The sweep of it and the subtlety of the ideas - Esther Freudįrom the mesmerising first chapter to the final page, Ann Patchett's new novel is utterly brilliant. So clear and clean and at the top of her game. She is one of those rare writers, like Anne Enright or Anne Tyler, who is able to convey poignancy and humour in the space of a single sentence - Elizabeth Day * Irish Times * The opening chapter is one of the best party-scene seductions ever written - Louise Erdrich, author of The Beet Queen She never hits a wrong note although she conjures with many deftly drawn characters. This novel convinces me she's wiping the floor with her heftier competitors - Linda Grant * Daily Telegraph *Ĭommonwealth is full of heart, and is Patchett's most complex and emotionally suspenseful novel. Her unshowy account of public and private stories addresses the great puzzle of what our lives are really made of. She achieves the great novel of American domestic life with a spare hand and a demotic prose that seems to come from the mouths of her characters, even when they aren't speaking. You miss the characters once it's over * Evening Standard * An engaging novel that draws you in with sharp observation, a gin-fuelled plot written in beautiful prose and convincing dialogue. Commonwealth is a book about relationships and the obligations they bring. The book flows easily between narrators, constantly switching from past to present, and slowly revealing what happened that summer, allowing Patchett to play with memory and perspective to surprisingly moving effect. The combination of lightness, warmth and remarkable incisiveness creates a novel that is life-affirming and compulsively readable * Sunday Times * Her characters shimmer with life-likeness, and she pulls you into every one of her vibrantly drawn scenes with great ease. sharply observed, ripe with humour, laden with significance.

Patchett writes excellently and seemingly artlessly * Daily Mail *ĭazzling. Patchett deftly summons up a simmering childhood anger and dangerously ricocheting energy * The Times * Her prose is equally powerful when she's evoking a 1970s summer in Virginia. Patchett is a pleasure to read: there is a no-fuss casualness to the prose that is only possible when a writer is in control of every word and she is master of her art * Observer *

Hugely entertaining and an unsettling joy to read - Roddy Doyle * Irish Times *Īn outstanding novel. Alive with provocative insights that sum up entire relationships - Sarah Churchwell * Guardian * Commonwealth is one of the most discerning novels about siblings I can recall. Part of Patchett's design is to curve every type, bend every cliche, adulterate every formula.

Patchett blends wisdom and humanity jointly with the icy forensic gaze of someone not afraid to expose the frailties of human behaviour.

Commonwealth ann patchett summary