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About the Book
"One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating's christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny's mother, Beverly--thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families. Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Spending summers together in Virginia, the Keating and Cousins children forge a lasting bond that is based on a shared disillusionment with their parents and the strange and genuine affection that grows up between them. When, in her twenties, Franny begins an affair with the legendary author Leon Posen and tells him about her family, the story of her siblings is no longer hers to control. Their childhood becomes the basis for his wildly successful book, ultimately forcing them to come to terms with their losses, their guilt, and the deeply loyal connection they feel for one another."--Book Synopsis
"Exquisite... Commonwealth is impossible to put down."
-- New York Times
#1 New York Times Bestseller NBCC Award Finalist New York Times Best Book of the Year USA Today Best Book TIME Magazine Top 10 Selection Oprah Favorite Book of 2016 New York Magazine Best Book of The Year
The acclaimed, bestselling author--winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize--tells the enthralling story of how an unexpected romantic encounter irrevocably changes two families' lives.
One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating's christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny's mother, Beverly--thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families.
Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Spending summers together in Virginia, the Keating and Cousins children forge a lasting bond that is based on a shared disillusionment with their parents and the strange and genuine affection that grows up between them.
When, in her twenties, Franny begins an affair with the legendary author Leon Posen and tells him about her family, the story of her siblings is no longer hers to control. Their childhood becomes the basis for his wildly successful book, ultimately forcing them to come to terms with their losses, their guilt, and the deeply loyal connection they feel for one another.
Told with equal measures of humor and heartbreak, Commonwealth is a meditation on inspiration, interpretation, and the ownership of stories. It is a brilliant and tender tale of the far-reaching ties of love and responsibility that bind us together.
From the Back Cover
One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating's christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny's mother, Beverly--thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families.
Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Spending summers together in Virginia, the Keating and Cousins children forge a lasting bond based on a shared disillusionment with their parents and the strange and genuine affection that grows among them.
When, in her twenties, Franny begins an affair with the legendary author Leon Posen and tells him about her family, the story of her siblings is no longer hers to control. Their childhood becomes the basis for his wildly successful book, ultimately forcing them to come to terms with their losses, their guilt, and the deeply loyal connection they feel for one another.
Told with equal measures of humor and heartbreak, Commonwealth is a meditation on inspiration, interpretation, and the ownership of stories. It is a brilliant and tender tale of the far-reaching ties of love and responsibility that bind us together.
Review Quotes
Praise for Commonwealth:"Patchett brings humanity, humor, and a disarming affection to lovable, struggling characters... Irresistible."--Library Journal Praise for State of Wonder:
"An engaging, consummately told tale."--New York Times "...a funny, sad, and ultimately heart-wrenching family portrait...Patchett elegantly manages a varied cast of characters...[Patchett is] at her peak in humor, humanity, and understanding people in challenging situations."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "...to create a story with 10 protagonists that spans 50 years - and at least five settings spread across the globe - is a balancing act that requires immense narrative skill, and Patchett never falters."--Knoxville News-Sentinel "Commonwealth bursts with keen insights into faithfulness, memory and mortality... [An] ambitious American epic..."--Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Commonwealth is a sly book about storytelling, a story about a single incident - really two pivotal incidents - spun out over the length of a narrative constructed like a conversation but encompassing decades."--Kansas City Star "Commonwealth is a smart, thoughtful novel about the ties that bind us."--Pop Sugar "Commonwealth is an all-American family saga, but her touching and even-handed approach to themes such as family politics, love, the role of literature and the acidic nature of lies is buoyed by a generous sprinkling of matter-of-fact humor"--BookPage "(A) rich and engrossing new novel ..."--New York Times Book Review "a wry, compassionate tale"--Christian Science Monitor "moving, beautifully crafted novel..."--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "splendid new novel... Just try to stop reading. And you won't want to. Patchett is in stellar form."--USA Today "[A] memorable, modern novel"--Flavorwire "Ann Patchett's gifts are more clear than ever in Commonwealth"--Dallas Morning News "Ann Patchett's moving, beautifully crafted novel"--Spokesman Review "Emotionally lucid. . . . Patchett is at her lyrical best when she catalogues the jungle."--The New Yorker "I couldn't put down Ann Patchett's terrific new novel..."--Woman's Day "Indeed, this is Patchett's most autobiographical novel, a sharply funny, chilling, entrancing, and profoundly affecting look into one family's "commonwealth," its shared affinities, conflicts, loss, and love."--Booklist "Patchett brings every character in Commonwealth to luminous life."--The Entertainment Report "Patchett gives us funny, flawed characters, and the rich reward of Commonwealth is seeing their lives unfold..."--Houston Chronicle "Patchett's insight into the practical and emotional impacts of uprooting families is impressive... candid, poignant, humorous..."--Roanoke Times "Patchett's slyly knowing voice - full of wit and warmth - elevates every page of this novel - one that, through the alchemy of her writing, somehow feels more than the sum of its parts."--Newsday "Patchett's storytelling here feels warmer and richer and more resonant than anything she's done before."--Entertainment Weekly "Reading Commonwealth is a transporting experience... It feels like Patchett's most intimate novel and is without doubt one of her best."--Los Angeles Times "Spinning ordinary lives into literary gold"--Seattle Times "Surprising, nuanced, complex and, above all, genuine."--Asheville Citizen-Times "The prose is lean and inviting...A satisfying meat-and-potatoes domestic novel from one of our finest writers."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Wonderful... Patchett is a master storyteller"--O, the Oprah Magazine "Wonderfully executed..."--Marie Claire "... the emotional intelligence of Patchett's storytelling here feels warmer and richer and more resonant than anything she's done before." Rating: A--Entertainment Weekly "Commonwealth represents yet another victory for Patchett. Readers will fly through it... the tale is so rich and the plot is so wildly addicting, readers won't be able to put it down until they've turned the final page."--Hampton Sheet "a captivating family drama"--Chicago Now.com "a family drama with a hint of metafiction at its heart."--Read It Forward "close obervation, deadpan humor... Chekhov regularly invoked"--Wall Street Journal "[An] achingly real tale"--Curled Up - Michael Leonard's Review "Exquisite... Commonwealth is impossible to put down."--New York Times "Extraordinary. . . . Is there nothing the prodigiously talented Ann Patchett can't do?"--Boston Globe "Patchett cuts to the heart of existence in the age of divorce"--Curled Up - Luan Gain's Review "Patchett's storytelling has never seemed more effortlessly graceful. This is minimalism that magically speaks volumes..."--Washington Post "The book is serious, but also so pleasurable that you hope it won't end."--NPR "The genius of the way Patchett approached Commonwealth is that it's constructed like a puzzle... Maybe it's another case of the tried-and-true adage: "Write what you know." Because this book? It's pure gangbusters."--San Francisco Chronicle "This is surely the smartest, most exciting novel of the summer."--Washington Post "Wryly humorous, intensely moving... this domestic novel is a book to savor from one of our finest writers"--Coastal Illustrated