Ann Patchett

Commonwealth

Kristen Thomas

“All the stories go with you, Franny thought, closing her eyes. All the things I didn’t listen to, won’t remember, never got right, wasn’t around for. All the ways to get to Torrance.”

THE NO. 1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A powerful story of two families brought together by beauty and torn apart by tragedy, the new novel by the Orange Prize-winning author of Bel Canto and State of Wonder is her most astonishing yet It is 1964: Bert Cousins, the deputy district attorney, shows up at Franny Keating's christening party uninvited, bottle of gin in hand. As the cops of Los Angeles drink, talk and dance into the June afternoon, he notices a heart-stoppingly beautiful woman. When Bert kisses Beverly Keating, his host's wife, the new baby pressed between them, he sets in motion the joining of two families whose shared fate will be defined on a day seven years later. In 1988, Franny Keating, now twenty-four, has dropped out of law school and is working as a cocktail waitress in Chicago. When she meets one of her idols, the famous author Leon Posen, and tells him about her family, she unwittingly relinquishes control over their story. Franny never dreams that the consequences of this encounter will extend beyond her own life into those of her scattered siblings and parents. Told with equal measures of humour and heartbreak, Commonwealth is a powerful and tender tale of family, betrayal and the far-reaching bonds of love and responsibility. A meditation on inspiration, interpretation and the ownership of stories, it is Ann Patchett's most astonishing work to date.

Rebeca Keren Nuñez

"Commonwealth" de Ann Patchett es una exploración magistral de las complejidades de las relaciones familiares y sus ramificaciones a lo largo del tiempo. La autora teje una narrativa cautivadora que se despliega en décadas, pintando un retrato vívido de dos familias interconectadas.

La trama se desencadena cuando un romance clandestino entre dos personas casadas da lugar a la escritura de un libro que se convierte en un bestseller. Este evento actúa como un punto de inflexión, alterando irreversiblemente la vida de los cuatro padres y los seis hijos involucrados. A través de las décadas, Patchett explora las consecuencias de esta unión prohibida, desentrañando los hilos complejos que unen y separan a estas dos familias.

La fortaleza de "Commonwealth" radica en sus personajes complejos y bien desarrollados. Patchett logra dotar a cada uno con una autenticidad palpable, permitiendo a los lectores sumergirse en sus alegrías, penas y contradicciones. La narrativa se desarrolla de manera no lineal, saltando en el tiempo con maestría, revelando capas de la historia gradualmente.

La prosa de Patchett es elegante y evocadora, creando imágenes y emociones que perduran en la mente del lector. Su habilidad para explorar los matices de la condición humana, la lealtad y la resiliencia es notable. A medida que los personajes enfrentan las consecuencias de sus elecciones, la novela invita a la reflexión sobre la naturaleza del perdón y la construcción de la identidad.

"Commonwealth" es una obra literaria que va más allá de la narración familiar convencional. Ann Patchett ofrece una mirada profunda a las complejidades de las relaciones, las intersecciones entre el arte y la vida, y cómo las decisiones individuales reverberan en la colectividad. Con su prosa conmovedora y personajes inolvidables, esta novela se erige como un retrato conmovedor de la experiencia humana en toda su complejidad.

Laura Mauler

Second reading: this may be my Desert Island Discs book. It is certainly one of my favorite books of all time.

I was unprepared for how great this story was going to be, for how much I was going to love it.

Caroline

I liked this book's pace and exploration of the different children's lives and nuances. Probably a bit flowery at times but nonetheless, a good story to read over a summer weekend.

Living in Virginia, this book felt so much like home. I love the way Patchett tells stories about messy families, especially this one.

Elisabeth Thoresen

Meghan Navoy

I really wanted to love this book but I thought it was just ok. I felt like because of the changing times and all the different characters it was hard to really get into a flow with this book, which is probably why it took me so long to read it.

Alexandra Sklar

I love a novel about large families, and this was fine. Didn't have affinity for any particular character, which was disorienting. This shallowness was not balanced by depth elsewhere (relationships between characters, setting, plot). Average, but I liked.

Nadine 

Wasn't as impressed as other reviews would have led me to be. It took forever to get into it and I couldn't really empathize with any of the main characters. The combining of the reality and fiction while a clever literary device seemed a little forced. Female characters better embodied than the cardboard cutout men.

Steffi

** spoiler alert **
           3.5

It had potential in the beginning and then sometimes during the childhood, but certain parts started dragging. Especially when Franny met Leon. I wanted to skip that part so much, but knew that was pretty much what the synopsis revolved around. The part that really lost me was the summer Franny and Leon spent at the actress' house and the Christmas party at her mother's house. At that point there was too much additional step brother or step sister in law of that kind that I stopped caring about them all entirely. It took me a while to remember who the Cousin children were and in which order they came in. Overall it was a good read, but not one I would recommend as I'm not sure if I should take a star away or add one.

Gabriella LePage

The story kicked off with a bang - an adulterous kiss between a party host and a guest who has never received an invite. We see the cast of Commonwealth grow, change, and form new bonds over the course of three generations. The story jumps back and forth between present day, the 60s, and the years in between. 
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Patchett dreamed up quite the cast of characters who all have their quirks and their own misfortunes. It's a moving story about how one (not-so) minute act can set off a chain of events, wreaking havoc along the way.
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I enjoyed diving into the world of the Keatings and the Cousins, but I needed more of a PLOT. Which, I understand, is personal preference. Commonwealth left me wanting more. What happened in the in-between years with the characters, what caused them to progress in the way they did? I suppose we saw the family members just about as much (if not more) than they saw each other.

Once I accepted that I should stop waiting for something to just happen and take the story for what it is - a blended family waxing and waning over the course of their lives - I was able to enjoy it.
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It was a solid read, though not a personal favorite. Overall, I give this one 3.5 stars.

Melody Izard

Merged families can have it rough. But they sure can be a great source of stories. Should you share them? Sprinklings of truth make for good fiction, but what if secrets are revealed and feelings are hurt? Ann Patchett stuffs some of her personal stuff all up in this novel and its rich and precious and family reigns high.

Karen Shimek

Very ordinary from a normally excellent writer. It starts out well, but gets a bit tedious. Bel Canto is much better.

Summer Stanley

Lovely storytelling. I adored so many of the characters despite their flaws. Patchett's writing is completely captivating.

Celeste Sunderland Gottfried

One of those can't-put-down family sagas.

'Dazzling ... The combination of lightness, warmth and remarkable incisiveness creates a novel that is life-affirming and compulsively readable' Sunday Times It is 1964: Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating's christening party uninvited and notices a heart stoppingly beautiful woman. When he kisses Beverly Keating, his host's wife, he sets in motion the joining of two families, whose shared fate will be defined on a day seven years later. In 1988, Franny Keating, now twenty-four, is working as a cocktail waitress in Chicago. When she meets the famous author Leon Posen one night at the bar, and tells him about her family, she unwittingly relinquishes control over their story...

Elena Garcia Navarro

Michelle Xu

I didn't start getting into the book until the 3rd chapter. After that, I basically flew through it.

None of the characters were particularly memorable, but I think how everything tied together, and how the stories pieced together were what kept me reading. It made me both laugh and cry all the way throughout. 

I wish it didn't end so suddenly. I felt like I still wanted to know what happened to all the other characters. When I got to the last page, I was left with, "What this is the end?!"

(view spoiler)[ I wish that all the children would finally meet at some point like during someone's funeral or something. Instead, everyone was still far away from each other, doing their own thing :(  (hide spoiler)]

Jade Flynn

A family saga that spans five decades, is condensed into under 400 pages and is told in an nonlinear narrative, surprisingly works. An effortlessly beautiful story.

#1 New York Times Bestseller 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.

A Novel

Samantha Seeman

This story follows two families whose lives are completely destroyed and woven together due to one romantic encounter. This is not my typical read. Patchett covers a span of several time periods, and multiple characters, which ultimately became confusing to keep straight after a while. I did not take notes while reading this book, so I needed to reread frequently. I don’t know if it was the time period (60s and 70s) but I had a hard time with some of the character’s parenting styles. They felt a little too “hands off” and came across as extremely selfish to me. While I had a hard time with jumping around from time period and characters, by the end I felt as if I could spend more time with these characters, and really wanted a bit more from them. I picked this book up because it was that month’s Book Discussion choice at my library. I was unable to make it to the meeting, but found that I enjoyed a book I never would have picked up on my own for that reason.

Daryl Houston

I really liked Bel Canto and wanted to like this one if only on the basis of that prior judgment and of a sort of territorial pride (Patchett is a Tennessean too), but this one didn't do a whole lot for me. It was fine. Parts of it were good. As a whole, it just didn't do a whole lot for me, though.

"Commonwealth is the story of two broken families and the paths their lives take over the course of 40 years, through love and marriage, death and divorce, and a dark secret from childhood that lies underneath it all"...

Commonwealth

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