Whistler

The internationally bestselling author of The Dutch House and Tom Lake returns with a moving, life-affirming novel that reminds us of the power of connection to defy time.



A BARACK OBAMA SUMMER READING PICK 2026



'Generous-hearted, clever and poignantly revealing ... Spend a day on the couch in its warm, riveting company and you won't regret it' The Times



'A quietly compelling story about the power of familial love to transcend time and blood' Harper's Bazaar, Best Books of 2026

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When Daphne notices an older gentleman following her around the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, she doesn't expect it to be Eddie – her former stepfather.



Married to her mother for a short time when Daphne was nine, she hasn't seen Eddie for many years; not since the fateful event that changed the direction of both their lives.



Meeting again now, Daphne and Eddie feel that time has fallen away. Their earlier relationship was brief but had a profound impact on both of them. Together, they consider not only their past, but the joys of the present and their commitment to face the future together.



A moving, luminous story about how family, memory and love endures, Whistler paints an intimate portrait of how the feeling of being known by one other person, even for a short period of time, can change everything.

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'Whistler is top-shelf comfort food, the literary equivalent of pricey ice-cream' Guardian, Book of the Day



'Few writers are more adept than Patchett at delineating the collisions between present and past' Observer