'Exquisite. . .Commonwealth is impossible to put down.' -- New York Times #1 New York Times Bestseller NBCC Award Finalist New York Times Best Book of the Year USA Today Best Book TIME Magazine Top 10 Selection Oprah Favorite Book New York Magazine Best Book of The Year The acclaimed, bestselling author--winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize--tells the enthralling story of how an unexpected romantic encounter irrevocably changes two families' lives. One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating's christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny's mother, Beverly--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