Commonwealth

By: Ann Patchett

Narrated by: Hope Davis

Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

The acclaimed best-selling 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 20s, 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.

©2016 Ann Patchett (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

A must read for Ann Patchett fans

This is my favorite of all Ann Patchett's books!!!
I love her stories, but this is the best of them all. The narration by Hope Davis is perfection.

Ann Patchett is a masterful writer

I eagerly awaited this new novel by Ann Patchett. While it took a few chapters for me to become engaged with the story, once I did I couldn't let go. The descriptions of blended families and multiple marriages are so spot on I had tears in my eyes , both from sadness and from laughing. Anne Patchett is, in my opinion, one of the great American writers of this generation. I just wish my book club would choose one of her books!

Complexities of Relationships

First, I must say that the timeline shifts and the changing narrators made this a little harder to listen to. I think I would have enjoyed it more had I read it rather than listened to it. Still, the story captured the complexities of relationships and how chance encounters affect our whole lives. The narrator nailed the voice if Beverly - I could see that character, and that made the story for me.

Loved the Character Development

Where does Commonwealth rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 10

What other book might you compare Commonwealth to and why?

Diana Gabaldon books, specifically "Outlander" as far as being character driven.

Have you listened to any of Hope Davis’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No I have not.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"Commonwealth" of course.

Any additional comments?

This was a difficult listen at the beginning based solely on format. There were a lot of characters in the beginning to keep track of. If I'm listening, it means I don't have a pen and paper to jot down important info to keep characters straight. I would recommend that the listener read the first chapter to lock down the characters (what I finally did) and then enjoy the listen.

Enjoyable

it was an interesting and entertaining story. With it jumping around between the characters and the decades, it made it a little tricky to follow, but I enjoyed it.

Too Short!

Loved this book. LOVED Hope Davis. I was surprised when it ended. I felt like there were many more Keating/ Cousins stories to tell that I would have liked to hear.

Oranges?!? In June?!?

Any additional comments?

Bougainvillea without thorns? These two egregious botanical errors from an author raised in southern California got me off to a bad start with this book. As a huge fan of Bel Canto and State of Wonder I was really looking forward to this book. But the large cast of characters left most of them underdeveloped and subsequently hard to get inteterested in. Hope Davis' deadpan delivery was for once appropriate to the material. I found the famous author pick up scene at the Palmer House especially tiring. I did finish it and found some issues compelling, but will hope for better luck next time.

pretty good

but didn't like it as much as bel canto. bel canto felt more magical.
narrator was decent but didn't love the way she narrated women's dialogue. she made a lot of the women's voices sound silly, or comically feminine, Whereas, her regular speaking voice was pretty nice. But I felt like it made the female characters sound silly.

Great Listen!

Any additional comments?

Ann Patchett is one of my favorite author’s. I love her writing and Commonwealth was not a disappointment. The story involved divorce, dysfunction, two families and the children of those families.. For me, Commonwealth illustrated the feral quality of neglected children and how that feral-ness follows children into adulthood. The setting and the children bounce between California and the Commonwealth of Virginia, hence the title. I listened to this as an Audible book, but I’m sure I would have enjoyed it equally reading. Definitely a great listen and/or read!

Loved!

Book was one of the best I've ever read. Characters were so relevant and so well written. And I will now listen to any book Hope Davis reads. She was perfect.