Amy asked:

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5 years ago
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Jeri Paull I thought the ending was perfect. I loved the circular journey of the house - joyful, celebratory house at the beginning of it's life, then quiet family house, then a sad shell for a greedy woman, then back to quiet family house and then a return to joyful, celebratory house. It was mentioned that May told Norma to save the house for her because she felt such a connection to it - so the house had an almost magical pull for some people.

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Neil I felt it ended perfectly. Knowing that May was likely to buy (or be given) the house. The impression that Mauve still had a presence there. The house being occupied again by the housekeepers. Danny's story ended on a sad note but that also gave the book a bit of magic.

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Jenny You articulated exactly how I felt about the ending. I was absolutely loving the book--could hardly put it down!--and thought I'd be counting it among my favorites. And then the ending left me disappointed. I couldn't understand May's wanting the house beyond it being an impressive place for parties. Maybe that's intentional, though? Patchett left me with a sense of Gatsby's house and the emptiness of it. But without the narrator's indication that he understands it that way, it's hard for me to appreciate what Patchett might be getting at.

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