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    Commonwealth
    Commonwealth
    Commonwealth
    Audiobook10 hours

    Commonwealth

    Written by Ann Patchett

    Narrated by Hope Davis

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateSep 13, 2016
    ISBN9780062561718
    Commonwealth
    Author

    Ann Patchett

    Ann Patchett is the author of novels, works of nonfiction, and children’s books. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the PEN/Faulkner, the Women’s Prize for Fiction in the UK, and the Book Sense Book of the Year. Her novel The Dutch House was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages, and Time magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. President Biden awarded her the National Humanities Medal in recognition of her contributions to American culture. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she is the owner of Parnassus Books.

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    Reviews for Commonwealth

    4/5

    1,753 ratings133 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title engaging and well-read, with interesting characters and a rich portrayal of ordinary life. While some found it boring and irrelevant, others loved it and were deeply moved. The story explores interpersonal and family relationships, leaving readers thinking and wondering. Overall, it is a delightful, complex, and heartwarming book that is worth reading.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      It took me a while to start this, but once I did I listened non-stop. Beautiful writing and the reader is pitch perfect. I loved it.
    • 5/5
      Enjoyed every page! Heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. A master storyteller.
    • 4/5
      24. Commonwealth (Audio) by Ann Patchettreader: Hope Davispublished: 2016format: Overdrive digital audio, 10:34acquired: Libraryread: May 17-26rating: 4I like Ann Patchett and her clean prose that seems to always read well. [Commonwealth] is a book that accumulates attachment, and that has a lot of parts, and some parts work exceptionally well, and others don't work...or didn't for me. Initially I wasn't all that interested, but it was on audio and I didn't really mind it. Then I was loosely attached and then I was very much involved in all these characters and felt pretty good about the whole upon finishing. A plot summary won't do it justice. There are many kids from two marriages thrown together by parental affairs, divorces and second marriages. And they grow up each in their own way. They are children in the 70's and there is a lot of now, and a lot in between. And if there is a main point, I couldn't place my finger on it. I think the story is very personal and has echoes that go back into Patchett's own life, and her own parents divorce and east-west coast split. And, notably, having a police officer as a father. In her essay collection [This is the Story of a Happy Marriage] she has an essay about where she meets her father in California and goes through officer training as preparation for a book. I thought she had said in the essay she decided not to write the book (I don't know when the essay was written, but TSoaHM is from 2013.) This, it seems, is that book. note: The reader, Hope Davis, was excellent.
    • 5/5
      This is simply a brilliant book that has everything: character, plot, pacing, depth and understanding of the human condition. Plus the writing glows without being ostentatious. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      Unconventional, witty and surprisingly deep. You won’t find anything similar!
    • 5/5
      It has been a long time since a novel left me with such a book hangover. This one is rich with the profundity, the poignancy of "ordinary" life. Extraordinary book, superbly narrated.
    • 5/5
      sangat bagus saya sangat suka aplikasi ini karna cerita nya sangat lah menarik
    • 5/5
      Wow. We all have that "my childhood wasn't that great" perspective. This book does a great job of disecting our "perspectives" through an adult lens.
    • 5/5
      I found the story engaging and I also think it was very well read.
    • 3/5
      Not a fan of this story.
    • 1/5
      Most boring book ever! Hard to understand and to keep track of characters. I felt that everything was irrelevant. Can't even say what the plot is about after listening to the whole thing
    • 2/5
      I never saw the point of the book. A lot of rambling about the lives of the too many characters with no goal/plot. When it ended i said to myself, she could have gone forever with this rambling. It never felt like and end to anything.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. It made me cry more than once. Tales of families are always interesting to me. I might reread it at some time.
    • 5/5
      What a delightful, engaging, and complex story about interpersonal and family relationships.
    • 4/5
      Loved the book. There where moments I felt a bit lost with the 10 protagonists. However, I got to enjoy them and learn the intricate stories that spanned decades.
    • 3/5
      The characters were very interesting but the story did not pull me in like the Dutch House.
    • 3/5
      Blended family story with an attempt to track 5 of the family members through their young lives. I didn't really identify with any of the characters and wonder if she didn't take on one or two more than she might have to.
    • 5/5
      Best book of 2016 so far.
    • 5/5
      I love reading Ann Patchett. Each of her novels is unique. In this one she has written about 50 years in the span of two families, intertwined by divorce and re-marriage (the wife of one married the husband of the other).The children from both marriages shared vacation time together and the evolution of themselves and their relationships to each other is beautifully portrayed. Each parent was portrayed with candor as their inner feelings were revealed. In the end, a story of familial love and responsibility, with equal parts humor and drama.
    • 4/5
      Nice book. Makes you think! Wraps is well in the end, which I like. But does leave you wondering a lot about one character.
    • 4/5
      Story of a complicated family. Really liked it, but it was a bit of a challenge keeping track of all the people. Lots of interesting characters, but you don’t get too deeply into any one of them. I guess the focus is on the relationships among them all, and the hard-to-predict history of the parents, children, and grandchildren.
    • 3/5
      It was okay...the narrative was a little tough due to the fact that she has a lisp...that is tough for me to listen to for hours and hours.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I had no idea what this book would be about when I started it, but it captivated me from the first scene. It's an understated but powerful novel about family--the ones we have, the ones we choose, and the ones that are forced on us. Patchett treats her characters so humanely and with great compassion. I think we need that every once in a while.
    • 5/5
      Another great read/listen from Ann Patchett!
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. I loved all the complex and ultimately good characters, all the familiar and unfamiliar settings. I loved the carefully unfolding plot structure. The writing was funny, and sad, and true. But I've loved everything I've read by Ann Patchett — This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage, Run, Bel Canto (why do people dislike that one? do they find it implausible?), the amazing State of Wonder. There. Is that effusive enough?
    • 5/5
      A great story with such compelling characters, I couldn't put it down.
    • 1/5
      I waited so long to lay hands on this. I loved Bel Canto, I like Patchett. And I don't think I got 25 pages into this. An endless christening party described in endlessly dull detail; banal, self-involved people described in endlessly dull detail... maybe that was the point, but I couldn't stand one more minute in their company. Sorry, Ann. You gotta make me care a little about them or I'm taking the last slug of my wine and going home. A huge disappointment.
    • 3/5
      Bel Canto remains my all-time favorite, but I never regret reading Ann Patchett. This book was a good mix of characters and action -- like a dysfunctional Brady Bunch, but I ultimately wondered what it was about: there are the families that disband and reform -- thanks to copious amounts of gin. So is it about the childhood of Caroline & Franny (Fix and Beverly Keating) plus Holly, Cal, Jeannette and Albie (Bert and Teresa Cousins) and how they become mostly the responsibility of Beverly and Bert and run ragged with minimal supervision in the 60s? Or is it about how this all turns into a thinly disguised novel 20 years later when Franny dates the older, famous author Leon Posen and shares her stories with him which he pilfers into a best-seller? Is it about how they all rally together again after this fact as parents age and die? Or how they rallied as children about Cal? All possibilities. Interesting reading, but kind of a meander. There are definite villains (Bert, Leon, though even they have some endearing traits) and heroes (Franny, Teresa, Fix but they have some failings too). I just wanted a little direction here. The book jacket calls it "a meditation on inspiration, interpretation, and the ownership of stories." Got it. And?
    • 4/5
      Sit down with a pen and paper and prepare to write a family tree before you begin this novel. Or, be prepared to read solidly before you forget this large cast of characters and how they fit together in this contemporary family drama. Recommended if you like slice of life novels that weave back and forth between characters and decades.
    • 5/5
      4.5 stars. Audiobook by Hope Davis was excellent. Epic yet intimate look at fifty years of two families.