Before You Know Kindness, Chris Bohjalian
Before You Know Kindness, Chris Bohjalian
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Before You Know Kindness

Author: Chris Bohjalian

Narrator: Susan Denaker

Unabridged: 17 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/08/2004


Synopsis

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.

“Few writers can manipulate a plot with Bohjalian’s grace and power.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Chris Bohjalian’s many fans will be glad to know he’s back on the high wire, expertly balancing topical issues with the more timeless concerns of the human heart. His well-drawn, sympathetic characters deepen and intensify the novel’s gripping plot rather than simply serving it. Before You Know Kindness is smart, first-rate storytelling.”—Richard Russo, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls

“Once again, Chris Bohjalian dares to tackle the complexities—and complacencies—of modern society at its most vulnerable spot, where the personal clashes with the political, where the private is forced to go public. And once again, he forges a drama that will keep his readers on the edge of their seats...perhaps their conscience as well.”—Julia Glass, winner of the National Book Award for Three Junes

“Chris Bohjalian’s magnificent new novel, Before You Know Kindness, is the best work of fiction I’ve read about an American family since Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. It is one of the funniest, best-written, most compassionate, most engaging, and flat-out most enjoyable novels I’ve ever read.”—Howard Frank Mosher, winner of the New England Book Award for A Stranger in the Kingdom

“Elegant, refined...a triumph.” —Booklist (starred review)

Also available as a Random House AudioBook, a Large Print edition, and an eBook.

About The Author

CHRIS BOHJALIAN is the author of twenty books, including The Guest Room; Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands; The Sandcastle Girls; Skeletons at the Feast; The Double Bind; and Midwives which was a number one New York Times bestseller and a selection of Oprah's Book Club. Chris's work has been translated into more than thirty languages, and three novels have become movies (Secrets of Eden, Midwives, and Past the Bleachers). Chris lives in Vermont and can be found at www.chrisbohjalian.com or on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Litsy, and Goodreads.Susan Denaker’s extensive theatre credits include numerous plays in the West End of London, national tours, and many English Rep companies, including a season with Alan Ayckbourn’s company in Scarborough. More recently in the United States, Susan has appeared in Our Town and Sweet Bird of Youth, both at the La Jolla Playhouse, and Breaking Legs at the Westport Playhouse.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jennifer on April 23, 2019

I LOVED this book. I don't know why people are saying it was slow moving. I loved the pace. It's a character piece, and the suspense is in the slow and detailed unfolding of their lives and secret thoughts. To me, this book is a lot about what people think every day, but never reveal to each other,......more

Goodreads review by Kit on August 16, 2007

I really enjoyed Bohjalian's book "Midwives" but I just couldn't get interested in any of the characters in this book. I pushed through it, thinking it would get better, but at the end, I still didn't care about any of these people.......more

Goodreads review by Martie on October 26, 2019

Genre: Domestic Drama Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: Aug. 9, 2005 Chris Bohjalian is one of my all-time favorite authors. However, this is not my favorite Bohjalian novel. Actually, it is probably my least favorite. “Kindness” is a character-driven novel about the importance of family. Later I wil......more

Goodreads review by Miriam on August 08, 2011

I'm just going to come out and say it: I really didn't like this book. I picked it up because I really enjoyed Bohjalian's Midwives and although I disliked The Double Bind, I thought I'd give him another chance. I think this will be my last Bohjalian book, at least for a while. The plot was somewhat......more

Goodreads review by Anastasia on January 14, 2008

I didn't really care for this book very much. I didn't mind the slow pace that much. What bothered me most was that the author failed to establish a separate and believable voice for each of his characters. Even when the reader was privy to a character's thoughts, there was no intimacy in the way th......more


Quotes

"Before You Know Kindness may very well be his best.... Masterly ... timely [and] well-wrought." —The Boston Globe

"An irresistible read. Moving from quiet domestic drama to legal thriller." —The Washington Post

"A dark psychological dance of family estrangements, lies and self-righteousness ... plenty of finely wrought characters and thought-provoking personal and political drama." —The Seattle Times

"Extraordinary.... Bohjalian has had much success in the past, including a selection as an Oprah Book Club author. Before You Know Kindness is better than anything he's written before." —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel


Awards

  • New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age