Ann Patchett

Recalling the past at her daughters' request, Lara tells the story of a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance, which causes her daughters to examine their own lives and reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew. "In the spring of 2020, Lara's three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor...

"One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating's christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny's mother, Beverly--thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families. Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Spending summers together in Virginia,...

Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of Mr. Hosokawa, a powerful Japanese businessman. Roxanne Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening -- until a band of gun-wielding terrorists breaks in through the air-conditioning vents and takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked,...

Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder, Run, and Bel Canto, examines her deepest commitments-- to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband-- creating a resonant portrait of her life.

John Nickel, an African American blues musician managing a Memphis bar, hires a white brother and sister even though he knows they mean trouble, as he pines to be reunited with his son.

Rose, a beautiful and mysterious woman living at St. Elizabeth's home for unwed mothers, has no intention of telling her mother or her husband about her pregnancy, until a healing spring near the home changes her mind.

From the creators of Lambslide, comes a hilarious children's story about a scapegoat who escapes blame just in time. The Farmer family has a big problem! Every day their goat escapes, and every day, Mr. Farmer brings him back. So when things start to go awry on the farm, it must be the goat's fault. Who's to blame when Mrs. Farmer's petunias are trampled? Or when all the cupcakes for Archie's party disappear? And when the whole bucket of paint is...

Based on her commencement address at Sarah Lawrence College, What now? contains Patchett's musings on moving from one stage in life to the next.

Dana Delany (China Beach) stars as Rose, a desperate expectant woman who leaves her husband and takes refuge in a shelter for unwed pregnant women. She begins a new life, raising her daughter and marrying the shelter's handyman (Clancy Brown, The Shawshank Redemption). But when her first husband tracks her down, she is faced with the agonizing decision whether to flee her past once again.