country, a band of young terrorists enters and takes hostages. The hostages include a world-renowned soprano, a Japanese business titan, and diplomats from various countries. The days and months stretch on and lines blur, relationships form, and tensions rise and fall and rise again.

One of my favorite books and the first book I would recommend for anyone who hasn’t yet read Patchett. More info

Commonwealth

Author: Ann Patchett

In Commonwealth, Ann Patchett brilliantly weaves together flawed families who fail one another over the decades but keep trying and trusting in spite of the failures. Where you would expect villains, she instead presents complicated characters struggling with their own hopes, inadequacies, and feelings about the past and how to move forward.

Where you would expect broken, bitter relationships, she shows the enduring power of loyalty, love, and forgiveness. This is not an action-packed novel, but one where the subtle emotional tensions will resonate. More info

Truth & Beauty

Author: Ann Patchett

This memoir tells of Patchett’s friendship with the late poet and author Lucy Grealy. The two met in college and cemented their friendship in graduate school and the years that followed, as both pursued writing careers. Grealy, who in childhood battled cancer that left her without part of her lower jaw, endured ongoing health difficulties and reconstructive surgeries.

Grealy was a needy, all-consuming friend–talented, tortured, and plagued by addiction and her need for love. Patchett, for her part, basked in Lucy’s need for her, as well as their shared goals and talent. The two moved toward success together, and the journey must have felt magical and pre-destined, if not always healthy. Patchett’s writing shines, as always, as does her narration in the audio version. More info

Run

Author: Ann Patchett

Set over a period of 24-hours during a blizzard in Boston, Run brings together the former mayor, his twin sons, and a stranger and her child who are involved in an accident. Privilege and poverty collide and connections unfold in another moving tale of family from Patchett.

You can feel the quiet on the snowy streets of a usually bustling Boston, giving this muted but fast-paced story an insular snow-globe effect–perfect for a quiet night in. More info

State of Wonder

Author: Ann Patchett

When a brilliant medical researcher disappears into the Amazon, her protégé, Dr. Marina Singh, is sent to find her–and learn the status of the potential miracle fertility drug she’d been seeking. What Dr. Singh finds is a bizarre world of advanced science juxtaposed with the dark life of the jungle and its traditional inhabitants. Inspired by Heart of Darkness, this is very different from the more recent family dramas Patchett has delivered. More info

The Patron Saint of Liars

Author: Ann Patchett

A young woman leaves her husband and arrives at St. Elizabeth’s, a home for unwed mothers in Kentucky–usually a temporary stop. After giving birth, she and her daughter stay and make a place for themselves with the nuns, changing cast of pregnant girls, and the groundskeeper. Told from three perspectives, this was Patchett’s debut novel that explores what it means to leave and stay, and the impact of those choices. More info

The Vanishing Half

Author: Brit Bennett

The story of two Black twin sisters, raised in a small town where light skin is valued and sought after when building families. The two run to New Orleans as teens and then take very different life paths, only to be reunited decades later and forced to reckon with their choices.

The raves for this book are well-deserved; it features intricately drawn, multi-generational characters exploring race, identity, and family. A good choice for fans of both The Dutch House and Run. More info

Ask Again, Yes

Author: Mary Beth Keane

Ask Again, Yes follows two neighbor families over decades. While the adults are not close, children Kate and Peter are. They forge a friendship in childhood, but a violent event rips the families apart and has repercussions long afterward.

An excellent, character-driven book, perfect for fans of The Dutch House. More info

A Good Neighborhood

Author: Therese Anne Fowler

Neighbors are suspicious when an affluent family moves into an established neighborhood and tears down the existing house to build a McMansion. Their renovations destroy Valerie Alston-Holt’s beloved old tree, and that’s the last straw. The stakes rise and are complicated by the budding romance between Valerie’s son and the new neighbors’ daughter, until they reach their tipping point.

A compelling story that examines issues of race, class, and how people with different values can live alongside one another. Good for fans of Run. More info

All My Puny Sorrows

Author: Miriam Toews

Elf and Yoli are two sisters who grew up in a Mennonite community in Winnipeg. As an adult, Elf is an acclaimed and glamorous pianist. Yoli is less successful–going through her second divorce and struggling to raise two teenagers–but it’s Elf’s struggles that dominate. Crippled by depression, she is determined to end her life.

Yoli grapples with what it means to approach her sister with love and compassion, without being complicit in her plans. A heartbreaking and sharply observant book–try this if you loved The Dutch House. More info

The Most Fun We Ever Had

Author: Claire Lombardo

The Sorenson family is grounded by the seemingly perfect marriage of Marilyn and David. The four daughters in adulthood seem hampered by this perfection, given an example that is impossible to attain and that brings their own failures and struggles into sharp relief. But a closer look reveals that perfection in any life is a myth, and there is no one way to face adversity.

Filled with wonderfully complicated characters–some of whom you think you might dislike, but you actually end up loving–much like Commonwealth. More info

City of Girls

Author: Elizabeth Gilbert

In the 1940s, 19-year-old Vivian Morris is kicked out of Vassar and sent to live with her aunt, who owns the failing Lily Theater in New York. Vivian embraces the glitz, glamour, and her new wild lifestyle wholeheartedly, until a scandal takes it all away.

Vivian, narrating from her eighties, emphasizes her own naivety and mediocrity, but she proves to be anything but mediocre. Try this if you liked The Patron Saint of Liars. More info

The Other’s Gold

Author: Elizabeth Ames

Lainey, Ji Sun, Alice, and Margaret are roommates and best friends in college, and the independence and intensity of campus life bonds them forever. Over the years, as the women graduate and move into adulthood, each makes a terrible mistake. The book walks through each–the Accident, the Accusation, the Kiss, and the Bite–examining the shifts and evolution in the women and their friendships. A fictional option if you liked Patchett’s memoir of friendship, Truth & Beauty. More info

If You Want to Make God Laugh

Author: Bianca Marais

In post-Apartheid South Africa, two estranged sisters find themselves back in their childhood home. One’s marriage has collapsed, while the other has been disgraced out of the convent. When a Black baby is abandoned on their doorstep, with his desperate mother not far behind, they may be able to rebuild as a different kind of family–if the world will let them.

South Africa’s political upheaval, rampant racism, and emerging AIDS pandemic were fascinating historical backdrops to this deeply personal story. Try this family drama if you liked The Dutch House and Commonwealth. More info

Castle of Water

Author: Dane Huckelbridge

A man and woman are the only survivors of a plane crash in the Pacific. Stranded together on a small island, they must learn to depend on one another if they want to survive. Huckelbridge’s literary style, vivid characters, and the way that he intertwined art, music, and reflections on love, loss, and home elevated this book beyond my expectations. A great choice for fans of Bel Canto. More info

The Last Romantics

Author: Tara Conklin

Four children are defined by their mother’s years-long retreat, cementing a lifelong closeness, sense of responsibility, and knowing of one another.

Told over decades, The Last Romantics examines the nature of love, commitment, and the strength of those bonds even as what we know changes. Another one to try if you loved Commonwealth. More info

The Poisonwood Bible

Author: Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver’s modern classic about a devout Baptist man who takes his wife and four daughters into the Congo in 1959 is a favorite of many readers. Told over decades and from different points of view of the mother and daughters, it takes on colonialism, coming-of-age, and the history of the region in an engrossing family saga. Try The Poisonwood Bible if you liked State of Wonder. More info

Do Not Become Alarmed

Author: Maile Meloy

When Liv and Nora and their husbands decide to take their families on a cruise, it feels like just what everyone needs after some stressful times. They just start to relax when the worst happens: in a moment of lapsed vigilance on a day trip ashore, all of the children disappear. While the parents search for the kids, the children must take responsibility for each other and make life and death choices–and all of them must decide who to trust. Not quite a read-alike, but an option for those looking for a book like Bel Canto. (Plus, Patchett herself blurbed this one). More info

My Glory Was I Had Such Friends

Author: Amy Silverstein

Twenty-six years ago, during the infancy of heart transplant surgery, Amy Silverstein received a new heart. Now in her fifties, that heart is failing, and she again waits for a new heart, along with nine close friends who sign onto a schedule to keep vigil at her bedside.

This is a brutally raw memoir of suffering and friendship. Amy is unflinching in her examination of herself and what it means to be a sick person, dependent on others, and finding the balance between caring for yourself and caring for those who surround you. If you like Patchett’s Truth & Beauty, try this for another memoir of friendship. More info

The River

Author: Peter Heller

The River begins slowly: college friends Wynn and Jack drifting down a Canadian river in their canoe. But soon the two men spot a wildfire in the distance, then encounter two other pairs on the river and try to warn them. Their leisurely journey turns into a race to safety, where the fire is not the only threat they face.

Heller is obviously a skilled outdoorsman; he doesn’t ignore the beauty and brutality of the setting or what it takes to survive in it, even as he builds the tension of this fast-paced nature story. The nature setting and river thrills, as well as Heller’s wonderful literary writing, make this a good choice for fans of State of Wonder. More info