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Before You Know Kindness

A Novel

By Chris Bohjalian
On Tour

By Chris BohjalianOn Tour

By Chris Bohjalian
On Tour

By Chris BohjalianOn Tour

By Chris Bohjalian
On Tour

Read by Blair Brown

By Chris BohjalianOn Tour
Read by Blair Brown

By Chris Bohjalian
On Tour

Read by Susan Denaker

By Chris BohjalianOn Tour
Read by Susan Denaker

Best Seller

Part of Vintage Contemporaries

Part of Vintage Contemporaries

Paperback $16.00

Aug 09, 2005 | ISBN 9781400031658

Ebook $11.99

Sep 27, 2005 | ISBN 9780307276940

Audiobook Download $12.95

Oct 05, 2004 | 331 Minutes

Audiobook Download $25.00

Jul 08, 2004 | 1021 Minutes

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    Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian
    Paperback $16.00
    Aug 09, 2005 | ISBN 9781400031658

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    • Paperback $16.00

      Aug 09, 2005 | ISBN 9781400031658

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Ebook
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    • Ebook

      Sep 27, 2005 | ISBN 9780307276940

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Audio (2)
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    About Before You Know Kindness

    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. 

    About Before You Know Kindness

    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. 

    About Before You Know Kindness

    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 Before You Know Kindness

    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.

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Listen to a sample from Before You Know Kindness

    Also by Chris Bohjalian

    The Lioness
    Hour of the Witch
    The Red Lotus
    The Flight Attendant (Television Tie-In Edition)
    Water Witches
    See all books by Chris Bohjalian

    Also by Chris Bohjalian

    The Lioness
    Hour of the Witch
    The Red Lotus
    The Flight Attendant (Television Tie-In Edition)
    Water Witches
    See all books by Chris Bohjalian

    Also by Chris Bohjalian

    The Lioness
    Hour of the Witch
    The Red Lotus
    The Flight Attendant (Television Tie-In Edition)
    Water Witches
    See all books by Chris Bohjalian

    Also by Chris Bohjalian

    The Lioness
    Hour of the Witch
    The Red Lotus
    The Flight Attendant (Television Tie-In Edition)
    Water Witches
    See all books by Chris Bohjalian

    About Chris Bohjalian

    CHRIS BOHJALIAN is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of twenty-two books, including The Red Lotus, Midwives, and The Flight Attendant, which is an HBO Max limited series starring Kaley Cuoco. His other books include The Guest Room; Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands; The Sandcastle Girls;… More about Chris Bohjalian

    About Chris Bohjalian

    CHRIS BOHJALIAN is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of twenty-two books, including The Red Lotus, Midwives, and The Flight Attendant, which is an HBO Max limited series starring Kaley Cuoco. His other books include The Guest Room; Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands; The Sandcastle Girls;… More about Chris Bohjalian

    About Chris Bohjalian

    CHRIS BOHJALIAN is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of twenty-two books, including The Red Lotus, Midwives, and The Flight Attendant, which is an HBO Max limited series starring Kaley Cuoco. His other books include The Guest Room; Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands; The Sandcastle Girls;… More about Chris Bohjalian

    About Chris Bohjalian

    CHRIS BOHJALIAN is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of twenty-two books, including The Red Lotus, Midwives, and The Flight Attendant, which is an HBO Max limited series starring Kaley Cuoco. His other books include The Guest Room; Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands; The Sandcastle Girls;… More about Chris Bohjalian

    Product Details

    Category: Literary Fiction | Crime Mysteries

    Paperback | $16.00
    Published by Vintage
    Aug 09, 2005 | 448 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9781400031658

    Category: Literary Fiction | Crime Mysteries

    Ebook | $11.99
    Published by Vintage
    Sep 27, 2005 | 448 Pages | ISBN 9780307276940

    Category: Literary Fiction | Crime Mysteries | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $12.95
    Published by Random House Audio
    Oct 05, 2004 | 331 Minutes | ISBN 9780739314166

    Category: Literary Fiction | Crime Mysteries | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $25.00
    Published by Random House Audio
    Jul 08, 2004 | 1021 Minutes | ISBN 9781415918432

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    Praise

    “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 WINNER

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