“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 … 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.
more
Found the story a tragic recounting of two families torn by divorce and blending and the impact it has on the children who splinter and divide.
Good one!
This is a well written book by a skilled author. The characters are interesting, ranging from hateful, selfish pig Bert to quiet, hard working Jeanette. I loved the chapters that dealt with the six children from the blended family running wild during the summers, and I hated the chapters that dealt with Franny’s relationship with Leon. The beginning of the story moves right along, the middle draaaaags, and the end picks back up. All in all, it’s a good read…but not a great read.
Could not get into this book. Stopped half way through.
At a christening party in the 1960s, a lawyer desperate to escape his house full of fractious children and pregnant wife crashes a christening party for the child of an acquaintance, a Los Angeles cop. By the end of the party, the lawyer will kiss the cop’s wife, leading to the breakup of two marriages. Commonwealth is the story, unwinding over fifty years, of what happens next to the couples and their six children as they navigate the subsequent decades.
Franny — the infant honoree at the christening party — grows up to be an aimless young woman who falls into an affair with a celebrated novelist. The novelist excavates Franny’s past and uses her childhood memories as the basis of his next bestseller; the family will eventually see their history, or rather a somewhat distorted version of it, play out on screen. None of them is thrilled about that, and while they make sure Franny is aware of their displeasure, they don’t shun her. Why would they? After all, she’s family.
Patchett treats her sprawling cast of characters with tenderness and respect, and portrays each one of them with such complexity and insight that they positively vibrate on the page. There are no caricatures here. My favorite was probably Teresa, the lawyer’s scorned first wife, who can be spiteful — she puts her four children on a flight to their father’s new house across the country with no luggage, assuring them that he and his new wife really WANT to buy them all new clothing and toys for the summer — but eventually builds a solid and successful new life for herself, and finds peace and even joy, despite enduring some nearly unbearable tragedies along the way.
In fact, after reading this book, you may feel as though you’ve experienced the ups and downs of ten different lives (the six kids and their four parents). You’ll love all of them, even the ones you don’t particularly like (if that makes any sense). This is a remarkable book; a must-read.
I had high hopes for this book. I kept waiting for something to happen-it started out with real promise. It wasn’t bad, but it just never went anywhere. It is the story of two families whose parents have an affair, get divorced, and get married creating a part time family with six kids. (The Brady Bunch they are not!).
The setting- The story starts in California in the 60s. Then it moves back and forth through time to end up in current day. During all the time jumping the story moves between California, Virginia, and Chicago depending on which character was in the lead. The author definitely used the different settings effectively to carry the story.
The characters – In the beginning there were two sets of parents and six children. Then after the divorce and marriages, you have to keep up with which children belong to which parents during different parts of their lives. As the characters age more characters (love interests, spouses, children, etc.) are involved. At times it felt like a party where you should know everyone but have difficulty keeping everyone straight. The author made these mixed up and confusing relationships realistic in the aftermath of divorce.
The plot – There isn’t a plot in the traditional sense of the word. Basically the story is told of the messed up childhood, including a death, experienced by the 6 kids who band together against the youngest brother. Then that story is told to a famous author by one of the kids (as an adult) who is in a relationship with him. He turns their life story into a best selling book. Then the story moves forward in time to how the grown children are dealing with their aging parents. Here I felt like the author meandered a bit with no apparent end game in sight.
The verdict – Personally, I think the author is a good writer – the book was easy to read and held my interest for the most part. She was able to convey the turmoil and frustration experienced by the characters well. However, there were too many loose ends for me. There were prominent characters at the beginning that just disappeared; there was a gun that was a big deal and never seemed to have any true importance; the story’s voice kept changing until about halfway then the rest of the story was told by Franny; the ending just ended. If I could give it 3.5 stars I would, but I’m left with just 3 to express how uninspired this book left me when I finished. It was just okay.