Welcome friend! Today I bring you my thoughts on Ann Patchett’s latest novel, Whistler. It was a book recommended by Heather Reisman, CEO of the Canadian bookstore chain, Indigo Books & Music. I like checking out her recommendations and usually enjoy them a lot. This one was especially lovely and will find a place in my home library. Read on for what the book is about and then my thoughts.
The acclaimed, prize-winning #1 New York Times bestselling writer returns with a moving, luminous novel that reminds us of the sweetness and impermanence of life and the power of connection to defy time.
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 a 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.
Whistler – Review
Whistler is about Daphne, a woman in her fifties, who accidentally runs into her ex-step father, Eddie. The last time she saw him was over forty years ago. She remembers him being a highlight of her childhood and feeling that she, at the age of nine then, was responsible for her mother’s decision to divorce Eddie.
It was, at first, hard to make sense of the instant connection and longing that Eddie and Daphne share for each other. I was a little worried that this might become a romance but it is not. Whistler does a beautiful job of portraying a unique relationship and by the time the story ends, the connection I was doubting makes so much sense. It does not matter if we are related by blood or not to someone — sometimes, they just come to mean the world to us.
I like how this book is actually about Daphne rediscovering parts of her childhood that she had long forgotten. It’s a deep dive into what it meant for her and her sister, Leda, to grow up with a dad who left them, a step-dad who adored them and then another step-dad who didn’t make any room in his life for them. Daphne’s dad, Buddy, may not have been present during her childhood but their relationship deepened as they got older and I enjoyed reading how pivotal Buddy was in everyone’s lives.
Eddie is curious about Daphne’s life and I love the questions he asks. Her answers give insight into her life, her relationships and for the people he also knew, it lets her learn about them in a new light. Leda does the same for Daphne. They have good discussions. I particularly liked the one influenced by Leda’s therapy practice – the kind of childhood that stifles a child’s ability to grow and become independent compared to the one where the parent continues to live their own life and the childhood are authors of theirs.
Our past can define our decisions and one of the big ones to me is that Daphne did not want kids. She chose this because she didn’t consider her childhood to be good and did not want to put another human being through childhood.
Running into each other after such a long time period has both Daphne and Eddie quite interested to not lose touch again. They meet up for lunch and dinner and start to go to events together. They are honest with each other. Now that both are much older, they can talk about the past and understand the challenges of being young back in the 80s. I found a lot of compassion in both of them for Daphne’s mom’s choices. It was insightful to hear Abigail’s perspective later.
The book touches on multiple experiences that can befall us in our lives. Whether it is navigating relationships with step children, decades of marriage, changing connections with our birth parent, packing up the house of a deceased parent, supporting a parent through the loss of their spouse… Whistler will speak to a wide variety of age groups.
The book and the cover photo of a horse have significance. The horse in the photo is Whistler and her story is one Eddie was pitched at when he was still with Daphne’s mom. Eddie and Daphne were in an accident and to give Daphne hope, Eddie told her the story of Whistler. It is something that only the two of them share. There were so many great emotional moments in this book. It ended with the reveal of the accident. Eddie contemplated his life choices in the car. For Daphne, at her young age, there was no processing. She was tasked with getting help for Eddie in the middle of a snow storm on an unknown road. It was an event that equally made them and changed their lives. I didn’t think it was a big deal because it isn’t mentioned much but it really was. I’m glad Leda brought it up and had everyone hear it out. Daphne had never told anyone about it – so much was going on in January 1980. She was nine. She was Whistler for Eddie.
A quote that I loved and why:
“… We were going to look at the stars,” I said, and the officer who was driving nodded and said he used to bring his kids up there sometimes to look at stars, and Frank said they went there, too.
The accident happened when Eddie and Daphne were on the way to see the stars at the raspberry farm. It seemed like such a mundane thing in hindsight but I loved how kind the emergency vehicle drivers shared that they do the same with their children. This moment speaks to how as parents we love sharing something bigger and beautiful with our kids. The joy of looking up at the stars in the quiet of the night is precious.
In the stage of life where I’m thinking of a bigger family, reading Daphne and Leda’s experiences of a shared childhood and their close bond so many decades later resonates with me. I want that for my girl. I want her to have someone else to help her make sense of her experiences as well as share her life with. I never had a sister. My secret longing was for an older brother.
Whistler made me imagine how different my life could have been without any actions of my own. What if my mom had remarried and had more children? What if my step mom had also had children from her first marriage? Life could have looked very different or not at all.
The way this book blew me away, reminded me of The Midnight Library. Both are close to my heart.
I have been wanting to read Ann Patchett for many years now and I am glad I picked this book. Whistler asks: How many of the people who shape our lives arrive there because of circumstances we had no control over? It’s a beautiful question to sit alongside this amazing cast of characters.
Have you read this book or any books by the author? What should I pick next?
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