Commonwealth - Softcover

Patchett, Ann

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062491830 ISBN 13: 9780062491831

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2017

Synopsis

#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.

About this title

Review:

"Patchett gives us funny, flawed characters, and the rich reward of Commonwealth is seeing their lives unfold..."--Houston Chronicle

"a wry, compassionate tale"--Christian Science Monitor

"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

"Wryly humorous, intensely moving... this domestic novel is a book to savor from one of our finest writers"--Coastal Illustrated

Praise for Commonwealth
"Patchett brings humanity, humor, and a disarming affection to lovable, struggling characters... Irresistible."--Library Journal

"Exquisite... Commonwealth is impossible to put down."--New York Times

"(A) rich and engrossing new novel ..."--New York Times Book Review

"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

"The prose is lean and inviting...A satisfying meat-and-potatoes domestic novel from one of our finest writers."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Book Description:

A No. 1 New York Times bestseller, the 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

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0062491830
• ISBN 13: 9780062491831
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336