Bel Canto by Ann Patchett is one of my favourite books — it took me by surprise when I first read it and I absolutely loved it from about, oh, page one…! (Don’t you love it when a book does that?)

Now, here’s the odder thing—well, I think it’s odd anyway, even though the observation is at my own expense—I loved Bel Canto so much that I actively avoided reading Ann Patchett’s other novels because I was afraid of being disappointed. There was definitely an inverse correlation at play between the extent of my love for Bel Canto and my consequent fear of disappointment.

Which just goes to show that Pascal (1623-1662) was indeed correct when he observed that “the heart has its reasons that reason knows not of.”

However, sufficient time  must now have passed for me to overcome this barrier, or perhaps it is simply that my hope of reading some more transcendently great writing has tipped the scales against fear of disappointment. 😉

Be that as it may, I now have Commonwealth on the TBR table and I am not sure if I shall be able to resist reading it very soon.

In the meantime, here’s what the backcover copy says about the story:

“One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating’s christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has been kissed by Franny’s mother, Beverley—thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families.

Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Spending summers together in Virginia, the Keating and Cousins children forge a lasting bond that is based on a shared disillusionment with their parents and the strange and genuine affection that grows up 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. Their childhood becomes the basis for his wildly successful book, ultimately forcing them to come to terms with their losses, their guilt, and the connection they feel for one another.

Told with equal measures of humor and heartbreak, Commonwealth is a meditation on inspiration, interpretation, and the ownership of stories. It is a brilliant and tender tale of the far-reaching ties of love and responsibility that bind us together.”

For those, like me, who are already interested, here are links to two early reviews from the NY Times & The Guardian:

NY Times

The Guardian