In WHISTLER, Ann Patchett invites us to consider all the events that we have forgotten from our past. Most of us do not remember huge swaths of our childhood years. Perhaps certain impressionable events stand out, such as special birthdays or celebrations, holidays and coming-of-age parties. But we can't recall everything. If this brilliant novel were a person, you would describe that individual as soft-spoken, intelligent, thoughtful and charismatic. It would be someone you would want to make your best friend.

Daphne Fuller experienced a traumatic event when she was nine years old. She had no one to talk to about it, so the memory of it faded. But when she and her husband, Jonathan, visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they run into Eddie Triplett, who was Daphne's stepfather for several years. The culmination of his stepfatherhood (although that’s not really a word) was the night of the accident. Daphne's mother cut off all contact with Eddie, which was yet another trauma as Daphne and her younger sister, Leda, loved him.

"If this brilliant novel were a person, you would describe that individual as soft-spoken, intelligent, thoughtful and charismatic. It would be someone you would want to make your best friend."

Daphne is now an adult. Jonathan, who is 17 years older than her, is in his 70s and retired. Eddie is an octogenarian. But seeing Eddie and talking to him brings back the feelings she had for him as a child, and she wants to renew their relationship. Eddie is thrilled to do that, and when they meet his friends, he calls her his daughter. But Daphne knows that he only does that because her actual father is dead. He is polite to a fault, thoughtful, generous, kind and a good listener. But Daphne and Eddie also are flawed humans. Aren't we all?

Jonathan is out of state cleaning out the family house after his mother's death. He and his sister are wading through memorabilia and keepsakes. It's a tedious and thankless job, but it's also rewarding to come across some family treasures. So Daphne is alone in their house, and it's summer. The private girl's school where she teaches literature is closed, and she is able to reconnect with Eddie. 

There is a lot that happened after the accident that Daphne does not know. Eddie fills her in on some details, but he says that she should talk to her mother about other aspects of the story. Eddie and her mother met when they worked for a publisher. He was (and still is) an editor, and she was a publicist. They became good friends and eventually wed, but the marriage lasted only a few years. Later, she married one of the authors with whom she worked. She had two more children, both boys, and Daphne felt estranged from that family.

What we come to see over the course of this touching and tender story is that our past is filled with important moments that we probably will not remember but that have a lasting impact on the rest of our life. People do things for reasons we may not understand, and even if we did understand, we might not agree with those reasons. Yet we love them anyway. 

The title of the book is the name of a horse whose heroic actions save the life of her person. Whistler's owner sent their story to Eddie as she was considering writing a novel about it. Although Eddie thought it would be great to tell, the woman decided not to share it with others. But Eddie told it to Daphne the night they were stranded in the car on a snow-covered mountain alone. 

There are recurrent themes of defying death, forgiveness and loss. Throughout the story, though, there is a rich undercurrent that demonstrates the power of love. The characters look back on their lives and think about how different choices would have impacted the trajectory of their futures. But after all, we are the culmination of the decisions we have made, the people we have chosen to love and consider as family, and the streets we have elected to tread. Patchett's writing makes our heart ache but also fills us with wonder.