Told with equal measures humor and heartbreak, Commonwealth is a meditation on inspiration, interpretation, and the ownership of stories, a brilliant and tender tale of the far-reaching ties of love and responsibility that bind us to one another. Their childhood becomes the basis for his wildly successful book, ultimately forcing them to come to terms with their losses, guilt, and the deep loyalty they feel for one another. Spending summers together in Virginia, the Keating and Cousins children forge a lasting bond based on a shared disillusionment with their parents and the strange and genuine affection that grows 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. Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. In your writing career, you’ve had plenty of opportunity to think about who gets to tell whose story. When a famous writer Franny dates turns around and writes a bestselling novel full of her family stories, we have to contemplate whether it’s a betrayal or fair game. She herself grew up in a blended family, and was moved from California to Virginia by her mother when she remarried. 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. Above: Watch Ann Patchett discuss the cover of Commonwealth. Patchett’s personal history is closely intertwined in the story. One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating's christening party uninvited.

The commonwealth ann patchett