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Rebecca Kauffman
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Chorus Paperback – March 14, 2023

by Rebecca Kauffman (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 333 ratings
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For readers of Alice Munro, Elizabeth Strout, and Claire Lombardo, Chorus shepherds seven siblings through two life-altering events--their mother's untimely death, and a shocking teenage pregnancy--that ultimately follow them through their lives as individuals and as a family

The seven Shaw siblings have long been haunted by two early and profoundly consequential events. Told in turns from the early twentieth century through the 1950s, each sibling relays their own version of the memories that surround both their mother's mysterious death and the circumstances of one sister's scandalous teenage pregnancy. As they move into adulthood, the siblings assume new roles: caretaker to their aging father, addict, enabler, academic, decorated veteran, widow, and mothers and fathers to the next generation.

Entangled in a family knot, the Shaw siblings face divorce, drama, and death while haunted by a mother who was never truly there. Through this lens, they all seek not only to understand how her death shaped their family, but also to illuminate the insoluble nature of the many familial experiences we all encounter--the concept of home, the tenacity that is a family's love, and the unexpected ways through which healing can occur.

Chorus is a hopeful story of family, of loss and recovery, of complicated relationships forged between brothers and sisters as they move through life together, and of the unlikely forces that first drive them away and then ultimately back home.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    272 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Counterpoint LLC
  4. Publication date
    March 14, 2023
  5. Dimensions
    5.12 x 1.42 x 7.72 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1640095896
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1640095892
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

An Indie Next Pick
A Good Housekeeping Book of the Month
The Millions, A Most Anticipated Book of the Year

"Spare and elegiac . . . Kauffman’s insight into her characters’ hearts reveals the process by which even the deepest hurts are outlived." —People

“This is a story about love and its resilience, how much we really know about our own family and what binds them together even against seemingly insurmountable odds. Despite everything the world throws at them, the Shaws persevere, and that’s a hopeful message we can all use.” —Good Housekeeping

"Lyrical and character-driven." —Nicole Fowles, The Delaware Gazette

“A most wonderful novel. Full stop. From the first page, this is a book you will not want to put down . . . [T]hese people were so real, so human, in the way in which they each went about dealing with what life had thrown their way. There is compassion, even in disagreement. There is love, even when apart for long periods of time. There are secrets, long held and considered to be unforgivable—but maybe not. This is family . . . Chorus is a novel that is a delight to read, the writing pitch-perfect and the story more than satisfying.” —Charlotte Stein, Metroland Media

“Chorus reveals how ultimately unknowable we are to each other, that often those who have known us the longest and at our most vulnerable are also those who overlook what they don’t want to see, just as we often overlook those parts of ourselves . . . Chorus reveals the layers of self and its varied constructions, ultimately creating an honest, multi-layered portrait of a family . . . Kauffman’s ending speaks to the hopefulness that can reside within families, the unique ability we have as siblings and sons and daughters to at least attempt a return to simpler times of loving and forgiveness.” —Amber Ruth Paulen, Chicago Review of Books

“Each story-like chapter is so poignant—many with the feel of an Alice Munro story—it’s easy to fall under Kauffman’s spell. But when, after finishing the novel and viewing it in its entirety, the precision and care that went into plotting is clear. The pieces offered are all we need to know at each moment, and those pieces compile to reveal a portrait of the Shaw family . . . Chorus is indeed a near-perfect novel, reminding us that even as our losses magnify our flaws, recovery is possible when we have people who love us.” —Rachel León, Southern Review of Books

“Each [chapter] is well crafted and offers a glimpse of a moment, a revelation or an interaction that enriches and expands our understanding of this family that is both stunningly ordinary and shockingly extraordinary . . . Chorus reminds us of the length of life and its complexity, of the ways in which family relationships both change continually and, at their heart, remain steadfastly the same.” —Norah Pielh, Bookreporter

“Kauffman’s luminous latest showcases her knack for delving into the hearts of her characters . . . Vibrant . . . Adds up to a superbly executed saga.” —Publishers Weekly, (starred review)

“Kauffman has written a deceptively light tale about the heart of a family healing around a defining loss and siblings sustaining each other through adulthood, with lovely phrases and prose throughout. Though the sections are never weighty, together they form a satisfying story of complicated relationships against the backdrop of a ‘beautiful world [with] a forked tongue.’ A comforting and pastoral novel.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Lovely . . . Readable and compelling . . . The novel’s arrangement feels meaningful as turning-point moments in the sibling’s lives take center stage, one after the other . . . Kauffman’s writing style renders complex dynamics in simple, impactful language and scenes.” —Booklist

"Readers . . . will be happy to see [Kauffman] return with this packed family tale." —Library Journal

"Rebecca Kauffman’s compact and ingeniously-arranged Chorus depicts the Shaw family and its long-held secrets with admirable clarity, as well as a sympathetic understanding of the good intentions and misjudgments that give rise to those secrets in the first place. As she guides us through the episodes of the Shaws’ lives—each glittering with the mysterious warmth of an heirloom ornament on a Christmas tree—Kauffman makes us freshly aware of how the people most dear to us, like the organs of the body, are hidden simply by virtue of being so vital and so close." —Martin Seay, author of The Mirror Thief

"Rebecca Kauffman is one of our finest literary architects. With unusual empathy, she drafts complex portraits of people, revealing the humanity present in even the most flawed being. In Chorus, she elegantly charts the nuanced connections and fractures between family members, crafting her story from fleeting moments, shivers of understanding, always illuminating the sweetness and sorrow that exists in even the smallest detail." —David Connerley Nahm, author of Ancient Oceans of Central Kentucky

"As vast, clear, and iconic as only timeless stories are, Kauffman's Chorus is a key: meet the Shaw family and discover, in its infinite and invisible complexity, the universal core of your own." —Rebecca Dinerstein Knight, author of Hex and The Sunlit Night

"Chorus is an intimate, affecting, and exquisite portrait of an American family that feels as real as any I’ve ever known. Deeply wounded by the absence of their mother—during her life as well as after her mysterious death—the Shaw children find their fiercest and most defining bonds with each other. This is the private account of their secrets, desires, resentments, affections, the unspoken grief of leaving one home behind to form another, and a family’s very idea of itself. I loved it." —Eleanor Henderson, author of Ten Thousand Saints

About the Author

Rebecca Kauffman received her M.F.A. in creative writing from New York University. She is the author of Another Place You've Never Been, which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, The Gunners, which received the Premio Tribuk dei Librai award, and The House on Fripp Island. Originally from rural northeastern Ohio, she now lives in Virginia.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Counterpoint LLC; Reprint edition (March 14, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1640095896
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1640095892
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.12 x 1.42 x 7.72 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 333 ratings

About the author

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Rebecca Kauffman

Rebecca Kauffman

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Rebecca Kauffman is the award-winning author of five novels: Another Place You’ve Never Been; The Gunners; The House On Fripp Island; Chorus; and the forthcoming work, I’ll Come to You. Her novels have been published in six languages.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
333 global ratings
Beautiful story about family dynamics
4 Stars
Beautiful story about family dynamics
Come for that gorgeous cover, stay for the intimate storytelling.This beautiful book revolves around the lives of the seven Shaw siblings, all bonded through the traumatic loss of their mother when they were kids. We watch each of the seven grow up into adulthood and see the profound ways that they have been shaped by their upbringing and their bonds with each other.I definitely felt some Ann Patchett’s Commonwealth vibes with a dash of The Nest with this book. Each chapter switches to a different sibling so as you read, it's like slowly piecing a puzzle together to get the full picture of their family. Sibling dynamics have always been fascinating to me.Kauffman's book is a ripe character study, weaving together this resilient family. So basically if you're looking for plot, my friends, you've probably come to the wrong place. I mean, who even really needs plot when you've got such a rich cast?This quote towards the end of the book demolished me in the best possible way:“But the loss of a mother, that was so much, whether she was a good one or a bad one, a healthy or sick one, an easy or hard one. And whether her love for you was made known every day, or was as strange as a miracle; one that reached you and touched you, or didn’t. One that you believed in, in spite of everything, or you couldn’t.”
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Top reviews from the United States

Bonnie Brody
5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't Put It Down
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2022
Verified Purchase
Once you pick up this book and start reading, prepare yourself for total immersion. It is THAT good, I don't know why Ms. Kauffman hasn't been on my reading radar before 'Chorus' but she is now on my radar for good. I ordered two of her other books as soon as I finished 'Chorus'.

Chorus is a novel of interwoven narratives about seven Shaw siblings, all of whom struggle with a childhood trauma that has no clear or definitive answers. Each of the siblings has their own story and interpretations of childhood memories. We are with them as they mature from children to adolescents and adults. They go through marriage, divorce, addiction, trauma, and ultimately, reconnect with one another in subtle and not so subtle ways.

The writing is superb. Each chapter is gripping and, together, the story is a chorus of family, love, individuation and separation. I loved every bit of it and was sad when it ended. It will definitely be one of my top ten books of 2022.
4 people found this helpful
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Avid Reader67
4.0 out of 5 stars Meandering
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2022
Verified Purchase
This novel like a somewhat of a memoir. . A heart rending family saga that covers most of the 20th century.
2 people found this helpful
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@relaxeswithbooks
3.0 out of 5 stars Lovely HF but not for me.
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2022
Verified Purchase
Chorus was a hard one for me to rate. I ended up going with 3 stars, because it just wasn't for me. It was beautifully written, but I likely wouldn't have picked it up if it wasn't part of my favorite bookclub.

Pros: ** We love a historical fiction. I absolutely love reading books from this time in history. ** Short chapters. Also, a quick read at 248 pages. ** Beautifully written. Rebecca does a great job at setting the scenes, and showing the different POV.

Cons (for me): ** Lots of characters/relationships to keep up with... Makes the bouncing back and forth through decades hard to follow. ** It took almost 200 pages for me to be truly invested in the outcome of the book. ** I feel like it ended abruptly. There was no Epilogue. What happened to Thomas?

@relaxeswithbooks IG
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@relaxeswithbooks
3.0 out of 5 stars Lovely HF but not for me.
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2022
Chorus was a hard one for me to rate. I ended up going with 3 stars, because it just wasn't for me. It was beautifully written, but I likely wouldn't have picked it up if it wasn't part of my favorite bookclub.

Pros: ** We love a historical fiction. I absolutely love reading books from this time in history. ** Short chapters. Also, a quick read at 248 pages. ** Beautifully written. Rebecca does a great job at setting the scenes, and showing the different POV.

Cons (for me): ** Lots of characters/relationships to keep up with... Makes the bouncing back and forth through decades hard to follow. ** It took almost 200 pages for me to be truly invested in the outcome of the book. ** I feel like it ended abruptly. There was no Epilogue. What happened to Thomas?

@relaxeswithbooks IG
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5 people found this helpful
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She Treads Softly
5.0 out of 5 stars very highly recommended collection of stories that create a portrait of the Shaw family
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2022
Chorus by Rebecca Kauffman is a very highly recommended collection of stories that create a portrait of the Shaw family. This will be one of the best literary fiction novels of the year.

The nonsequential chapters, each prefaced by the year the story occurred (1903-1959), follow Jim and Marie Shaw and their seven children, Wendy, Sam, Jack, Maeve, Lane, Henry, and Bette. The chapters cover the individual family members during notable moments in each of their lives and the memories each sibling has of the events. These events include their mother's death in 1933 when they were all children, a teenage pregnancy, the Great Depression, marriage, divorce, deaths of spouses, life choices, addictions, enlistment in the Second World War, their own lives as parents. All of the short chapters work together to create a beautiful, haunting, and profound portrait of a complicated family.

It's difficult to capture the many reasons Chorus is such an extraordinarily exquisite novel. It is a novel composed of stories through the point-of-view of various family members. Anyone from a large family can understand how events are always viewed differently by each family member as well as the many secrets and things that are left unsaid by parents and siblings. There is often a complicated relationship between siblings. Adding to that is the untimely death of their mother, who was an invalid/inaccessible, and how each child viewed this. "And he knew that this beautiful world had a forked tongue. And he knew that everything he thought and felt and feared was real."

The writing is admirable, brilliant, and poetic. Each story is impeccably executed and presented. Ultimately the stories all create a portrait of each family members as realistic, complex characters. This is truly a superbly executed saga about the heart of a family and their complicated relationships with each other. It's difficult to fully express how much I loved this novel, but it will be on my list of top books of 2022.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Penguin Random House.
One person found this helpful
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Terrie D. Robinson
4.0 out of 5 stars An Example of How Strongly We Rely on Family and How Easily and Often We Push Them Away!
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2022
This Historical Fiction story of the Shaw Family's seven siblings has multiple timelines beginning in the early Twentieth Century through the late 1950's. Their lives are impacted by two life altering events: the unexpected and untimely death of their mother and the distressing circumstances of a sibling's teenage pregnancy.

Both events shape their childhood and profoundly affect their future. In a third-person narrative, you hear each sibling's memories in alternating 'snapshot-like' chapters through the years. You realize how each is impacted so differently and yet feel so much the same.

The deeper I read the more these characters evolve. They are complex and flawed with closely held secrets, deep loss, painful regrets, and good intentions. They work through some very complicated family dynamics in this story!

The amazing Elisabeth Rodgers is the audiobook narrator and she also happens to be one of my favorites. She succeeds in making what could have been a difficult listen a most enjoyable experience. Her ability to engage the reader through both third person narration, as well as believable gender voicing and voice inflections is something I marvel at every single time. If she narrates a book, please sign me up!

This character driven story is beautifully written and artfully designed, making this family feel painfully real to me. I'm delighted I have found another author to love with a back-list to read and I will patiently wait for each new book she writes. I highly recommend this book to those who love character driven stories and beautiful writing!

Thank you to NetGalley, RB Media, and Rebecca Kauffman for a free ALC of this book. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.
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Lizzie W
3.0 out of 5 stars Good story, but choppy
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2022
Verified Purchase
I love a good family saga, but this one had me saying "huh?" quite a bit. It jumps from decade to decade with each chapter, so I never felt that I got to know the characters completely. The mother, such a galvanizing force in the family, deserved more development. In all, the most annoying aspect of the book was the changing decades.
3 people found this helpful
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