Before You Know Kindness - (Vintage Contemporaries) by Chris Bohjalian (Paperback)

About the Book

For ten summers, the Seton family met at their country home in New England to spend a week together. In the 11th summer, everything changed. Bohjalian's acclaimed family saga is timeless in its exploration of the strange and unexpected places where love is found.

Book Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - From the bestselling author of The Flight Attendant, here is a novel that examines wildly divisive American issues like gun control and animal rights with Chris Bohjalian's trademark emotional heft and spellbinding storytelling skill.

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.

Look for Chris Bohjalian's new novel, The Lioness!

Review 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

About the Author

CHRIS BOHJALIAN is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-three books, including Hour of the Witch, The Red Lotus, Midwives, and The Flight Attendant, which has been made into an HBO Max limited series starring Kaley Cuoco. His other books include The Guest Room; Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands; The Sandcastle Girls; Skeletons at the Feast; and The Double Bind. His novels Secrets of Eden, Midwives, and Past the Bleachers were made into movies, and his work has been translated into more than thirty-five languages. He is also a playwright (Wingspan and Midwives). He lives in Vermont and can be found at chrisbohjalian.com or on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Litsy, and Goodreads, @chrisbohjalian