Whistler

by Ann Patchett

The acclaimed, prize-winning #1 New York Times bestselling writer returns with a moving, luminous novel that reminds us of the sweetness and impermanence of life and the power of connection to defy time.

When Daphne Fuller and her husband Jonathan visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they notice an older, white-haired gentleman following them. The man turns out to be Eddie Triplett, her former stepfather, who had been married to her mother for a little more than year when Daphne was nine. Now fifty-three, Daphne hasn’t seen Eddie for many years, not since the fateful event that changed the direction of both their lives. Meeting again, time falls away; while their relationship was brief, it had a profound impact on them both, and now that they are reunited, they have no intention of ever being separated again.

Whistler is a story about two adults looking back over the choices they made, and the choices that were made for them. It’s a story about bravery, memory, the often small yet consequential moments that define our lives, and the endless stream of loss that in time comes for us all. Beautiful in its simplicity, it is ultimately about how love endures, and how the feeling of being known by one other person, even for a short period of time, can change everything.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Family, Adult Fiction, Adult, Literature

304 pages, Paperback

Expected publication June 2, 2026

About the author

Patchett was born in Los Angeles, California. Her mother is the novelist Jeanne Ray.

She moved to Nashville, Tennessee when she was six, where she continues to live. Patchett said she loves her home in Nashville with her doctor husband and dog. If asked if she could go any place, that place would always be home. "Home is ...the stable window that opens out into the imagination."

Patchett attended high school at St. Bernard Academy, a private, non-parochial Catholic school for girls run by the Sisters of Mercy. Following graduation, she attended Sarah Lawrence College and took fiction writing classes with Allan Gurganus, Russell Banks, and Grace Paley. She later attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where she met longtime friend Elizabeth McCracken. It was also there that she wrote her first novel, The Patron Saint of Liars.

In 2010, when she found that her hometown of Nashville no longer had a good book store, she co-founded Parnassus Books with Karen Hayes; the store opened in November 2011. In 2012, Patchett was on the Time 100 list of most influential people in the world by TIME magazine.

Reviews

[Angela M · Rating 5 out of 5]

“There were things I remembered now, including that particular longing that life could stay as it had been. How strange that such a pointless wish could resurface after all these years.” Still, Daphne Fuller at fifty three, imagines at times what life would have been like these last forty four years, had her mother not divorced her step-father Eddie and separated her from this man who she loves deeply. Reconnecting with Eddie after all those years turns out to be a beautiful thing for both of them as they relive the past, their indelible bond of love and shared trauma, and now can bask in the joy of finding each other again. Patchett reminds us, though that life is complicated, relationships are complex and families are messy.

In this novel marriages are made based on love, but unrealistic expectations make promises of good intentions impossible to keep in spite of the fact that the love remains. Ann Patchett does an extraordinary job at getting to the very heart of broken families and the effect on lives as time passes. She reminds us that things are not always as they seem and the whole story needs to be revealed. And so the story of this family unfolds, reflecting on the past, accepting the present and moving forward each day with the light of the revelations that tell of so much love.

I’ve read all of Ann Patchett’s novels and two memoirs and loved them all. Whistler is reminiscent of her more recent novels The Dutch House, Commonwealth, and Tom Lake , all of which focus on families . If you loved any of those, I think you’ll find that she once again establishes herself as a literary treasure.

I received a copy of this book from HarperCollins through Edelweiss.

[Liz Hein · Rating 5 out of 5]

I woke my husband up from a deep sleep to make him read the last paragraph of this. So here’s, a quick little personal review of Whistler…I’ll write a full and real review closer to its June publication.

Sometimes a book comes to you at the perfect time. I was sitting at the airport with my mom and husband last night, waiting to fly to our family in Texas for Thanksgiving. We ALWAYS host at my parents house; it’s my mom’s very favorite holiday. But we lost dad this year, and can’t fathom our normal routine without him. I had no idea Whistler was a father/daughter story, but I knew I loved Ann Patchett and something told me to just log into netgalley to see if maybe it had popped up, despite having tried to find it literally that morning and it wasn’t there.

I devoured this. The father daughter story isn’t like mine in most ways, but was exactly like mine in the ways I didn’t know I needed it to be. This book is so special to me for so many reasons, and again, I’ll share more later. For now, what I think you should know is that this book is nice and lovely in the ways Tom Lake was nice and lovely. And this book healed me in small ways I won’t forget.

[Chloe]

WHAAAAAAAAATTTT!!!! NEW ANN PATCHETT FINALLY, I'M GOING TO CRY!!!!

That cover?? J'adore!!

2026 is going to be great :)

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Wonderful characters make this story shine. A little slower paced (as most character driven stories are), but well worth the read.

Of the previous books I've read (Commonwealth, The Dutch House, Tom Lake) and now this one, this ranks up there with The Dutch House.

Thank you to Harper Books & Netgalley for the gifted egalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Bruce Katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughts to come later -- major surgery tomorrow, alas --but the main point will be that an enjoyed it immensely. Touching, funny, astute, with touches that are obviously inspired by the author's life. I won't be writing reviews for a while but I'll be reading a lot. Silver lining.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am an Ann Patchett completist. I have read everything she has written at least once; some of her books, three or more times. I flew to Nashville for the release of Tom Lake and to visit her bookstore, Parnassus Books. Suffice it to say, I am a fan.

This may be her best. I am gutted, the tear tracks on my face not yet dry. I'll leave a more detailed review when I've collected myself a bit, but for now, know this one is a real beauty.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to Harper for the ARC. This was an incredibly character-driven story about a woman in her 50s connecting with her ex-step father after 44 years apart. The story is basically a bunch of recollections of the past and the main character randomly remembering events that she had blocked out from when she was 9. Nothing really happened so I didn’t like this at all. Also, why do authors insist on writing stories where queer people only know how to lie and cheat? It’s getting so old.

[Bonny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ann Patchett has always had a gift for writing about the quiet, powerful moments that shape us, but Whistler feels like something even more tender and resonant, a novel that hums with memory, regret, and the kind of love that never fully lets go. From the very first pages, I was completely absorbed.

The story begins with a chance encounter at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where Daphne Fuller and her husband notice an older man trailing behind them. It turns out to be Eddie Triplett, Daphne’s former stepfather from decades earlier. What unfolds from that moment is a luminous, deeply human exploration of time, connection, and the strange ways our past selves remain alive inside us. Patchett writes their reunion with such grace that it feels both miraculous and inevitable.

This is a novel about the choices we make and the ones made for us, about how small events can redirect entire lives, and how love, unexpected, unconventional, or fleeting, can echo for years. Patchett captures the fragility of memory and the incredible feeling of simply being known by someone else. The book is understated but emotionally expansive, filled with those sharp little truths the author inserts so delicately you don’t realize how deeply they’ve settled until you feel the tug in your chest.

Whistler will absolutely be one of my top books of 2025. In fact, finishing it has left me with the distinct (and slightly comical) worry that there may not be much to look forward to (book-wise) in 2026 because I may have already read the best book that will be published during that year. It’s that moving, that beautifully crafted, and that unforgettable. A quiet masterpiece that I will re-read several times before publication on June 2, 2026.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Harper for providing me with a copy of this stellar book.

[Rachel Randolph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every Ann Patchett novel casts a spell, but Whistler is a gem of pure magic I will never forget.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patchett strikes again! WHISTLER pulled me in from the opening scene and held me the whole way through. It didn't go where I thought it would because Ann doesn't write predictable stories.

"How was it that a weekday trip to a museum with my husband had plunged me back into childhood at the age of fifty three?"

Set then and now, Daphne and Eddie's story reminds us that it's never too late to heal and mend a family.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book hangover commence.

[Cassidy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book to start the year off with 🥹 Ann Patchett creates the most lovely and compelling characters. A quiet, kind, heart wrenchingly beautiful story. Eddie and Daphne are magical. I cannot wait for everyone to read Whistler. Side note - I loved this so much I named my new plant Patchett lol!

[Vlorini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every time I read a new Ann Patchett book, I expect that it won’t be as good as the last, and it’s always better. This is no exception. Thanks to Harper Collin’s and NetGalley for the pleasure of the last two days. Do not be confused by the cover. This is not a book about horses, but it does have a very wonderful horse in it. It is a book about love. And kindness. And the way the world changes. And it is just wonderful.

[lys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sooooo classic Ann Patchett. On love, life, loss, nostalgia, regret, and the stories we tell. Felt very similar to Tom Lake and The Dutch House. Took me a sec to get into it, and it didn’t strike a huge chord with me personally, but wonderful writing, wonderful story. A super heartwarming and sweet reflection on life and the little moments that make it.

P.S. Ann…..how much of this is autofiction? Be honest.

That being said, this is a fun treat for anyone else who’s also delved deeply into her nonfiction. I was constantly like “HMMM! Sounds FAMILIAR!”

[vicki honeyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first I wanted to find fault in this book because the tale is so precious, the characters too perfect to be believed. But, instead, with a change of heart, I give it a gold star! Why not tell a story about kind, accomplished, positive and whole people, people who move through the world with a grace one could only wish to be bestowed with? "Whistler" is not sugary sweet, though it is sweet as it radiates the possibility of what a life of happiness and fullness can look like, especially when going down memory lane can unearth secrets that deserve to be shared. To be sure, Ann Patchett's latest novel will be a joy to her readers.

[Sara]

Come to me my momery as wounder storm
as awave calm sea
as falling leaf
as whistler for love and lose
build sugar castler with y my fav that sand y know
that full glasses we drink it at past was so miss
calm and pain what useful to ask why
ask farther road why now to cross
to know that one time we earth and land near to huge
what done by tear that was at my lash
remmber yes
gd and bad
y as soul of night y come again
to make that father kiss
return again
whistler my fate
bring just love and joy
for best time we build
y was my castle sugar king
whativar past sing
to soul of my father peace in y
i pray God for ya
alwys with love

[alicebme · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for me. Short and substantial. Packs a punch. Real genius writing bringing characters to life and putting the reader right in their lives. As I learn more about the author, I want to argue with her on certain points, but it’s a novel after all. No sense in getting my hackles up when a character I generally have good feelings about throws up a red flag. And maybe I agree with her. What do I fucking know?

[Marissa Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another classic, perfect Ann Patchett. Warmed my soul.

This felt somewhat drawn from her life, as the three fathers in this book reminded me of her essay on her own three fathers in These Precious Days.

[Jennydlovesthebooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ann Patchett is really good at getting directly to the heart of things and making you see yourself in the characters, no matter how far their circumstance is from your own.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was just wonderful.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ann Patchett perfection.

[Kelsey Pelzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful ❤️

[Daniela DW · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Ann Patchett. It read fast for me probably because of the superb storytelling and wonderful characters.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦-𝘈𝘙𝘊

[The Bookish Elf · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are stories that whisper to us about the threads connecting our past selves to who we've become, and Whistler by Ann Patchett speaks in precisely this hushed, intimate register. In her latest novel, Patchett excavates the archaeology of a single childhood year—one that seemed inconsequential at the time yet carved channels deep enough to shape an entire life. This is a book about the bravery of being nine years old and the courage required to reckon with that bravery decades later.

The Chance Encounter That Changes Everything

The novel opens with Daphne Fuller, a fifty-three-year-old English teacher, visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art with her husband Jonathan. When a white-haired stranger follows them through the galleries, what begins as mildly uncomfortable vigilance transforms into something far more profound: Eddie Triplett, Daphne's stepfather for barely more than a year when she was nine, has found her again after forty-four years of silence. Whistler by Ann Patchett excavates what happens when two people who shared a defining moment are given an unexpected second chapter together.

Patchett structures her narrative with remarkable economy, alternating between the present reunion and the buried past. The accident that bound Eddie and Daphne forever happened during a winter evening when Eddie picked her up from school while her mother stayed at the hospital with Daphne's younger sister. What should have been a simple drive to look at stars becomes a night trapped in a snow-filled ravine, with Eddie's ankle pinned beneath the emergency brake and nine-year-old Daphne eventually climbing out the window to trudge through the snow and find help.

The Story Within the Story

The novel's titular horse emerges not from the present-day narrative but from the story Eddie tells young Daphne as they wait in the freezing car. It's the true account of Mary Carter, a Wyoming rancher whose horse Whistler came back to rescue her after she was thrown and badly injured in a remote pasture. Whistler by Ann Patchett uses this nested narrative to profound effect—the story of animal loyalty and survival becomes a metaphor for Eddie's own promise to return to Daphne, a promise circumstance prevented him from keeping for decades.

What makes this storytelling device so effective is how Patchett refuses to overexplain the parallels. She trusts readers to feel the resonance between Mary waiting in the wilderness for rescue and Daphne waiting in the snow, between Whistler's faithful return and Eddie's eventual reappearance in Daphne's life. The restraint here demonstrates Patchett's mastery—she knows that the most powerful connections are those readers discover for themselves.

The Architecture of Memory

Patchett's exploration of how we construct and reconstruct our past feels particularly urgent in Whistler by Ann Patchett. Daphne has buried the accident so thoroughly that even her husband doesn't know the full story. She's carried a white scar down the side of her face for forty-four years without dwelling on its origin. Yet when Eddie reappears, time collapses. The novel asks: What happens to the experiences we've trained ourselves not to think about? Do they lose their power, or does that power merely wait, patient as a horse in a pasture, for the day we're ready to face it?

The author portrays this psychological excavation with characteristic subtlety. There are no melodramatic revelations or therapeutic breakthroughs. Instead, Daphne's memories surface gradually through conversation, each detail pulling another to the surface. We learn about Eddie's complicated relationship with Daphne's mother, his identity as a gay man trying to live a conventional life, and the family dynamics that made his departure both inevitable and devastating.

Character Portraits in Miniature

One of Patchett's particular gifts lies in rendering fully realized characters with astonishing economy. Eddie emerges as someone who has lived with both courage and regret—a man who built a successful career in publishing, maintained a long partnership with Skip Hotalling, yet never stopped wondering about the little girl he left behind. Daphne's mother, glimpsed primarily through Daphne's complicated perspective, appears as someone determined to control her narrative by simply refusing to acknowledge uncomfortable history.

Jonathan, Daphne's husband, provides a touching counterpoint. He's seventeen years older than Daphne, and the novel quietly suggests that her lifelong attraction to older men stems directly from Eddie's brief but formative presence. Rather than making this connection explicit or pathological, Whistler by Ann Patchett simply allows it to exist as one of the many ways our early attachments echo through our lives.

The Weight of Brevity

At approximately 200 pages, Whistler by Ann Patchett accomplishes in its compact form what many novels fail to achieve in triple the length. Patchett has always excelled at distillation, and this novel represents that skill refined to near-perfection. Every scene serves multiple purposes; every conversation reveals character while advancing both plot and theme. The brevity itself becomes meaningful—just as Eddie and Daphne's relationship lasted barely more than a year yet shaped both their lives, the novel's slenderness belies its emotional heft.

This compression does occasionally work against the narrative. Readers seeking the immersive quality of The Dutch House or Commonwealth may find themselves wishing for more time with these characters. Eddie's illness, mentioned but not dwelt upon, feels like fertile ground Patchett chooses not to till. The present-day reunion, which could sustain its own novella, sometimes feels rushed as the narrative toggles between past and present.

Where the Novel Stumbles

The book's greatest weakness lies in its treatment of supporting characters. Daphne's sister Leda, a therapist who should provide valuable perspective on the family dynamics, remains somewhat underdeveloped. The subplot involving Daphne's mother's current husband Lucas and her half-brothers feels sketched rather than fully realized. While these elements contribute to Daphne's sense of being peripheral to her mother's "real" family, they occasionally feel like narrative obligations rather than organic story components.

Additionally, readers accustomed to Patchett's lush descriptive passages may find Whistler by Ann Patchett almost austere in comparison. The prose remains elegant and precise, but there's a deliberate spareness here that, while thematically appropriate, sometimes leaves you hungering for the sensory richness of her earlier work.

The Power of Small Moments

What ultimately elevates this novel is Patchett's faith in the significance of ordinary grace. The relationship between Eddie and Daphne never becomes romantic or even particularly dramatic in its present incarnation. They're simply two people who recognize in each other something essential—the person who saw them clearly at a crucial moment. Their reunion consists of museum visits, lunches with family, conversations about the past. Yet these modest activities carry profound weight because Patchett understands that transformation doesn't always announce itself with fireworks.

The novel's title, referring to a horse Daphne never met from a story she heard forty-four years ago, becomes a meditation on which memories we carry and why. Whistler represents loyalty, courage, and the possibility of rescue when all seems lost. That Eddie chose this particular story to tell a frightened child, and that Daphne remembered it all her life, speaks to the novel's central conviction: love, even in its briefest forms, endures.

Final Thoughts

Whistler by Ann Patchett won't satisfy readers seeking plot-driven momentum or extensive world-building. This is a chamber piece, intimate and interior, more concerned with emotional truth than external drama. Yet for those willing to meet it on its own terms, the novel offers something increasingly rare in contemporary fiction—a meditation on memory, loss, and connection that trusts both its characters and its readers to handle complexity without resolution, longing without melodrama.

Patchett, author of beloved novels including Bel Canto, Commonwealth, and Tom Lake, continues her exploration of how families—both biological and chosen—shape our lives. While not her most ambitious work, Whistler may be her most distilled, a story that resonates precisely because of what it chooses not to say. It's a novel about showing up for the people we love, even when decades have passed, even when we failed them the first time around.

In an era that often demands grand gestures and definitive endings, Patchett offers us something more honest: the quiet courage of two people choosing to be present for each other in whatever time remains. That may not sound like much, but in her hands, it's everything.

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite authors so I knew I would enjoy this book and once again, the characters seemed so real like people I knew personally. I very much enjoyed Daphne and Eddie’s relationship and I loved learning about Eddie and Daphne’s mother’s life together and why things played out the way they did. This book truly shows how people can impact us forever regardless of how long they were in our life. There was so much beauty in this book despite the loss and sadness at times. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Laura Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Harper and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on June 2nd, 2026.>

The key to my love for all Ann Patchett novels is the depth and intricacies of her characters. There is no other writer that I know of who consistently imbues her characters with the level of introspection and thirst for personal knowledge that her characters have — or at least the ones that I relate to! Having read many of her essays, I think the secret is the profundity with which Patchett gets to know people in real life — and I mean any and all of the people she comes into contact with. Not many of us are blessed with the ability to know too many others at this level, and this wide ranging understanding of the varying types of human experience makes for characters who feel real and complex. The fact that Patchett is also an incredible storyteller, with ideal pacing and consistently enlightening disclosures, does not hurt!

So. Our deep and complex characters are launched in this story by a chance encounter between Daphne (our protagonist) and her (first and quite beloved) stepfather — the one who disappeared from her life abruptly after a traumatic car accident when she was nine (she is now 53). Through a set of discussions, connections, and events (celebrations, get togethers, random walks), we get to unravel the very components that go into telling anyone’s personal story — the different pathways that lead to the person one becomes over time. The story (for me) was one touching moment after another, and I promise that none were of the overly schmalzified Hallmark variety. These are the moments that mark our lives, that matter, and that cause the shifts in our understanding of the world and ourselves.

I loved Daphne’s sister, the best friend and therapist; I loved her (older) husband Jonathan, who is unraveling a family mess of his own (a now deceased mother whose each element of hoarding precipitates a cornucopia of overwhelming memories); I especially loved Eddie, the newly discovered, now-ex stepfather. We see him skillfully through the eyes of the once and current Daphne, whose life experiences only slightly shade perceptions gained as a child during some intensely pivotal moments. The narrative reminded me of how different we are in each dynamic relationship with another.

There are LOTS of (really good) literary references and asides — Eddie is in publishing, Daphne writes, and let’s face it — Patchett knows a thing or two about the business! Themes include the impact of childhood experiences, mistakes and missed opportunities, the contemplation of life and death, human connection, and what it means to show up — really show up — for the people you love. The biggies! I couldn’t put it down.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the heart of this beautiful novel is the knowledge that the price of loving other people is that you're going to lose them, but that this price is worth paying.

What a joy this was. I went from gobbling it up, then immediately into mourning that I'd finished it. It was especially great to read this right after finishing War and Peace, which took two and a half months. Less than 350 pages-- complex female characters-- and it was often funny, too. Perfect!

The actual story of this book is fairly simple. If you looked at the plot laid out chronologically, you wouldn't get excited about it. This is a story about family and all the love that's found there, about the intersection of a few ordinary lives. What makes this novel wonderful is, of course, the characters, but it's also, particularly in this novel, its masterfulconstruction. The stories of our narrator, Daphne, and of her long lost stepfather, Eddie, come out in bursts- the way stories in real life come out, right? And the order of them is genius, leaving you as excited for the revelations as I've ever been reading a thriller. The novel isn't very long, but the relationships between the characters, especially between Daphne and Eddie and Daphne and her sister Leda seem so real and so full of warmth and tenderness that you immediately feel all the history behind them, like they pre-exist your reading of the novel.

Another thing I love about Patchett's books are weird little sensory details. I so want to see the collection of carefully curated rabbit art that Daphne's husband's ex-wife left behind when she died! The paintings and drawings aren't cheesy, and there aren't tons of them. Each one is special. There are odd little charming corners in this author's work.

I really loved this book. And I wonder what Patchett is writing now. Less charming and informative Instagram posts from your bookstore, Ms. Patchett! (Although I do enjoy them.) I almost can't stand that I have to wait another couple of years for another book. And take care of your health! I worry sometimes about Ann Patchett's health as I don't for other writers. (Well, maybe George Saunders...)

[Jodi P · Rating 5 out of 5]

** This review contains spoilers **

Oh my goodness. After finishing this book, I found that I wanted to just sit in my thoughts. I kept shaking my head in disbelief that a book could leave me feeling so drained, so sad to see something end yet so satisfied with the ending. I said I'd review it tomorrow but found, after a short time, that I wanted to get my review out while my feelings were so fresh.
I don't usually read Ann Patchett. I've read some and felt fine about them. A book by her would not be my first choice. However, after hearing how good it was, I decided to give it a go.
This book for me was a one-sitter. I did not want to acknowledge anything going on in life until I finished. I was so immersed in Daphne and Eddie's story. So desperate to find out what happened to them during that terrifying day from the past. So terrified as how the book was going to end. I did have to pause my reading a few times as the tears were flowing freely and I was either overwhelmed with grief or unable to see through the tears.
The characters in this book - all of the characters - are so beautiful and complex. Even when I wasn't sure if I should like a character, I found them to be so fully developed and flawed and sympathetic. The language of the story was absolutely gorgeous. The flashbacks to the past held tension and sadness. The stories of Mary Carter and Buddy involved so many emotions beyond grief.
This is a book that I will absolutely purchase for the library's collection and freely recommend to any reader passing through.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Amanda (THE CAFFEINATED READER) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“People have no understanding of how love works,” Eddie said. “They don’t take gratitude into account. They don’t think about relief.” - Ann Patchett, WHISTLER

This is a 2026 read that I know will be everywhere. I’m new to Patchett but I’m hooked after reading WHISTLER.

53 year-old Daphne runs into her stepfather Eddie, whom she hasn’t seen since she was 9. We learn that there is a past that separated them and neither knows the whole story.
This learning about the missing pieces also entails self discovery on both their parts.
The story is filled out with Daphne’s mother, father, and sister, some old friends who are intrinsic to Eddie leaving the family abruptly all those years ago, but really this is Eddie and Daphne’s story.

And Whistler’s.

I am so glad this didn’t make me cry!! It was sweet but not saccharine and I just love how it played out. There were some sad bits but nothing that made me weep.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
_______________________________________________
WHISTLER by Ann Patchett is out June 2. 2026. Thank you so much to @harperbooks & @netgalley for giving me early access to this beautiful book.