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    Before You Know Kindness: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Before You Know Kindness: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Before You Know Kindness: A Novel
    Audiobook (abridged)5 hours

    Before You Know Kindness: A Novel

    Written by Chris Bohjalian

    Narrated by Blair Brown

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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.


    From the Hardcover edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateOct 5, 2004
    ISBN9780739314166
    Unavailable
    Before You Know Kindness: A Novel
    Author

    Chris Bohjalian

    Chris Bohjalian is the author of twelve novels, including the New York Times bestsellers, Secrets of Eden, The Double Bind, Skeletons at the Feast, and Midwives.  His work has been translated into twenty-six languages.  He lives in Vermont with his wife and daughter.   Visit him at www.chrisbohjalian.com or www.facebook.com .

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    Reviews for Before You Know Kindness

    3.5/5

    410 ratings28 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      New England family dealing with tragedy after a father is accidentally shot by his twelve year old daughter.
    • 5/5
      My favorite by this author. Being vegetarian, I related strongly to this story. I loved the family and the conflicting relationships. Great read!
    • 3/5
      I am a fan of Chris Bohjalian, having read several of his books and I do plan to read him again. I have especially always liked the thoughtful treatment he gives complex and delicate issues and his skill for great character developement.

      However,in Before You Know Kindness my disappointment is in the fact that it was over 400 pages long, and easily could have been pared way down to the theme's essential issues. I felt he was being repetitive many times. I also found the ending wrapped up a little too neatly for my taste.
    • 5/5
      awesome book
    • 5/5
      New England family dealing with tragedy after a father is accidentally shot by his twelve year old daughter.
    • 1/5
      Tried to read this, but I didn't get past the first few chapters. I really felt like there was significant condescension to the vegan characters. They were over-the-top in their approaches, yes, but I don't like a too-heavy authorial treatment that ridicules someone's experience, regardless of whether I agree with the opinion or not.
    • 3/5
      This is not the type of book I normally like to read but I was pleasantly suprised to find that I enjoyed this one. Chris Bohjalian has a very unique voice that I loved. He wove such a unique family dynamic that is absolutely one hundred percent real. An intimate story of family and forgivness that should not be missed.
    • 4/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was the story of how one moment can completely destroy a family. It was intriguing to reads two sides to the issue around gun control and animal advocacy. While there were some extremists within the story it was told from an interesting perspective and made you think about how you would handle this kind of tragedy in your own family.Well written and kept me interested right through to the end.
    • 2/5
      This is the book that our book club chose to read this month. I’m still not completely sure what I think about it. It took me a while to really get into it, but it completely redeemed itself at the end. The basic story is a family torn apart by a misguided bullet. That is where the story begins - a twelve year old aiming her uncle’s hunting rifle at a deer and accidently shooting her father - the public relations man at FERAL - a animal rights company. From that moment marriages, friendships and jobs are changed. I recommend this - but be prepared to stick with it - it gets a little slow in the middle.
    • 3/5
      The first third of this book interested me, but as the story progressed, my interest faded, even to the point of skim reading ahead to find if there was a famous Bohjalian twist at the end. I just wasn't as enthralled as I have been with some others of his books, though there were aspects that fascinated me (such as the details in the lifestyle of the FERAL folks. Millet hull pillows? Really? I mean, I know they're out there, but never realized that the main market was vegans. ) Glad there was resolution for this shattered family, though.
    • 1/5
      I read this book for a book club discussion so I had to finish it but I could happily not have wasted so much of my time. I felt the story was labored with tons of detail about guns etc which was perhaps necessary but the basic story could have been told in half the number of pages. I began to remember that I had failed to finish other books written by Bohjalian. Sorry but I didn't enjoy it.
    • 2/5
      Besides the prologue, this is not a fast read. I got tired of ready about the deer and the lupines and it seemed to ramble on.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed this Bohjalian book, but not as much as Midwives. He is certainly masterful at presenting two sides of the coin, and leaving the reader slightly befuddled as to his own stance on the particular issue he's writing about.
    • 4/5
      I read this book immediately following "The Double Bind" and I liked this book much more. While this is a light and easy read, I thought the character development was quite good. In particular the portrait of the obsessive and selfish Spencer McCullough was interesting and frequently amusing. The disintegation of a once close family as they react to tragedy was very well done and I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
    • 3/5
      A bit of a slow starter, "Before You Know Kindness" explores a rather strained set of family ties following an accidental shooting that leaves one father handicapped. Bohjalian weaves in the issues of vegetarianism and hunting, teen angst and drug use, alongside familial bonds, managing to carefully review and present all sides well. The subject matter is brilliantly unified, but the story doesn't start to pull you along until midway through. It's worth ploughing along, however; Bohjalian doesn't disappoint.
    • 2/5
      I did not really enjoy this book, though I love most of the authors other work. The story had potential but never quite fulfulled its promise. Also i felt it was written and then edited by some one who loves a thesaurus. It felt forced and I could not get into this book. I finished it, hoping for some redemption, but it never came.
    • 5/5
      I found this novel to be very well formed and entertaining. Two families by grandma Nans in New Hampshire for some vacationing......cousins Willow and Charlotte, a rifle, a shot, lives tortuously messed up, lots of angst and suffering. I liked the ending....the way the story held until the end and all the people who took part in it.....John....Spencer......not eating meats, the FERAL society, taking things too far.
    • 5/5
      While reading this book, I felt as is I was reading nonfiction. I could feel the emotions and gut wrenchings of the family members and I highly recommend this read. He is a lovely writer
    • 2/5
      I gave this book a lot of effort . I wanted to like it, but couldn't get over the many elaborate details that seemed to drag down the story. The characters were not fully developed, and left me feeling as though I didn't really care what happened to them. I made myself finish the book, but in reality I would have been just as happy to leave it unread. I didn't have a great need to see the story brought to a finish.
    • 4/5
      Before You Know Kindness is not one of my favorite Bohjalian books. At one point, I asked my husband if he had ever read a book where he didn't like any of the characters. In this case, I didn't make any connections to any of the characters. Each had a flaw that was accentuated more than their good qualities. There was an undercurrent running through the book that I thought could have been highlighted more, and that was the relationship between the brother, his sister and their mother. The mother was a big part of the story in the beginning and then became an afterthought. It's not until I have had a few hours to digest the story that I can give it 4 stars versus less for not liking the characters. The story of an animal activist being shot by a hunting rifle did make a good story with interesting secondary characters.
    • 4/5
      How does a family recover from the emotional torment following a devastating accident? Bohjalian leads the reader through the intense feelings behind the shooting of an animal right's activist by his 12-year-old daughter with a deer rifle which her uncle had left loaded in the trunk of his vehicle. However, being members of the Stupid Club (i.e., human race), does not make Charlotte and John bad people. Bohjalian's sensitive portrayal of their pain garners sympathy for them and other members of the Seton and McCullough families as they heal from the resentments and secrets common to many close relationships.Bohjalian is a good storyteller, and he doesn't shy away from controversial subjects. He presents the animal rights/gun control issues in a nonjudgmental way, leaving the readers to make up their own minds as to right and wrong. This book reminded me that kindness is an overlooked virtue that is needed to survive our frantic lives.
    • 3/5
      While I found parts of this book interesting, I never really bought into the characters, so the whole story felt a little flat to me.
    • 4/5
      Chris Bohjalian has previously written novels that provide "food for thought" for his readers. This novel also lends itself well to introspection and character examination. By the end of the book, the reader is well acquainted with the flaws and strengths of the main characters. At the conclusion, I was sympathetic to all of them - even Spencer, whose pomposity and unyielding righteousness had made him very unlikeable. This is, on the surface, a novel about vegans vs. hunters; however, what makes it spellbinding is the knowledge of the characters we glean. I think we also take away the irrefutable fact that good things do sometimes result from tragic circumstances.
    • 4/5
      The Seton and McCullough families are close…and every year they meet in New Hampshire at matriarch Nan Seton’s summer home to spend Memorial Day weekend together. Nan is in her seventies but “vigorous,” and her constant activity (whether it be swimming, golfing or mowing the lawn) drives these family reunions. But when thirteen year old Charlotte finds her Uncle John’s deer hunting rifle and discharges it into the garden on the last day of July, everything changes.In the opening paragraphs of Chris Bohjalian’s novel Before You Know Kindness, the reader learns that Charlotte’s father, Spencer McCullough - a fanatical vegan animal rights activist - is on the receiving end of his daughter’s shot into the dark. Seriously injured with a crippling arm injury, he is forced to re-examine his life and priorities…and the repercussions of that night will reverberate throughout the family.Bohjalian is one of my favorite writers because he is skilled at creating gripping story lines and delving deep into his characters’ psyches. In Before You Know Kindness, Bohjalian examines the cracks which lie beneath the surface of a family, and how those cracks can become deep fissures on the heels of one tragic event. Thematically, the novel explores the political argument of gun control and animal rights…and on a more personal level, deals with the ideas of secrets, narcissism, and family relationships.As a physical therapist, I was pulled into the psychological tension of the novel which develops as a result of a physically devastating accident - how does a person deal with a life-altering disability which has the power to either strengthen or destroy relationships? All of us have the choice to be angry or forgiving in the face of tragedy - what is it that makes us chose one over the other?Bohjalian’s prose is honest, searing and compelling. Before You Know Kindness is ultimately a story of redemption and the power of forgiveness.Recommended.
    • 2/5
      This is the story of two families and what happens when tragedy strikes. The author tries to provide a balanced picture of animal rights and activists although I don't think he completely succeeds. I loved Midwives (also by the author) but found this book a lot less compelling to read. The author never really got me to feel sympathy for the adult characters in the story.
    • 5/5
      The dynamics of a family are always interesting when there is a dramatic shift in the relationships.
    • 3/5
      Our bookclub had Chris Bohjalian join us for our meeting to discuss this book. I liked the book. he seemed to hit lots of hot buttons in this one book. Gun control, animal rights, family disfunction, etc. It was a good read.
    • 4/5
      Interesting story about a matriarch, brother and sister and their families and the repercussions of one of their kids shooting her father. Not his best book, but it held my interest.