As Leo Tolstoy famously wrote in “Anna Karenina,” “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
In the book “Commonwealth” Ann Patchett explores the theme of seemingly happy families being broken and what happens when two families combine to form one.
The novel begins in Torrance, California, at a christening party.
Deputy district attorney Bert Cousins was not invited to the party, but he crashes it to escape from his family, which consists of three children and a fourth on the way.
Cousins brings along a bottle of gin and gives it to the father of the baby, Fix Keating.
Not only does Bert have the audacity to crash a party and bring alcohol to a sacred occasion, he also has another ulterior motive for attending: he wants Keating’s wife, Beverly, who he kisses later that evening.
The events of the christening party result in many tumultuous events, including the marriage of Beverly and Cousins, who move to Virginia to start a new life together.
While Beverly’s two daughters spend most of their time in Virginia with her, Bert’s four children visit every summer.
It is those summers where this new family is forced together that ultimately change the lives of the Keating and Cousins children.
The novel spans 50 years and switches back and forth from the past to the present.
Throughout the novel, the audience learns the fate of each child and about a devastating loss the Keatings and Cousins experience one summer.
Harboring the experience of tragedy, the children make mistakes and amends.
The youngest child, Albie, becomes an arsonist. Franny, who was the baby honored at the christening party all those years ago, inadvertently becomes a muse for a famous writer, who uses the story of her childhood for the basis of his book “Commonwealth.”
Through this plot point, “Commonwealth” becomes a book within a book, a story within a story. Although the repercussions of the book serve as painful reminders for the family, instead of resentment, it results in reconciliation.
Patchett masterfully weaves the story and switches from the past to the present and character to character with ease.
While this type of narrative takes some getting used to, it made me want to keep reading to discover what happened to the Keating and Cousins families.
I enjoyed Patchett’s novel mostly because she was able to capture the pain of looking back on childhood events during adulthood without being overly sentimental.
She also beautifully captures how children from broken families grow and adjust: how their relationships with their parents as well as each other change throughout the years.
The characters in “Commonwealth” are believable because they are imperfect. Even Beverly and Cousins, who are at some points viewed as villains by their children and ex-spouses, are redeemable at the end of the novel.
“Commonwealth” is thought-provoking, moving and a perfect blend of light and dark.
With all of its depth and substance, it was still an easy read, and I had trouble putting it down.
Even readers who are not from broken homes and have not yet experienced the loss of someone close to them will likely be able to find a way to relate to this story.
kchrisco@ius.edu
@katiechrisco