Ann Patchett's cleverly crafted "Commonwealth" is one of her best, which for this writer is saying a great deal.

Ann Patchett is the author of six novels and three works of non-fiction. She has been shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction three times; with "The Magician's Assistant" in 1998, winning the prize with "Bel Canto" in 2002, and was most recently shortlisted with "State of Wonder" in 2012. She is also the winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2012. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. She is the co-owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville, where she lives with her husband, Karl.

When Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating's christening party uninvited.