“Isn’t that what everyone wants, just for a moment to be unencumbered?”
Love intimate portrayals of family dynamics, complex relationships, and deep dives into the consequences of life-changing events? With its deeply human characters and emotionally-rich storytelling, Commonwealth by Ann Patchett has become one of the most beloved literary fiction books with dual timelines in recent times. If you’re searching for books like Commonwealth or novels that explore similar themes of blended families, divorce, and the messiness of growing up, this list is for you. From sweeping family sagas, domestic fiction to reflective, layered storytelling, join us today at What We Reading as we present our favourite books similar to Commonwealth that promise to stay with fans of Ann Patchett’s work long after they’ve finished the final page.
Commonwealth Book Summary
On a sunny Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins arrives at Franny Keating’s christening party. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny’s mother, Beverly, setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families. Spanning the next five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. The Keating and Cousins children forge a lasting bond that is based on their mutual disillusionment with their parents and the strange affection that grows between them.
Told with equal measures of humour and heartache, Commonwealth is a reflection on inspiration, interpretation, and the ownership of stories. One of the best Ann Patchett books, it is a tender tale of the far-reaching ties of love and responsibility that keep us all tethered together.
The Dutch House – Ann Patchett
Kicking off our list of books like Commonwealth is another one of Ann Patchett’s best works, The Dutch House. The story opens with Cyril Conroy combining luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, launching his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to purchase the Dutch House, a lavish estate outside Philadelphia he intends to surprise his wife with. The house soon sets in motion the undoing of everything he loves.
Similar to Commonwealth, The Dutch House is set over the next five decades and charts the story of two smart people who cannot overcome their pasts. Throughout their lives, Danny and Maeve, Cyril’s children, are only comfortable when they’re together. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally put to the test.
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Sandwich – Catherine Newman
For the past twenty years, Rocky has looked forward to her family’s annual escape to Cape Cod. Their humble beach-town rental has been the stage for plenty of sweet memories, sunny days, great meals, and countless messes. This year’s vacation, with Rocky caught between her half-grown kids and fully ageing parents, promises to be just as delightful as summer’s previous. Except, perhaps, for Rocky’s hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy, triggered by her changing body.
And then a chain of events sends Rocky into the past, reliving both the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers. In one precious week, everything hangs in balance. And when Rocky comes face-to-face with her family’s history and future, she is forced to accept that she can no longer hide her secrets from those closest to her in Catherine Newman’s moving read, Sandwich, the perfect beach read like Commonwealth for anyone looking for a summery escape.
The Most Fun We Ever Had – Claire Lombardo
When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of everything that’s set to come. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are all in a state of unrest. Wendy, a young widow, remedies herself with booze and young men. Violet, a stay-at-home mother, battles anxiety and self-doubt. Liza, a neurotic professor, finds herself pregnant with a baby she isn’t sure she wants from a man she isn’t sure if she loves. And youngest daughter Grace begins living a lie that no one else in the family ever suspects.
As Claire Lombardo’s acclaimed The Most Fun We Ever Had moves through the tumultuous year that follows the arrival of Jonah Bendt, given up by one of the daughters fifteen years earlier, we are given a rich tapestry of the Sorensons’ past in a way that is sure to resonate with anyone who loved Commonwealth.
Same As It Ever Was – Claire Lombardo
After a childhood marred by upheaval and emotional turbulence, Julia Ames has found herself on the placid plateau of mid-life. Yet, despite having nearly derailed herself several times looking desperately for the sort of connection that has always felt inaccessible to her, Julia finally feels, at the age of fifty, that she has a strong handle on things.
She’s unprepared, though, for what comes next: a surprise announcement from her son, an impending separation from her daughter, and a seductive resurgence of the past. All of these revelations threaten to pull her back into the patterns that had previously kept her on a razor’s edge. Like Commonwealth, Same As It Ever Was traverses the rocky terrains of real life, delving deeper into the nature of relationships and he happenstantial cause-and-effect that governs us all.
Three Days In June – Anne Tyler
Gail Baines is having a bad day. To begin, she loses her job. Or quits it, depending on who you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organised by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat in his arms, without a place to stay, and without even a suit.
However, the true crisis arrives when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband-to-be. It will not only throw the wedding into question, but also dredge up Gail and Max’s past. Similar to Commonwealth, Anne Tyler’s new 2025 literary book, Three Days in June, is told with sensitivity and a tart sense of humour, brimming with joys and heartbreaks as it tackles all that comes with marriage and family life.
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
