Comments (52)

What did you think about this title?
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Aug 13, 2023SBTanner3 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I’m glad I didn’t let some of the negative comments put me off reading this one. I found it to be well-written and thoroughly engaging. The characters seem so real and the interactions/relationships of blended families felt authentic,…
Aug 31, 2021picton rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Loved it!
Jun 06, 2021JamesMallory rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Well, I love Ann Patchett's other work, but I got so bored by chapter 2 that I stopped reading this one. Perhaps I missed a great book, but she totally failed to motivate me to continue reading.
Apr 25, 2021
Interesting read but I was waiting for more - Too much detail but not enough substance. Good light read.
Apr 12, 2021LCPL_Cathy rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
With Commonwealth, Ann Patchett has created a novel with multi-dimensional characters that feel like people you know. This sprawling family saga demonstrates how life can turn on a dime and how family can bind us as well as tear us apart.…
Feb 02, 2021
I looked this book. And her writing style.
Dec 29, 2020Trixie_reads rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Even at the end, I kept having to remind myself which kids belonged to which parents.
Dec 26, 2020SarahLouiseMurphy7 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Also extraordinary book and one of the best I have read.
Oct 09, 2019empbee rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
An interesting story about the complications of extended families. The characters are interesting, the turns of lives are captivating. The last fifty and some pages are stretched.
Oct 03, 2019pridi_o rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Interesting details of child abuse and neglect by incompetent parents. Interesting chapter on a book written about the book :) fun :). Interesting details of what middle class in the US could afford in terms of children, houses, airfare…
Aug 26, 2019
Tea & Talk Book Club / November 2017
Jun 01, 2019nalahblueberry5 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book a lot. Ann Patchett knows what she is doing.
Jan 22, 2019
This has been on my "to read" list for a long time now, and finally, I got around to reading it last week. As I was just getting into it, I thought that it seemed autobiographical, so I did a little research and found that was indeed the…
Nov 27, 2018
What combination of parents and children does it take to make a family dysfunctional - more importantly- when does the dysfunction begin? Where does it end?
Oct 10, 2018cwread15 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
As the number of pages left to read dwindled I realized I wanted to slow my reading because I would miss the characters Franny and Caroline so much. It is a big story with many characters leading complicated lives. Children deal with…
Jul 02, 2018cathyingram rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Patchett's stories are rich and layered. Always such a satisfying read!
Feb 26, 2018
Enjoyed this book. In spite of a horrendous childhood, the 6 children turned out OK, mostly. The happy families you see on TV are not so common in real life.
Nov 21, 2017becker rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
The first chapter of this book sets the scene for everything that comes after it. It involves a bottle of gin brought to a Christening party, the resulting morality meltdown of the party guests and ultimately a forbidden kiss which…
Nov 07, 2017cknightkc rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
COMMONWEALTH refers to the state of Virginia where much of this novel’s action takes place, but COMMONWEALTH is also the name of a book within the book which traces the ripple effects of infidelity, divorce, and remarriage on the lives of…
Sep 06, 2017writermala rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
The story starts with a christening where an uninvited guest changes the history of two families. The novel weaves around marriage breakdown, divorce, step children and step siblings. Three husbands, three wives, and six children are…
Sep 03, 2017DorisWaggoner rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I should have done as another reader did, and made a list of the characters, their characteristics, and their relationships. Even reading the book in two days, I had trouble keeping track of them. I never had this problem with "Bel…
Aug 23, 2017KatTheGreat rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
A solid book that follows 2 families over 2 generations, and how their lives intertwine.
Aug 21, 2017ArapahoeJane rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This was a thoroughly enjoyable read with many characters and relationships explored. I will definitely look for other Ann Patchett books to read.
Jul 27, 2017sgcf rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Although I needed to keep track of characters on a scrap of paper stuck in the book, I let myself fall into the story, trusting, knowing I was in Patchett’s masterful hands. (Loved her Bel Canto.) This story is all about character as they…
HMWLibrary2017
Jul 14, 2017HMWLibrary2017 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Okay but not great. "Bel Canto" it isn't. More of yet another portrait of another dysfunctional family although this one told by a massively talented author.