Book Review: Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

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Book Summary: Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Commonwealth tells the story of six kids in a blended family. It starts in 1971 and spans 50 years. While they all live in the city of Torrance, a suburb of Los Angeles, when the book opens, one set of parents decides to move to Virginia. The other two parents choose not to follow.

The arrangement results in the children having to spend their summers together in Virginia, and given that it’s the 70s, the kids are also on a long leash, which gives them a lot of unsupervised time together.

While on the one hand, it seems quite glorious, it also comes with unintended consequences.

Given that it spans 50 years, you also get to see what the kids are like as adults, and how the parents are faring as well.

Book Review: Commonwealth

My Take . . .

Commonwealth is a novel I fell in love with that I did not see coming. I read Commonwealth because I have A LOT of books in my Audible library that I haven’t listened to yet, and Commonwealth was one of them.

Some of Ann Patchett’s books feel almost like cautionary tales, and this is one of them. (I felt that way about The Dutch House, too.)

For this book, I think the question it’s grappling with is: What happens if parents divorce, remarry, and then move across the country? How does this work out long term for both the kids and the parents?

In a broader sense, you can also say the theme is: What are the unintended consequences of decisions we make when they don’t just affect us?

Commonwealth is one of those books that starts in a bit of a disorienting way. It starts at a Christening party for Frances (also called Franny). For that reason, don’t give up on this book early. One reader said they think it starts to take off around Chapter 6. I can’t remember if that’s where it hit its stride, but it didn’t take too long.

What I Liked . . .

• I’m always impressed when there’s a book within a book, which there is in this book.
• I loved how sweeping the story is, but it never felt overwhelming. It actually felt very satisfying.
• The novel goes back and forth in time, but it never loses the reader. (I find that some books do, so when I read a book that follows this format and doesn’t, I think it’s worth noting.)
• I found myself caring so much for these characters. I think it’s because of the sweeping nature of it, because by the end, I felt like I really knew them.
• I also like how you get to know the children when they were kids and as adults.
• The characters seemed very realistic. In fact, these characters might be some of the most realistic I’ve ever observed in a book. One of my pet peeves is when characters seem more like caricatures and not real people. I think this realistic portrayal is also why I cared about them so much.
• I like how each child and parent got their moment in the spotlight. There wasn’t just one main character. It focused mostly on Franny, which makes sense, but it gave the sense that the parents and the kids were all main characters.
• You learn fairly early on of a major event in the life of this family, but I like how there’s a slow reveal regarding the cause. The way this is done really drives the plot of the story.
• It was very well written without resorting to unnecessary flowery language.

What I Didn’t Like . . .

• I think my only complaint is that it starts a bit slow, but the early chapters are also important for setting up the rest of the book.

Who This Book is For

• People who like complex family sagas.
• If you’ve enjoyed other Ann Patchett novels, I think you will also like this one, especially if you liked The Dutch House.
• If you liked The Correspondent. While told in a very different format, it’s not told in letters, there are several similarities: they are both sweeping novels, they are both about complex families, and they both have a similar heaviness (without giving away too much).
• If you like authors like Elizabeth Strout, especially the Amgash series that features Lucy Barton.