Ann Patchett’s novel ‘Whistler’ is an enthralling triumph

Few contemporary writers are as adept as Ann Patchett at opening a novel. Her first chapters are alluring invitations, intriguing introductions. Bel Canto (2001) starts with a bang: In an unnamed South American country, a grand party is thrown in honor of the president of an electronics company, but after a renowned soprano has finished bewitching the guests, a group of terrorists gatecrash and take everyone hostage. And The Dutch House (2019) begins with a mystery: Danny Conroy harks back to his childhood family home in small-town Pennsylvania, and the day his father introduced him and his sister Maeve to Andrea, the new woman in his life.

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