Play Book Tag discussion

I read this book in June, before I read the author's two memoirs (which I really liked). I enjoy Patchett's writing, and for the most part I liked this book, but I felt like she skirted along the surface of the stories about this blended family. I didn't feel like she really got to the heart of the character's emotions or motivations - especially the mother whose divorce and new marriages disrupted two families, and led to the formation of a large blended family.

When I read the author's memoir This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, I discovered that the wild blended family (with siblings, half-siblings or step-siblings) was based on the author's real life experience (though the most dramatic plot was not). Patchett was writing about her own parent's divorce and new marriages. I think writing a semi-autobiographical novel puts constraints on an author's imagination. What young woman can really understand the secrets and complexities of her mother's inner life and (3) marriages? There must be an added pressure to avoid making her family members look bad, because she loves them and wants to keep them in her life.

My initial rating of this book was a little lower, but I appreciated the book (and the author) a little more after reading her memoirs. There was a meta-fiction element to this story that was highlighted (in my mind) by a delightful similarity to a concept in A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne. (About an author writing a novel about a friend's biggest secret.) I really enjoy when something in one book enhances my enjoyment of others.

This isn't my favorite Patchett book, but I liked it much more than State of Wonder.

I am interested in your review, Nancy. I read "Commonwealth" when it first came out and found it bewildering to keep the family members straight. At the time, I even made a family tree so that I could remember which parent had which kids. I thought of the book as average. However, it's a book that I remember and have grown more fond of over time. It's anything but average.

Like you, I have read Patchett's two memoirs. They explain so much. Didn't you like seeing the photo of Patchett with her three fathers? She did experience living in a blended family.

I read this a few years ago and liked it but was not enamored. I agree it is far better than State of Wonder which I thought wesk, poorly conceived, and a writing experiment that failed.

Neither came remotely close to Bel Canto.

What I do like so much is Patchett's willingness to explore and experiment with her writing. Even when I am less than impressed, her books engage me.