Editegrity
  • Home
  • Services
    • Manuscript critique
    • Developmental editing
    • Line and copyediting
    • Proofreading
    • Query and synopsis package
  • FAQ
    • All about editing
    • The costs of editing
  • Resources
  • About me
    • Portfolio
    • Testimonals
  • Contact
  • Blog

The editor who reads too much

The Dutch House

20/1/2020

 
Picture
Don't we all love a little family drama, especially when property is involved?
​Despite having been away from my Dubai book club for nearly a year, I continue to read the books they choose. Sucker for punishment, I guess!

I originally joined this group because they selected books that I might not pick on my own. That was the whole reason I joined this book club in the first place: they had tastes and interests in books so wholly different from my own, and they brought me into the fold of newer books, more modern authors. (I was stuck in the classics, where I was happy, but not very fun to talk to at parties.)
 
Before the discussion of the book, the founder asked us via WhatsApp for topics and themes, and I’m afraid I may have overwhelmed her with the thoughts I had at that particular moment: how we become like our parents whether we want to or not, living your life in a way that makes others happy but not you (a kind of self-sacrifice), how simple objects can tear families apart, how poorly family members communicate with one another, how parental neglect can cause irreversible damage, how (not to) let go of grudges …
 
This is the story of Maeve and Danny as they repeat their parents’ mistakes without realizing they are doing so. Here are two people who are unable to move forward with their lives because of an object holding them back. It’s a lesson about how focusing too much on the past can prevent you from living in the present. 
 
What I hope to remember about this book is that life is very short, and we should appreciate everyone we have around us at all times. 
Title: The Dutch House

Author: Ann Patchett

Genre: Literary fiction

Publisher: Harper

Comments are closed.
    Get a sample edit!

    Categories

    All
    Anglo Saxons
    Audiobooks
    Best Of
    Biography
    Birthdays
    BookMachine
    Books
    Bookshelves
    Bookshops
    Classics
    Connections
    Craft Of Writing
    Crime
    Dictionary
    Dragons
    Dystopian
    Economics
    Editing
    Editor
    Family
    Fantasy
    Fiction
    Freelance
    Graphic Novels
    Hiking
    Historical Fiction
    Historical Fiction In Italy
    Historical Figures
    History
    Jane Austen
    Knights
    Library
    Literary Agency
    Literary Fiction
    London
    London History
    London Open House
    Medieval History
    Memoir
    Mentorship
    Middle Ages
    Museum
    Mystery
    NaNoWriMo
    Narrtive Framework
    Networking
    Nonfiction
    Plays
    Podcast
    Primary Source
    Publishing
    Reading
    Research
    Royal History
    Scenes
    Sci-fi
    Screenplays
    Screenwriting
    Scripts
    Starting A Business
    Star Wars
    TBR
    Theater
    Time Audit
    Time Travel
    Tips
    Tracy Chevalier
    Training
    Tudor
    UK Travel
    Vikings
    War Of The Roses
    Writing
    Writing Tips
    YA

    Archives

    November 2024
    July 2024
    March 2024
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019


    Posts on editing

    • What is a Manuscript Critique?
    • What's a Developmental Edit?
    • ​What are Line and Copy-editing?
    • Keeping Up With the Editors
    • The Four Levels of Editing
    • How I Became an Editor

    Posts on books

    • 1984
    • The Last Kingdom & The British Museum
    • His Bloody Project
    • England's Queens: The Biography
    • The Best Books I Read in 2020
    • V for Vendetta
    • Rebecca
    • The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
    • Elizabeth of York: The First Tudor Queen
    • Wishful Drinking
    • The Giver
    • The Mandibles: A Family 2029–2047
    • The Diary of a Bookseller
    • The Dutch House
    • The Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort
    • Becoming a Writer
    • Homegoing
    • Things Fall Apart

    Posts on  publishing

    • My SYP Mentoship: Meeting 1
    • The Time Audit
    • Becoming a Publishing Freelancer – What You Need to Know
    • What I Learned from a Year on the SYP London Committee
    • A Night at Bloomsbury

    Everything Else!

    • My 5 tips after NaNoWriMo 2021
    • What to Do After NaNoWriMo
    • Endgame
    • ​Happy Birthday, Poe!
    • Appreciate a Dragon Day
    • Lockdown Christmas
    • Happy Birthday, Jane Austen
    • Why Libraries?
    • My Books vs Library Books
    • On Quitting Book Clubs
    • ​Blog FAQ
    • Welcome to My Bookshelves!
​​Contact​
FAQ
AI & Privacy Policy

© Kelly Urgan 2025
  • Home
  • Services
    • Manuscript critique
    • Developmental editing
    • Line and copyediting
    • Proofreading
    • Query and synopsis package
  • FAQ
    • All about editing
    • The costs of editing
  • Resources
  • About me
    • Portfolio
    • Testimonals
  • Contact
  • Blog