Summary and Reviews of Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian

Media Reviews

Entertainment Weekly Bohjalian has built a rich and complex family drama around a knotty, unanswerable set of questions.

San Francisco Chronicle A modern, compelling drama...Bohjalian beautifully captures those dizzying moments that follow a tragedy, when disbelief and horror give way to an attempt to understand what has happened...For the characters Bohjalian has so tenderly created, kindness offers solace and an opportunity to move forward. In this novel, our eyes are opened to the possibility of redemption, even in these careless times.

The Burlington Free Press - David Huddle Before you finish reading Before You Know Kindness, its most important character, 10-year-old Willow Seton, will become a member of your family. This decent kid struggles with an almost impossible dilemma, and Chris Bohjalian's new book is one of those deliciously compelling novels whose characters enter your consciousness like blood kin. In spite of how harrowing it is to read, you don't want it to end.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 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.

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

Booklist - Kristine Huntley Starred review. Bohjalian's elegant, refined writing makes even the most ordinary details of family life fascinating, and his characters leap off the pages as very real, flawed, but completely sympathetic human beings. Bohjalian manages to examine some very weighty issues without ever coming off as preachy or pedantic. A triumph.

Bookpage Bohjalian's character depictions are strong and complex, and readers will find themselves caring about the Seton clan . . . Before You Know Kindness is an engrossing story that entertains while making you think.

Kirkus Reviews The finely drawn scenes and characters here will suck in all but the hardest-hearted. Pretty much irresistible.

Publishers Weekly More like Midwives and Trans-Sister Radio than the recent, more intimate The Buffalo Soldier, this patented blend of social commentary and soul-searching moral drama for the public radio crowd should do well for Bohjalian.

 Julia Glass, Winner of the National Book Award 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.

 Richard Russo, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize 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.