Whistler (2026) is my first time reading Ann Patchett and I went in not knowing what to expect. And let me say the hype surrounding this novel is real. Whistler is going on my top ten list at the end of the year for sure.

​The cover is somewhat misleading. Whistler is not about a horse or life in the country. This novel begins in the most urban place you can think of, the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. Daphne Fuller age 53 and her husband Jonathan age 70 are touring the museum when Jonathan tells Daphne that an elderly man has been following them.

​Daphne discovers that the man is Eddie Triplett, her long lost stepfather that she last saw when she was 9. Daphne’s mother Abigail ended her marriage to Eddie 44 years ago because she blamed him for a car accident Eddie and Daphne got into when he was driving Daphne out to a rural area outside of Boston to locate a raspberry farm that he wanted her to see which had memories from his childhood.

​Daphne and Eddie were having a great time talking and looking at the stars until the car skidded down an embankment. Eddie and Daphne were not badly hurt but Abigail ended her marriage to Eddie and forbade him to see her daughters. Abigail said she couldn’t trust Eddie around Daphne and Leda. He was too reckless. But the real reason for the divorce we discover in Whistler is more complicated.

​When Daphne and Eddie meet again after four decades the bond and the love is still there. And at the risk of spoiling the novel there are no twists coming. No nasty surprises. Just Eddie and Daphne renewing their relationship, catching up. Eddie meeting Daphne’s family. Daphne meeting Eddie’s friends, Skip and Polly.

Eddie and Daphne never forgot that freezing cold night in the car waiting for someone to rescue them. Eddie making up stories about a magical horse (the cover) to keep nine year old Daphne focused on something fun instead of their dire predicament.

​Eddie never forgot what it was like to have a daughter, and Daphne never forgot what it was like to have a father. And I will not forget Whistler anytime soon. 5 stars