Commonwealth, by Ann Patchett

 

Characters
Cousins Family	Keating Family
Albert “Bert” – Deputy DA Teresa – first wife Holly Cal – died from bee sting Jeannette Albert “Albie”   (Bert and Beverly married and live in Virginia with Caroline and Franny.)   (Teresa lives in California with Holly, Cal, Jeannette and Albie.)   (Fix lives in California)	Francis “Fix” – policeman Beverly – first wife Caroline Frances “Franny”   Bonnie – Beverly’s sister Father Joe Mike – priest, married Bonnie   Leon Poser – author, wrote Commonwealth   Marjorie – Fix’s second wife   Jack Dine – Beverly’s third husband
Twenty years later:   Teresa – sick, died in hospital   Holly – Zen center in Switzerland   Jeannette - married Fode, one baby son Bintou – babysitter   Albie – married, one daughter	Twenty years later:   Fix – 93, cancer, married to Marjorie   Franny – married Kumar, two stepsons   Caroline – lawyer, married Wharton, one son

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

1.       Discuss the four parents: Fix, Beverly, Teresa and Bert.  Why didn’t Beverly pay more attention to all of the children?  Were you surprised that Bert suddenly had to work more when his four children came to visit while Fix took vacation time when Caroline and Franny came back to California?  What did you think of Teresa sending the four kids to Virginia with no luggage?

2.       Why did the Cousins children’s visits to Virginia end after Cal died?  Were you surprised at this?

3.       Why did Albie set fires?    Should the adults have known and been able to prevent this? 

4.       How did you think Cal died before you got to page 255 and read about the bee sting?

5.       Would the children’s situation have been different if there was more adult supervision?  Should someone have known that the older children were drugging Albie with the Benadryl?

6.       Franny told Beverly and Bert that Fix was going to law school at night and was very proud that he was going to school at the same time he was working.   Caroline was mad she told them and hit her.  Beverly did not reprimand her because she “was afraid of her older daughter and she didn’t step in unless there was blood” (page 126).  What did you think of the relationship among Beverly, Caroline and Franny?

7.       Discuss Fix relationship with his daughters.  He “had favored Caroline even before he started law school…It was because Caroline’s hatred for Bert burned like a clean white flame, and because she went out of her way to make her mother’s life miserable and then report the whole thing back to her father” (pages 127-128).  Was it fair to everyone to encourage this?

8.       Regarding Caroline and Franny, the author wrote that “the real difference between Caroline and Franny was that Caroline cared. She cared about the law and tennis and her grades in classes…what her father said about their mother…Franny just wanted to go back to the car and read Agatha Christie” (page 128).  How does this difference explain what happened to Caroline and Franny later in life?

9.       When Leon and Franny spent the summer in Amagansett, were you surprised that everyone took advantage of Franny and saw nothing wrong with her waiting on them the entire time?   What would you have done in this circumstance?

10.   Did Caroline and Franny have a choice about helping Teresa at end of novel when she was sick?  Was it fair for Albie to ask?

11.   What did you think about Fix asking Franny to help with suicide?

12.   Was it fair for Leon to write a book about Franny’s family?  Aside from historical fiction, do you think this happens often with fiction writers?

13.   Would you have gone to see the movie?