Books like Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Ann Patchett’s Commonwealth begins with an unplanned meeting between Bert Cousins and Franny Keating’s family at a christening in Southern California. His kiss with Franny’s mother Beverly triggers dissolutions of marriages and a merging of two families. The novel follows the lives of the four parents and their six children over five decades, illustrating how this chance encounter reverberates through generations. Summertime camps in Virginia unite the Keating and Cousins children, whose shared disillusionment with their parents cultivates a deep, genuine affection. In her twenties, Franny’s affair with the famed author Leon Posen and her decision to reveal her family’s story bring her siblings’ pasts into the public eye, leading to the book’s success but also forcing the family to confront loss, guilt, and the powerful loyalty that holds them together.

First publish date: 2016