Ann Patchett's Stories Capture Our Hearts

I was not an avid reader until after college, although I loved high school and college, and was often the leader of various study groups. My mother has collected over the years an impressive collection of books ranging from non-fiction to biographies, memoirs, novels and even cookbooks. She had been a labor and delivery nurse for twenty years, often working the night shift, so growing up I remember seeing her reading well into the night. I have a vivid memory of my mother getting a copy of Scarlett, the sequel to Gone with the Wind, in 1991, and spending the entire night reading it. (While the book wasn’t great, it was still a commercial success.

When I moved to New York City in 2001, I found myself spending a great deal of time on the subway from the last stop on the A train in Inwood, to deep stops in Manhattan and Brooklyn. That is when I realized how much I loved reading for pleasure, not just for learning.

I don’t recall when I first heard mention of the author Ann Patchett, but I do remember my mother giving me a copy of Bel Canto shortly after it was published, saying that it was a phenomenal novel. It was one of the first books I read that played cinematically in my head the whole time.

The main character, Roxanne Coss, a famous soprano, is held captive along with dozens of international guests attending a birthday party for a powerful Japanese businessman when a group of terrorists arrive and take them hostage. Despite the alarming situation, the guests and terrorists form special bonds over the duration of the takeover, leading to friendships and even love. Roxanne is coerced to sing, finally, and the entire group is entranced by her. Patchett’s characters in this novel are so deeply complex, and one ends up feeling sympathetic towards the captors. It remains one of my favorite novels to this day.

In State of Wonder,  Patchett writes of research scientist Dr. Marina Singh, who travels to the Amazon to pick up the trail of her colleague who died during his own attempt to track down a Dr. Swenson. Marina journeys deep into the jungle to uncover the truth and to hopefully find Dr. Swensen and learn about the research that brought her there in the first place. Patchett made an extensive trip to the Amazon in order to write this novel, and you can tell from her vivid depictions of the environment and the people that she was able to capture the essence of that world. This was a fascinating read with a very surprising ending.

I have always been drawn to stories that involve old, rambling houses, with the houses themselves ending up playing a key role in the storytelling. One of Patchett’s more recent novels involves a large Dutch mansion in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The two children of a successful real estate empire are tossed out of their family home by their new stepmother following the sudden departure of their mother, and the daughter, Maeve, ends up being a primary caregiver to her brother, Danny. Through their struggle to come to terms with the loss of their mother, their home, and getting no emotional support from their father, they form a special bond that ties them through the years. It’s a modern fairytale, with the daughter of Danny, May, buying the house at the end, after Danny is able to come to terms with his mother’s abandonment of himself and his sister, and also the death of Maeve.

Patchett is also the author of several children’s books and a few non-fiction works, of which I have read These Precious Days.  There is something so familiar about her writing style and character development. It is both completely accessible and profoundly deep, in my opinion. I have found that I was pulled so far into the emotions of the characters that I felt their joy, pain, worry and loss. I have always felt like her writing reflects the heart of modern Americans and how we navigate the myriads of obstacles in our lives.

To learn more: https://www.annpatchett.com/