Whistler by Ann Patchet ©2026 was the October pick for a bookclub I frequent. It is said that Ann Patchett is a "master of character-driven literary fiction". That may be all well and good but I like a plot and I had to work hard to find a point or direction or conflict in all the verbiage of this novel. Motives were absent, weak at best. The setting was basically high brow city or upper middle class suburbs, and I could identify with neither. Country clubs, mimosas, museums, brunches, cocktail parties lacked enough familiarity to me to draw me into this book. Contrary to the 4.5 stars from 45,483 Amazon ratings and 4.3 score from 220,839 rating on Goodreads, I did not enjoy this book at all.
The novel centers around the adult main character Daphne's relationship with the second of her mother's three husbands. There are two stories about accidents within the novel, both told in retrospect: one is a fall from horseback in a remote location and the other is a car veering off a mountainous road. Finally! Some action that could excite me! Beyond these two diversions I was bored with this book.
★★☆☆☆ Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it
