Summary | Excerpt | Reading Guide | Reviews | Readalikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Oct 2004, 448 pages
Paperback:
Aug 2005, 448 pages
A family saga that is timely in its examination of some of the most important issues of our era, and timeless in its exploration of the strange and unexpected places where we find love.
For ten summers,
the Seton family—all three generations—met at their country home in New
England to spend a week together playing tennis, badminton, and golf, and
savoring gin and tonics on the wraparound porch to celebrate the end of the
season. In the eleventh summer, everything changed. A hunting rifle with a
single cartridge left in the chamber wound up in exactly the wrong hands at
exactly the wrong time, and led to a nightmarish accident that put to the test
the values that unite the family—and the convictions that just may pull it
apart.
Before You Know Kindness is a family saga that is timely in its
examination of some of the most important issues of our era, and timeless in its
exploration of the strange and unexpected places where we find love.
As he did with his earlier masterpiece, Midwives, Chris Bohjalian has
written a novel that is rich with unforgettable characters—and absolutely
riveting in its page-turning intensity.
The sun was up over
Washington, Lafayette, and the trio of nearby cannonball-shaped mountains that
were called the Three Graces, and Nan Seton—elderly but far from frail—sat
sipping her morning coffee on a chaise lounge on the Victorian house's
wraparound porch. She noted how the sun was rising much later now than it had
even two or three weeks ago: It was already the twenty-eighth or twenty-ninth of
July (it disturbed her that she couldn't grab the precise date right now from
the air), and her children would be arriving tomorrow. Friday.
A golden retriever—old like her but not nearly so energetic—lolled near her
feet on the outdoor rug.
She had been on the porch close to half an hour and even the coffee in the
stovetop percolator she had brought outside with her was cold, when she heard
her granddaughters pound their way down the stairs. The older girl, Charlotte,
was twelve; the younger one, Willow (a name that drove Grandmother crazy both...
Richard Russo, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
Julia Glass, Winner of the National Book Award
If you liked Before You Know Kindness, try these:
by Liz Rosenberg
Published 2013
Read ReviewsAn exquisite tour de force, The Laws of Gravity is a testament to what it means to be a family, what it takes to save a life, and the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love.
by Nancy Reisman
Published 2005
Read ReviewsSet in Buffalo, New York in the 1930s and '40s, The First Desire is a book of great emotional power that brings to life the weave of love, grief, tradition, and desire that binds a family together.
A captivating thriller-at-sea set in Spanish colonial Havana in the 1860s.
About the book
The Girl Who Smiled Beads
by Clemantine Wamariya & Elizabeth Weil
A riveting story of survival, and the power of stories to save us.
Reader Reviews
The Comedown by Rebekah Frumkin
A blistering dark comedy that explores delineating lines of race, class, religion, and time.
Visitors can view some of BookBrowse for free. Full access is for members only.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends books that we believe to be best in class. Books that will whisk you to faraway places and times, that will expand your mind and challenge you -- the kinds of books you just can't wait to tell your friends about.
Subscribe to receive some of our best reviews, "beyond the book" articles, book club info & giveaways by email.
