Jewell Papowitz

It is a most enjoyable read for its psychological , emotional responses of the characters among, between and control over each other. There is substance , beauty and love as well as hurt and loss. We do know these characters by their actions and words by the central inanimate object , the Dutch House. This work reminds me of other literary works that explore our emotional attachments to inanimate objects. It is a recurring theme, as in Gogol’s short story , “The Overcoat” , and recently “ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” in which Levee puts extra pride in a pair of shoes. It is fun to observe what each author is telling us about why and how our attachments to inanimate objects impact us, or we choose to let ourselves feel very strong defenses and melancholy toward the objects.