Our bookclub loved the discussion this situation and characters provided. We did go to the web and found a little interview with the mother and daughter - very poignant and meaningful having read the book. The discussion roamed from mental illness, to neglect, to ourselves as mothers, to good coming out of crazy people in our lives and more. We were impressed with the literary style of the author as she moved in her storytelling from a little girl to an adult. A must read!!!

We really enjoyed talking about the style of writing - the letter style allowed you to read, put it down, pick it up and keep going - only you never wanted to put it down! The historical side of it was very interesting. The discussion can center around - what would we do in.... any number of situations!

I loved hearing about the Dutch House itself, but the characters in it were the best. They were well developed, all with large admirable characteristics (except one!) and all with the reality of human fails that touched on what we fail at too. It was insightful to show how we can better avoid those failures as we live our lives. The book VERY MUCH kept my attention. I feel it has lots to discuss per the characters, their development and their life decisions and how that affected other people's lives. Good for book club discussion.