Play Book Tag discussion

Commonwealth – Ann Patchett
Digital audiobook narrated by Hope Davis
4****

Two families – the Cousins and the Keatings – are intertwined after a chance encounter at the christening party for Franny Keating. The couples divorce, and intermarry. The novel follows the four parents and six children over five decades. The children form a bond over their shared summers in Virginia. But in her twenties, Franny meets a famous author and begins an affair with him. He uses the stories she tells of her siblings and their childhood as the basis for his best-selling novel. With all their secrets in plain view, the siblings have to come to terms with their family dynamic.

As children, the six kids are frequently left to their own devices, the adults in their lives too busy with their own drama to focus on the children. And what could possibly happen? How the adult siblings each interpret and remember what has happened, and how they manage the burden of guilt or shame is the main focus of the novel. Everyone self-medicates with alcohol – gin and orange juice being a particular favorite, a “cure” passed down from parents to their adult children.

If I’ve made this sound bleak, well, it isn’t. As in real life, there are scenes that humorous to balance those that are distressing.

Patchett really shines when exploring human relationships. She slowly reveals secrets, desires, hopes, and fears until the reader feels she truly knows these people. Little by little events are revealed, and characters are fully realized. Like her other works, this would be a great choice for a book club discussion!

Hope Davis does a fine job narrating the audiobook. She has great pacing and really brought the novel to life for me.



LINK to my review

I really enjoyed this audio. I couldn’t stop listening. The narrator was great. It’s the only Patchett novel I’ve read. I’m going to try Bel Canto next.

I like Ann Patchett, but this has received such mixed reviews that I've held off. You have made me want to read it, thank you.

Susie wrote: "I really enjoyed this audio. I couldn’t stop listening. The narrator was great. It’s the only Patchett novel I’ve read. I’m going to try Bel Canto next."

I've only ever read Bel Canto, and that was over 10 years ago. I keep thinking I should read another one of her novels.

I also saw that the reviews were all over the map. I expected to dislike it. But I actually really enjoyed it. It had a slow subtle quality. The way the writing worked, you were introduced to the fallout of the action rather than the action itself. Or how to people or dynamics had developed as a result. You had to later understand what the action actually was. So it’s written in a more unusual way. But I liked it.