Lara answers “Just finished the book and am having a...”

Laurie Bublick asked this question about Commonwealth:

Just finished the book and am having a "fight" with my other friends. I say that Cal died when Caroline shot him to cover up for the fact that he died of a bee sting since he had run out of his Benedryl. Other members felt he died ONLY from the bee sting. Who is correct?

Lara The gun was never fired. I think Patchett was playing with our expectation that if there is a gun introduced in fiction someone will always get shot. …moreThe gun was never fired. I think Patchett was playing with our expectation that if there is a gun introduced in fiction someone will always get shot. It created a level of simmering tension and danger. I've noticed she likes to do that with details in her books. The fact that the gun was never actually used (and of course there is another important scene with a different gun later on that is also never used but is very scary), doesn't detract from the fact that the presence of the gun is scary. The children live lives that are just kind of scary and stressful. Maybe that's what childhood is? Especially in "broken" homes. Another detail I found very scary was the fact that Caroline secretly hit Franny when no one was around to see.(less)

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