Commonwealth in Around the World in 80 Books

Oct 16, 2016 Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance rated it really liked it

An unexpected kiss, and ten lives are destroyed. Or are they?

Patchett plays with the idea of how a tiny event can shape lives in this story which follows ten people over fifty years. An uninvited guest shows up at a baptism and impulsively kisses a married woman. The two divorce and marry, reshaping their own lives and the lives of their spouses and the lives of their children. But how much does the kiss really change? In the end, maybe a kiss is just a kiss....

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Apr 28, 2019 Johanne rated it really liked it

Shelves: library-books, 2019-books

I wasn’t sure about this book at first. I just love some of Ann Patchett’s books - Bello Canto is one of my absolute favourites - but others leave me a little cold. I wasn’t sure where this one was fitting in, but it really grew on me. It’s all about family - what makes you a family, what are the connections, how do they change over time? Having grown up with a complicated blended family and deep ties to step-siblings, there was so much I related to in the story. And I found myself profoundly at ...more

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Jul 12, 2017 Missyjohnson1 rated it liked it · review of another edition

This was more a series of short stories that were loosely tied together. It did not feel like the characters were very developed. I did not like this nearly as much as Bel Canto or State of Wonder. I wanted there to be a defining moment of understanding or something. but then, as I say that, I guess this was more like real life and how everything doesn't fit into some neat little package and everyone lives happily ever after. I did want to know more about each of the siblings and why Jeanette di ...more

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Jan 15, 2017 Betty rated it really liked it

Ann Patchett is a favorite author of mine. This doesn't have the drama of Bel Canto, one of my all time favorite books, but the story of these families over a life time really sticks with you. Her development of relationships and bonds between people is well crafted and compelling. I read her interview with Slate after I finished the book, and thought I would paste it hear, because it offers good insight to the parallels between the book and her own life. Worth the read.

http://www.slate.com/arti ...more

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