Ann Patchett

Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of  Wonder, Run, and Bel Canto, examines her deepest commitments — to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband — creating a resonant portrait of a life in This is the Story of a Happy Marriage. This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage takes us into the very real world of Ann Patchett’s life. Stretching from her childhood to the present day, from a disastrous early marriage to a later happy one, it covers a multitude of topics, including relationships with family and friends, and charts the hard work and joy of writing, and the unexpected thrill of opening a bookstore. As she shares stories of the people, places, ideals, and art to which she has remained indelibly committed, Ann Patchett brings into focus the large experiences and small moments that have shaped her as a daughter, wife, and writer.

Since her first publication in 1992, celebrated novelist Ann Patchett has crafted a number of elegant novels, garnering accolades and awards along the way. Now comes a reissue of the best-selling debut novel that launched her remarkable career. St. Elizabeth's, a home for unwed mothers in Habit, Kentucky, usually harbors its residents for only a little while. Not so Rose Clinton, a beautiful, mysterious woman who comes to the home pregnant but not unwed, and stays. She plans to give up her child, thinking she cannot be the mother it needs. But when Cecilia is born, Rose makes a place for herself and her daughter amid St. Elizabeth's extended family of nuns and an ever-changing collection of pregnant teenage girls. Rose's past won't be kept away, though, even by St. Elizabeth's; she cannot remain untouched by what she has left behind, even as she cannot change who she has become in the leaving.

Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxane Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening—until a band of gun-wielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different continents become compatriots, intimate friends, and lovers.

The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays.  “Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart.  At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a suprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores “what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self.” When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks’ short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman—Tom’s brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both.  A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create gold: engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer’s eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be.  From the enchantments of Kate DiCamillo’s children’s books to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz’s Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author’s grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark—and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time.

In a narrative replete with poison arrows, devouring snakes, scientific miracles, and spiritual transformations, "State of Wonder" presents a world of stunning surprise and danger, rich in emotional resonance and moral complexity. As Dr. Marina Singh embarks upon an uncertain odyssey into the insect-infested Amazon, she will be forced to surrender herself to the lush but forbidding world that awaits within the jungle. Charged with finding her former mentor Dr. Annick Swenson, a researcher who has disappeared while working on a valuable new drug, she will have to confront her own memories of tragedy and sacrifice as she journeys into the unforgiving heart of darkness. Stirring and luminous, "State of Wonder" is a world unto itself, where unlikely beauty stands beside unimaginable loss beneath the rain forest's jeweled canopy.

Ann Patchett and the late Lucy Grealy met in college in 1981, and, after enrolling in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, began a friendship that would be as defining to both of their lives as their work. In Grealy’s critically acclaimed memoir Autobiography of a Face, she wrote about losing part of her jaw to childhood cancer, years of chemotherapy and radiation, and endless reconstructive surgeries. In Truth and Beauty, the story isn’t Lucy’s life or Ann’s life but the parts of their lives they shared. This is a portrait of unwavering commitment that spans twenty years, from the long winters of the Midwest to surgical wards to book parties in New York. Through love, fame, drugs, and despair, this is what it means to be part of two lives that are intertwined--and what happens when one is left behind.

Run shows us how worlds of privilege and poverty can coexist only blocks apart from each other, and how family can include people you've never even met. Since their mother's death, Tip and Teddy Doyle have been raised by their loving, possessive, and ambitious father. As the former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle wants to see his sons in politics, a dream the boys have never shared. But when an argument in a blinding New England snowstorm inadvertently causes an accident that involves a stranger and her child, all Bernard Doyle cares about is his ability to keep his children—all his children—safe.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781857028157 Sabine-- twenty years a magician's assistant to her handsome, charming husband-- is suddenly a widow. In the wake of his death, she finds he has left a final trick; a false identity and a family allegedly lost in a tragic accident but now revealed as very much alive and well. Named as heirs in his will, they enter Sabine's life and set her on an adventure of unraveling his secrets, from sunny Los Angeles to the windswept plains of Nebraska, that will work its own sort of magic on her.

One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating’s christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny’s mother, Beverly—thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families. Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Spending summers together in Virginia, the Keating and Cousins children forge a lasting bond that is based on a shared disillusionment with their parents and the strange and genuine affection that grows up between them. When, in her twenties, Franny begins an affair with the legendary author Leon Posen and tells him about her family, the story of her siblings is no longer hers to control. Their childhood becomes the basis for his wildly successful book, ultimately forcing them to come to terms with their losses, their guilt, and the deeply loyal connection they feel for one another. Told with equal measures of humor and heartbreak, Commonwealth is a meditation on inspiration, interpretation, and the ownership of stories. It is a brilliant and tender tale of the far-reaching ties of love and responsibility that bind us together.

In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers. In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew. Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.

The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays.   "The elegance of Patchett’s prose is seductive and with Patchett as a guide, readers will really get to grips with the power of struggles, failures, and triumphs alike." — Publisher's Weekly “Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart.  At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores “what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self.” When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks’ short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman—Tom’s brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both.  A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer’s eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be.  From the enchantments of Kate DiCamillo’s children’s books (author of The Beatryce Prophecy ) to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz’s Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author’s grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark—and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time.

Powieść nominowana do Nagrody Pulitzera, porównywana do twórczości F. Scotta Fitzgeralda. Jedna z najważniejszych książek 2019 roku według New York Timesa i Time’a. Nad Domem Holendrów zapada zmierzch. Jego ogromne okna kolejno rozjaśniają się ciepłym światłem. Danny i Maeve Conroyowie zaparkowali wysłużonego oldsmobile’a po drugiej stronie ulicy, by obserwować rozgrywający się spektakl cieni. To dom, w którym dorastali. Spełnienie marzeń i ambicji ich ojca, a jednocześnie miejsce znienawidzone przez ich matkę. Dom, który stracili razem z rodzinnym majątkiem i którego dziedzictwo rzuciło cień na całe ich życie. Dom Holendrów jest opowieścią o rodzinnych więziach, stracie, poświęceniu i przebaczeniu. Ann Patchett z mistrzowską precyzją rozbiera na części pierwsze amerykański mit o tym, że każdy może napisać swoją historię na nowo, odciąć się od korzeni i zapuścić własne. Jej najnowsza powieść to misternie utkane studium pamięci – pokazuje, jak bezustannie rezonuje w nas przeszłość i jak chcąc nie chcąc powtarzamy błędy naszych rodziców.

A finales de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, a Cyril Conroy lo visita la suerte: hace una única pero muy inteligente inversión que le permite poner en marcha lo que se convertirá en un gigantesco imperio inmobiliario. El negocio catapulta a su familia desde la pobreza a una ingente riqueza, y su primera decisión es comprar la Casa Holandesa, una rica mansión a las afueras de FIladelfia. La casa quiere ser un regalo para su esposa, pero terminará desencadenando la ruina de todos sus seres queridos. El narrador de la historia es Danny, el hijo de Cyril. Él y su hermana mayor, Maeve, tan brillante y áspera como segura de sí, se exilian de la casa en la que crecieron junto a su madrastra. Los ricos hermanos regresan de nuevo a la pobreza de la que habían escapado sus padres y caen en la cuenta de que lo único que tienen es el uno a la otra. Este vínculo indestructible entre ambos les salva la vida y, a un tiempo, truncará su futuro. " La casa holandesa " es la historia de un paraíso perdido, un " tour de force " que ahonda en cuestiones como la herencia, el amor y el perdón, y se pregunta cómo queremos vernos a nosotros mismos y quiénes somos realmente. Sembrada de suspense, quizá el lector quiera terminarla pronto para descubrir el desenlace; de cualquier modo, Danny y Maeve se quedarán con él durante largo tiempo.

Pour échapper, le temps d’un dimanche, à sa propre famille, Albert s’incruste au baptême de Franny, la fille d’un vague collègue, et succombe à la beauté renversante de Beverly, qui n’est autre que la mère de Franny. Quelques années plus tard, Albert et Beverly se marient. Chaque été, leurs enfants se retrouvent tous chez eux, en Virginie, formant une petite tribu avide de liberté, prête à tout pour tromper l’ennui. Mais un drame fait voler en éclats le rythme et les liens de cette fratrie recomposée. Un roman somptueux qui accompagne sur cinq décennies des personnages lumineux, extraordinairement attachants.

Alla fine della Seconda guerra mondiale, grazie a un colpo di fortuna e a un unico, perspicace investimento, Cyril Conroy crea dal nulla un impero immobiliare che porterà la sua famiglia dalla povertà a un’immensa ricchezza. Per fare sfoggio del suo nuovo status, acquista la casa olandese, una sfarzosa proprietà nei sobborghi di Filadelfia. Comprata per fare una sorpresa alla moglie, la villa dà il via a una serie di avvenimenti che finiranno per danneggiare le persone a lui più care. A raccontare la vicenda è il figlio di Cyril, Danny, che insieme alla sorella maggiore Maeve è stato esiliato da casa dalla seconda moglie del padre. Per tutta la vita i due ragazzi non fanno che tornare, fra l’ironia e la rabbia, alla vecchia questione di ciò che hanno perduto. Questo loro legame indissolubile, se da una parte salverà loro la vita, dall’altra ne comprometterà il futuro. Ambientato nel corso di cinque decenni, La casa olandese è un’esplorazione acuta e profondamente umana delle nostre ossessioni e della capacità di perdonare, di quello che nella vita accumuliamo, conserviamo, perdiamo o regaliamo. E di ciò che ci lasciamo alle spalle.

Un domingo por la tarde en el sur de California, Bert Cousins aparece sin invitación previa en la fiesta del bautizo de Franny Keating. Antes de terminar el día, ha besado ya a la madre de Franny, Beverly, y ha puesto en marcha la disolución de dos matrimonios y la unión de dos familias. "Comunidad" explora los ecos que este encuentro fortuito despierta a lo largo de cinco décadas en la vida de los cuatro progenitores y los seis hijos involucrados. Los niños Keating y Cousins pasan los veranos juntos en Virginia, donde forjan un vínculo duradero basado en la desilusión respecto a sus padres y el afecto extraño y sincero que crece entre ellos. Cuando Franny, a los veinte años de edad, comienza una relación con el legendario autor Leon Posen y le habla de su familia, la historia de sus hermanos deja de pertenecerle. La infancia de Franny se convierte en la base de un libro de gran éxito de Posen, lo que termina por llevarlos a aceptar sus pérdidas, sus sentimientos de culpa y el vínculo profundamente leal que sienten entre sí. Contada con tanto humor como desgarro, "Comunidad" es una reflexión sobre la inspiración, la interpretación y la propiedad de las historias. Es un relato tierno y brillante basado en los grandes lazos del amor y la responsabilidad que nos unen.

John Nickel is a black ex-jazz musician who only wants to be a good father. But when his son is taken away from him, he's left with nothing but the Memphis bar he manages. Then he hires Fay, a young white waitress, who has a volatile brother named Carl in tow. Nickel finds himself consumed with the idea of Taft -- Fay and Carl's dead father -- and begins to reconstruct the life of a man he never met. But his sympathies for these lost souls soon take him down a twisting path into the lives of strangers...

At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures. Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives, they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.

Im Frühling 2020 kehren Laras drei Töchter beim ersten Lockdown in ihr Elternhaus zurück, eine Obstfarm im nördlichen Michigan. Bei der Kirschernte bitten sie ihre Mutter, ihnen die Geschichte von Peter Duke zu erzählen, dem weltberühmten Schauspieler, mit dem sie vor Jahren in einer Theatergruppe namens Tom Lake gemeinsam auftrat – und mit dem sie eine stürmische Liebesgeschichte erlebte. Durch Laras Erinnerungen an ihre Jugend sehen die drei Töchter sich herausgefordert, nicht nur die Beziehung zu ihrer Mutter, sondern auch ihr jeweils ihr eigenes Leben kritisch zu überprüfen und liebgewonnene Ansichten und Gewissheiten neu zu denken. »Der Sommer zu Hause« ist eine Meditation über Jugendliebe, Eheliebe und das Leben der Eltern bevor sie Eltern wurden. Hoffnungsfroh und melancholisch zugleich stellt der Roman die Frage nach dem Glücklichsein in einer vor die Hunde gehenden Welt. Wie in all ihren Romanen kombiniert Ann Patchett erzählerische Brillanz mit nadelspitzen Einsichten in Familiendynamiken. Das Ergebnis ist eine üppige, leuchtende Geschichte, mit einer Intelligenz und und emotionalen Subtilität geschrieben, die wieder einmal beweisen, warum Patchett eines der verehrtesten und berühmtesten literarischen Talente unserer Zeit ist

Após a Segunda Guerra Mundial, graças à conjugação de sorte e um investimento fortuito, Cyril Conroy entra no ramo imobiliário, criando um negócio que logo se tornará um império e levará sua família da pobreza a uma vida de opulência. Uma de suas primeiras aquisições é a Casa Holandesa, uma extravagante propriedade no subúrbio da Filadélfia. Mas o que seria apenas uma adorável surpresa para a esposa acaba desencadeando o esfacelamento de toda a estrutura familiar. Quem narra essa história é o filho de Cyril, Danny, a partir do momento em que ele e a irmã mais velha ― a autoconfiante e franca Maeve ― são expulsos pela madrasta da casa onde cresceram. Os dois irmãos se veem jogados de volta à pobreza e logo descobrem que só podem contar um com o outro. E esse vínculo inabalável, ao mesmo tempo que os salva, é o que bloqueia seu futuro. Apesar de suas conquistas ao longo da vida, Danny e Maeve só se sentem verdadeiramente confortáveis quando estão juntos. Narrada ao longo de cinco décadas, A Casa Holandesa é uma história sobre a dificuldade de superar o passado. Com bom humor e raiva, os dois rememoram inúmeras vezes seu relato de perda e humilhação e a relação entre o irmão indulgente e a irmã superprotetora enfim será colocada à prova quando os Conroy se virem forçados a confrontar quem os abandonou. Uma saga sobre o paraíso perdido, A Casa Holandesa se debruça sobre questões de herança, amor e perdão, uma narrativa sobre como gostaríamos de ser vistos e quem de fato somos. E, embora seja um livro repleto de reviravoltas que farão o leitor devorar a história, seus personagens ficarão marcados por muito tempo na memória.

Based on her lauded commencement address at Sarah Lawrence College, this stirring essay by bestselling author Ann Patchett offers hope and inspiration for anyone at a crossroads, whether graduating, changing careers, or transitioning from one life stage to another. With wit and candor, Patchett tells her own story of attending college, graduating, and struggling with the inevitable question, What now? From student to line cook to teacher to waitress and eventually to award-winning author, Patchett's own life has taken many twists and turns that make her exploration genuine and resonant. As Patchett writes, "'What now?' represents our excitement and our future, the very vitality of life." She highlights the possibilities the unknown offers and reminds us that there is as much joy in the journey as there is in reaching the destination.