I was excited to get my hands on Commonwealth by Ann Patchett, and was thoroughly disappointed by it. While I did finish the book, I feel no better for having done so. I should have abandoned ship in the first 50 pages. The storyline certainly had potential, and, if you have read any of the hype about the book or the flyleaf, you would certainly pick it up: “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.” But, the following five decades jump back and forth and around to such an extent that I could never keep anything straight. It made for an unenjoyable experience.