Commonwealth patchett review7/8/2023 “The most remarkable thing” about these six joined children, Patchett tells us, is that “they did not hate one another, nor did they possess one shred of tribal loyalty … The six children held in common one overarching principle that cast their potential dislike for one another down to the bottom of the minor leagues: They disliked the parents. This one, taking place outside Los Angeles in the mid-1960s, is occasioned by a christening, but no matter: Before it’s done, a young lawyer named Bert Cousins is kissing Beverly Keating, mother of the newly baptized Franny and wife to Francis (Fix) Keating, a cop.īy the time we reach the second of the book’s nine chapters, we’re looking back on that day from a half century later, during which Bert and Beverly moved to Bert’s native Virginia, leaving Fix and Bert’s wife, Teresa, high and dry - while bringing the two Keating offspring and four Cousins offspring together for portions of each year. “Commonwealth” (Harper Collins, $27.99, 336 pages), Ann Patchett’s moving, beautifully crafted novel, begins with the sort of set piece that often looms large in stories including divorce as well as marriage: a booze-soaked party and all it does to lower inhibitions.
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