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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Sep 2015, 304 pages
Paperback:
May 2016, 320 pages
Book Reviewed by:
Bradley Sides
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The stunning debut novel from bestselling author Bill Clegg is a magnificently powerful story about a circle of people who find solace in the least likely of places as they cope with a horrific tragedy.
On the eve of her daughter's wedding, June Reid's life is completely devastated when a shocking disaster takes the lives of her daughter, her daughter's fiancé, her ex-husband, and her boyfriend, Luke - her entire family, all gone in a moment. And June is the only survivor.
Alone and directionless, June drives across the country, away from her small Connecticut town. In her wake, a community emerges, weaving a beautiful and surprising web of connections through shared heartbreak.
From the couple running a motel on the Pacific Ocean where June eventually settles into a quiet half-life, to the wedding's caterer whose bill has been forgotten, to Luke's mother, the shattered outcast of the town - everyone touched by the tragedy is changed as truths about their near and far histories finally come to light.
Elegant and heartrending, and one of the most accomplished fiction debuts of the year, Did You Ever Have a Family is an absorbing, unforgettable tale that reveals humanity at its best through forgiveness and hope. At its core is a celebration of family - the ones we are born with and the ones we create.
Rick
My mom made Lolly Reid's wedding cake. She got the recipe from a Brazilian restaurant in the city where she went one night after going in with her friends to see a show. It was a coconut cake made with fresh oranges. She prepared for days. It didn't have any pillars or platforms or fancy decorations; just a big sheet cake with a scattering of those tiny, silver edible balls and a few purple orchids she had special-ordered from Edith Tobin's shop. She was proud of that cake. She bakes and decorates cakes for all the birthdays in our family, and she made the wedding cake for my sister's wedding, and mine; so when June Reid hired us to cater her daughter Lolly's wedding, I thought, Why not?
Unfortunately, she never got paid. I didn't either. Not a cent. And if June Reid had tried to pay me, I would have torn up the check. I couldn't accept money from that woman after what she'd been through. My wife, Sandy, saw it differently, still does, ...
...the quick and episodic structure of Clegg’s novel doesn’t allow for enough development. That said, I don’t actually think Clegg intentionally neglects his characters. Rather, it seems like the emotional separation he gives us is intentional. It feels as if the overwhelming density of characters and circumstances is supposed to be a metaphor for the larger loss of life that pervades the novel, a sort of suffocation in grief...continued
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(Reviewed by Bradley Sides).
Anne Enright, Man Booker Prize winner for The Gathering
Full of small-town secrets and whispers, Bill Clegg has woven a richly textured tale of loss and healing. This is a deeply optimistic book about the power of human sympathy to pull us from the wreckage of our fate. Darin Strauss, author of Chang & Eng
Like the question it poses, Did You Ever Have a Family is brutally direct yet it's got an enormous symbolic power...It's been a lot of years since a novel has so moved me. Number Bill Clegg among that endangered species: major American writer. Elinor Lipman, author of The View from Penthouse B
I marveled my way through Did You Ever Have a Family, at not just the masterful writing and storytelling, but at the emotional authenticities of every persuasion. It's a wondrous thing when a writer gets things this right, this absorbing, and this beautiful. Bravo, Bill Clegg, and thank you. Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours
The force, range, and scope of Bill Clegg's Did You Ever Have a Family will grab you with its opening lines, and won't let go until its final one. I can't recall another novel that so effortlessly weds a nuanced, lyrical voice to an unflinching vision of just how badly things can go for people.Bill Clegg's Did You Ever Have A Family tells the story of different characters whose lives intersect as they deal with the struggles (and few successes) of life. One character stands out among the large cast: June Reid, a middle-aged woman, who is dealing with the loss of her entire family from a tragic fire.
As you might guess by June's situation, Clegg's novel does not hold back from covering the unpleasant aspects of life. This is a work that touches on a lot of big, and often dark, themes. We see struggle and guilt and loneliness. The most prevalent feeling throughout the book, though, is the intense sensation of profound grief. How might we recover from such a deep, tough place? And, even then, are we ever able to ...
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