Did You Ever Have a Family

Poorly developed characters. I understand this author is a recovering addict, and the druggy character was the only one in the book that was actually depicted in detail. Had so much potential, but it fell flat. It made for some interesting discussion in my book group with a plethora of criticism for the storyline, writing style, and lack of character development.

I was 3/4 of the way through this book and still couldn't remember all of the characters. In addition, the book goes back and forth in time. Between the characters and the timelines, I was pretty confused.

That being said, I did finish the book and enjoyed quite a bit of it but would most likely not buy a book by this author again.

Among my least favorite "best reviewed! You MUST read this, it's fantastic!" books ever. Certainly my least favorite type of book. Self consciously constructed fiction that never, ever lets the reader forget to watch what the writer is doing. I hated the tangents, the confusing cast of many characters, the dishonesty of the cliffhanger chapters -- seriously, merely switching focus from one character to another isn't in and of itself "suspense!" -- the endless descriptions that served no purpose, like essays written in a creative writing class. The idea for the plot is fascinating, and is the reason I bought this book. But the way this guy tells the story completely deadened my interest. I skimmed at the end just to get through it for book club.

The title of this book is as powerful as the foreboding and imagery of the novel. There are murky, despondent secrets chiseled into a plot that starts off with a bright fire.

June Reid, a complicated woman in her 50’s, is hosting her daughter’s wedding at her old, family house in Wells, Connecticut. The night before the wedding, after the rehearsal festivities, there is a fiery explosion in her home, killing her daughter, Lolly, her future husband, Will, ex-husband, Adam and June’s boyfriend, Luke. Clegg spared the reader from the actual blaze and instead collected the voices of others to tell us how they were connected to those in June’s household. June was the only survivor of the fire.

Some narrators include Lydia, mother of Luke, Rick the caterer, Dale, the father of Will, and Silas, a pothead working for Luke. There are more secondary characters who link us to the their natural families or ones they created. The deadly fire is never really investigated, which I found improbable. June initially stayed at a friend’s house in the area until one day she grabs the keys to her car and drives across country to the Pacific Northwest. Her trip out West emphasizes June’s grief and isolation. She checks into the Moonstone motel that has its own elaborate history. June is in a fog but somehow had the good sense to contact her attorney to ensure payment of bills and sale of her land.

We learn the histories of these players who have wrought tragedy and happiness on the victims of the fire. Nothing is simple; everyone’s past and motives are complex leading to devastation and unbearable grief. Clegg clearly portrays the vulnerability and bad choices of his characters. Although it could be easy to point to one or two who were most responsible for this tragedy, it is about forgiveness and our need for family. The contrasts between the families are startling. For instance, Dale and Mimi are loving, smart parents who make good decisions while Lydia doesn’t seem to get it and is easily drawn to evil and imprudent decisions. At times, the connections among the many characters were far-fetched. Despite the implausibility, the book grabbed me from the first page. Retracing their lives was revelatory. The writing is vibrant and lyrical. Against a backdrop of quiet areas in the East and Northwest, Clegg has created a smashing debut.

That pesky half-star! What do you do when three is too low, but four is too high?
I’m embarrassed by how much time I spent vacillating before finally deciding to round up. I gave the extra star though because this novel is addictive. Even though I had the audio version, which is badly read by the author, I still volunteered to finish a complicated and exhausting hoeing job just so I could be left alone with this book.
June Reid is a successful, middle-aged professional with a hot, younger boyfriend she deeply loves and a daughter who is about to get married. Although her relationship with Lolly is tense, they’re both working hard at repairing it. Then, the night before the wedding, a fire destroys June’s house killing Lolly, the groom, June’s boyfriend and her exhusband. Did You Ever Have A Family deals with the accident and its aftermath through the perspective of about a dozen, loosely connected people.
Here are some strengths: Clegg is a genius when it comes to the giving and withholding of information. The characters’ lives before and after the tragedy are slowly revealed, not in chronological order, but using a sort of emotional timeline. Toward the end of the novel, we find out how one of the characters betrayed her child in a particularly horrible way, and the knowledge of it, coming late in the story after you know these people, is much more devastating.
Another great quality is the way that details are used to convey emotion. Clegg has a gift for seizing on one image and letting it depict a whole variety of truths.
Here is Lydia, the mother of June’s boyfriend, remembering how she learned about the fire that killed her son.
"Lydia had dropped the phone and in her slippers and robe drove the three miles to Indian Pond Road. June was squatting next to the mailbox, doubled over and away from the house just at the top of the curved, asphalt driveway. Lydia got out of her car and went toward her. Around them swarmed what looked like hundreds of fire and police officers and EMTs. As she came closer, June turned her face away as if avoiding a hot flame, and as she did, held her arm up and flicked her hand toward Lydia, the way you’d wave away an unwanted animal or a beggar. It was chilling, even in that unreal scene, to be greeted this way by a woman who had only ever shown her kindness. It is this gesture she remembers most clearly from that morning. Not the red flashing lights, not the army of stunned emergency workers, not the police officer telling her that her son was dead. It was June’s hand sending her away, the first signal that everything was about to change, had already changed, and that she was about to find out how. Those flicking, flapping fingers still jump before her eyes like a black flag snapping in the wind, commemorating all that was over.
Here are some weaknesses: I agree with other reviewers' observations that there’s not enough range in the character’s voices. When a teenage boy stoner sounds exactly like an older woman florist, there’s a problem. I also didn’t like that some sections were in first person and some in third with no discernible reason for the change. In addition, while the protagonists’ relationships were full and rich, the novel lacked thematic punch. The take-away seemed to be “we are all connected” and “forgiveness is possible” and while these are great messages, they are not enough to leave you thinking."
But, in the end, none of that mattered when I was outside hoeing the perimeter of a shed just to get a few more minutes to listen to this book.

I just finished reading Bill Clegg’s “Did You Ever Have A Family”, a novel about loss, grief, regret and sorrow. It revolves around June Reid and the death of four people in a house explosion and the subsequent impact on the lives of their surviving families and the people they touched. It does not have a happy moment in its almost 300 pages.

June Reid’s daughter, Lolly, is about to be married. Lolly, Lolly’s fiancé, June’s ex-husband and June’s live-in boyfriend, Luke, are all staying at Lolly’s house in Connecticut the night before the wedding. After an argument with Luke, June heads out of the house and while she is out, the house explodes and everyone is killed. The resultant grief draws June inward, and she leaves town, spending her time in isolation thinking through her relationships with those who have died and others who have survived. Every thought and every moment is tinged with regret.

Luke’s mother was Lydia. Luke and Lydia had a complex relationship stemming from the moment of his birth and they were just starting to reestablish a connection when Luke was killed. And, as unlikely as it might seem (Luke was thirty years old and June is 52), June and Lydia were becoming close friends.

The book tells Lydia’s complex story through her grief. Like June, Lydia turns inward, but with a number of twists. There are various other characters throughout the book who have unique stories, never cheerful. Most of these characters deal with their grief through limiting contact with the outside world. As one character observed, “we’ve learned that grief can sometimes get loud and when it does, we try not to speak over it.”

A close friend of mine suggested, in no uncertain terms, that I should not read “Did You Ever Have A Family.” She was trying to protect me from the intensity of sorrow that this book would inevitably bring. I questioned reading “Did You Ever Have A Family”. Did I really want to subject myself to a book about intense sorrow? But you don’t need a book about overwhelming loss for the fog of grief to come rolling down. All it takes is a song, a word, a sound or nothing at all. As one of the characters in the novel comments, “It took nothing more than the sight of the wrinkled fabric for every last memory to return.”

In the Sunday, November 8, 2015 NY Times, there is an article written by Laren Stover, entitled “Melancholy’s Sweet Allure.” Although the article seems to be about depression more than melancholy, and although it distinguishes grief as a separate emotion, it made a couple of points which would explain why I chose to read this novel despite the emotions I knew it would evoke. In the article, the author points out that melancholy is ephemeral. “It visits you like a mist, a vapor, a fog. It is generally uninvited.” Stover says it is “fine to indulge in the cloudy charms of melancholy.”

Grief will find you in the light of day and in the darkness of night and you don’t get to pick when it will strike. So maybe reading a grief filled novel simply lets you control the time and mechanism for sinking into that melancholic mist which belongs to no one but you. Even if the rest of the world believes that melancholy is not a good place to be, I think I agree with Stover that the indulgence in its depths can sometimes be a fine place to be. Sometimes a sad novel is just the vehicle to take you there. And you won’t find a novel much sadder than “Did You Ever Have A Family?”
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It's a beautiful morning in June and the day of Lolly and Will's wedding. Except that in the small hours a gas leak leads to an explosion and the four people sleeping in the house are killed: Lolly and Will, Lolly's father Adam and her mother's partner, Luke. Only Lolly's mother June, who was in the garden at the time, survives. Numb with grief, drives across the country to hole up in a seaside motel in Washington State. Luke's mother Lydia is also grappling with her own grief and guilt about her relationship with Luke.

It's not a linear plot. It moves backwards and forwards in time as we see events from the perspectives of different characters, some who are deeply affected by the tragedy and some who are more peripheral. Initially these transitions are somewhat jarring, but gradually patterns emerge and we start to learn the unexpected connections between characters. In fact one of the strengths of the novel is the way that so many characters are vividly brought to life. Another is the way that little kindnesses are able to sustain them in the face of some overwhelming sad events - almost every character is dealing with or has dealt with terrible losses in their lives.

I admired this book a lot, but I didn't fall in love with it. I needed a better feel of the relationships that had been lost. June is such a central character but I never got a sense of who she was or what her relationship with Luke was like. I also have a pet hate for novels that rely on a character finding a letter or diary to explain something that they didn't know. And - small issue - but I didn't understand why Adam was even part of this story. We learnt nothing about him, so why have him in the fire? Either give us his story, or leave him out. He added nothing.

I loved this book. Put simply, Bill Clegg's Did You Ever Have a Family follows the fallout from a house fire the night before June's daughter's wedding, in which the daughter and her fiance, June's ex-husband, and her current lover Luke all died, leaving both June and Luke's mother Lydia bereft of any family. Although, as would be expected, most of the chapters follow June and Lydia as they try to cope with not only their losses, but also the past choices which led them to that point, we also get to hear from such tangential characters as the wedding florist and caterer, and it is Clegg's ability to give even minor characters their own distinctive voices which makes the book shine. Listen to the first words out of the florist's mouth:

"They wanted daisies in jelly jars. Local daisies in fifty or so jelly jars they’d collected after they were engaged. Seemed childish to me, especially since June Reid wasn’t exactly putting her daughter’s wedding together on a shoestring. But who was I to have an opinion? Putting daisies in jelly jars is hardly high-level flower arranging, more like monkey work if you want to know the truth. Still, work is work, and the flower business around here is thin, so you take what you can get."

Her bitterness oozes through the gossip she shares about June, Luke, and Lydia, but even she has her redeeming moment:

"The daisies did not go to waste. Every single one was put to use. They never did see the inside of any jelly jars, but they found their way into a hundred or more funeral arrangements. Even when no one asked for them—and let’s face it, most did not—I still found a way to make them work. No one ever accused me of being a soft touch, but when something like what happened at June Reid’s that morning happens, you feel right away like the smallest, weakest person in the world. That nothing you do could possibly matter. That nothing matters. Which is why, when you stumble upon something you can do, you do it. So that’s what I did."

Did You Ever Have a Family is not just a family drama, however; there is an intriguing mystery surrounding the cause of the fatal fire, the resolution of which is both surprising and, in hindsight, inexorable. Clegg's theme of the unanticipated consequences of personal choices is organic throughout; none of the developments feels forced, and the elegiac tone at the end is perfect.

Be prepared to laugh; be prepared to cry; but above all, be prepared to celebrate Clegg's move from memoir to fiction. Scout Press could not have made a better selection for its lead title, and I can't wait to see more from both this author and this imprint.

I received a free copy of Did You Ever Have a Family through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Bill Clegg is someone who knows a bit about life’s highs and lows. An incredibly successful literary agent, he has also suffered through drug addiction and recovery and written two widely praised memoirs about the experience. He has focused much of his previous writing on both darkness and resilience, and he brings similar themes to light in his debut novel, DID YOU EVER HAVE A FAMILY.

The book begins in the wake of a tragedy that most people would find unimaginable. June Reid was preparing to celebrate the wedding of her only daughter, Lolly. But early on the morning of what should have been Lolly’s wedding day, Lolly, her fiancé Will, June’s ex-husband Adam, and June’s boyfriend Luke all die in a fire and explosion at June’s home in suburban Connecticut.

June’s loss is immediate and profound, of course, and her paralysis in the wake of this seemingly insurmountable tragedy is only overcome by her desire to get out of the town that is haunted by so many memories and regrets. Instead, she sets off more or less aimlessly on a solitary road trip, not sure where she’s headed until she’s practically on the other side of the country.

June’s story --- past and present --- unfolds in conjunction with those of many others, both known and unknown to her. There’s Luke’s mother, Lydia, who had become an unexpected friend to June before June, overcome by grief, pushed her away just when they could have been solace to one another. There’s Will’s father, Dale, who writes about his love for his idealistic son and his surprise about and eventual acceptance of Will’s love for Lolly. There’s Silas, a neighborhood stoner who may know more than he’s letting on about what happened the morning of the explosion. And there are three women who run the Moonstone Motel overlooking the Pacific Ocean, whose involvement with the story at first seems coincidental and then makes a sort of perfect heartbreaking sense.

DID YOU EVER HAVE A FAMILY profoundly illustrates the ripples --- both anticipated and not --- that life and death can have on a family and a community. What seems at first to be a very personal family tragedy is actually shown to have much wider implications. Clegg’s interlacing narratives also consider the many ways we can lose one other --- through neglect, anger or fear --- long before the ultimate loss. And they question whether any of these losses, on either side of death, can somehow be overcome. The novel is filled with moments of sparkling prose and genuine wisdom, and its final chapters, narrated first by Lydia and then by a woman who, in her long life, has served as an unexpected savior of sorts to both Will and June, offer some of the clearest and most wrenching descriptions of grace you’ll ever see: “Here was someone she understood,” Lydia thinks. “Someone alive but destroyed. She knew she could do nothing to bring her own boy back…but she might be able to help this boy.”

Finding redemption through connection with others --- even connections we might not know about or completely understand --- is a powerful idea, and one that Clegg explores with both clarity and genuine emotion.

Reviewed by Norah Piehl

* I think initial sales of this critically acclaimed book will be good because readers will be drawn to a fabulous premise that taps into our fears about titanic familial loss.

* But Bill Clegg's "Did You Ever Have A Family" - (note the absence of a question mark in the title) - forces us to over-guess and over-speculate everything as it rolls out about a dozen characters with their own chapters - some relevant, some not at all. This is an obviously humorless book that requires, despite its modest length, some effort to finish. And I lay the blame on the author's choice to jump from one point of view to another, creating confusion and disabling sustained emotional engagement. It presents too many takes about the instant loss of family members in an accident of mundane origin. There are some good reflections offered, e.g., exploring the "what could have beens and what should have beens" - and the resentments and gossip which are an infuriating part of humans reacting to traumas.

* However, it becomes clear by chapter four - that the author cares less about what killed the family - and more about how a humongous loss - generates diverse reactions. I'm getting tired of books with Rashomon-style narratives - so common in many novels - which feature too many points of view. This story shows promise, but was oddly not engrossing. For example, while some actions by the characters felt logical - others felt pointless, e.g., a woman in mourning ("Lydia") - is so starved for affection that she repeatedly and knowingly enables a con artist to scam her for thousands - just to hear his faceless voice on the phone expressing bogus words of love.

* Ultimately, this book's shattering set-up - suggests something important and vital will be explored about death. To me, it never happens. If the takeaway is death - and our reactions to it - are random and ordinary and beyond reason - well, the journey isn't worth it when there are too many exits off the freeway. What could've been a linear, punch-in-the-gut novel spotlighting the same truths presented by the author - gets bogged down in a "start-and-stop-and-restart" narrative that hurts readability and clarity. In sum, "Did You Ever Have A Family" feels like an epic road trip by people fleeing geographies of time, place and mind - who are all seeking answers to things they can't articulate nor are likely to reveal themselves. Acceptance might arrive for some, however real, illusory or transitory - but again, I felt this book was much tougher than expected to finish. Grade: B-

The first chapter is called Silas. Each chapter has a name attached to it. And so we begin to find out about the family, the extended family members, and those who live in the town. Bill Clegg's masterful novel DID YOU EVER HAVE A FAMILY is heart-wrenchingly sad and comfortingly beautiful.
"On the morning of her daughter’s wedding, June Reid’s house goes up in flames, destroying her entire family – her present, her past and her future.
The novel is a gathering of voices, and each testimony has a new revelation about what led to the catastrophe – Luke’s alienated mother Lydia, the watchful motel owners, their cleaner Cissy, the teenage pothead who lives nearby – everyone touched by the tragedy finds themselves caught in the undertow, as their secret histories finally come to light." The Man Booker Prize Longlisted.
Exceptional work, this one. Reading it is a gift to yourself. . .

June has lost everyone important to her in a house fire – her daughter, her daughter’s finance, her ex-husband and her boyfriend Luke. She is left stunned and numb. Her way of dealing with her grief is to get out of town and away from everyone she knows.

June is not the only person dealing with grief and loss. Luke’s mother, Lydia, is dealing with the loss of her son in her own way. She’s a pariah in her own town for the fact that Luke is the product of her affair with a black man while she was married to a white man. She’s white too so it was obvious when Luke was born that Lydia’s husband was not the father. To everyone in town, this is evidence that she is a loose woman. Feeling alone, she strikes up a friendship with Winton, the con-artist who keeps calling wanting her to send him a $745 processing fee so he can send her the three million dollar lottery payout she has supposedly won.

The narrative alternates between several characters whose lives all intersect in some way. All of the characters are well-developed. In addition to exploring how different people deal with grief, there is the mystery of what caused the house to explode. Did Luke cause the explosion like everyone assumes or was it something else?

This book was a selection for my book club [side note – I joined a book club at my church that has been meeting for FORTY years] and it turned out to be a great choice. We talked a lot about how both June and Lydia processed their grief. And why did they make the choices they made in life, both before and after the fire? We also all agreed that there were so many characters that it was hard to keep them all straight at first. Some people made notes to keep track of who was who. Not a bad idea!

This is definitely not a feel-good novel but it is a wonderful exploration of grief and family.

Before I read this book, I knew that it was the darling of some critics, and that’s about it. In fact, the title somehow made me think it would be funny. Oh, man, was I ever wrong. A beach read this is not. It’s not weepy, either, thank heavens, but it is extremely tragic. On the morning of her daughter’s wedding in Connecticut, June watches as her home explodes, killing her boyfriend Luke, her daughter, her daughter’s fiancé, and June’s ex-husband. An old gas stove appears to have been the culprit, but somehow most of the townspeople have shifted the blame to Luke, because he served a prison term for a dubious drug conviction. After managing to get through the funerals, June embarks on a road trip to the West. This novel is told from the standpoint of about a dozen or so characters at both ends of the country, all of whom have some sort of sad history. Fitting all of them together into this puzzle of a book was a challenge but not necessarily an overwhelming one. Perhaps the saddest character is Lydia, mother of Luke. She has a lot to atone for, and now Luke is gone, so that she can never fully make amends, at least as far as her son is concerned. We also have Silas, a teenager who worked for Luke. The author dangles a tantalizing carrot for us, constantly suggesting that Silas possesses secret information about the explosion. Silas is too young to bear this heavy a burden, and I was concerned for his well-being and survival. This book has not only a staggering amount of guilt in it, but also a mountain of regret for words not said before it was too late.

To this day, I am still amazed at how two people can read the same book and walk away with an entirely different take on it. Did You Ever Have A Family is one of those books.

First, let me say I didn’t hate it. I just wasn’t over the moon, as many of the reviewers seem to have been.

Although I did like Clegg’s writing, there were more points I wasn’t fond of. For instance, the number of narrators. There are at least seven, quite possibly more. Some of the characters (the main) are told in third person while others (the secondary) are told in first. That seemed like a very odd choice to me. First person generally lends to intimacy. Why would Clegg want that intimacy with minor characters? Edith, Rick, Rebecca are hardly mentioned except for their one or two chapters, yet they are the characters the author sets up for the closer emotional bond with the reader. The constant switch in characters also gave the read a choppy feel.

There was no dialogue in the book. I didn’t care for that approach to storytelling. Rather than to bond with the characters, I felt as though I was bonding with the author. His hand was too heavy throughout.

Both the story and the characters were flat, no dimension. At no point did I feel as though the author brought his characters to life. Reading it was much like me telling you about my Uncle Frank from Jersey. Unless given a reason to care about him, hearing about a stranger with nothing to make him stand out will bore you. Everybody has an uncle from somewhere, right?

One detail I wanted to comment on: several reviewers mentioned his use of punctuation and went as far as to say that reading this book made them think copyeditors no longer existed. One of the biggest complaints was that he often used semicolons followed by conjunctions. He did. But… as a writer myself and not just a reader, I get it. It is easy to be a punctuation snob when you are only considering the technical side of writing, but when you are sitting on the creative side of the pen, everything changes. Commas, for instance. Anyone can open up their copy of Strunk and White and point fingers at the use of commas within any given work. But as an author, we exorcise our right to be original. I, for one, tend to use commas less as they should be used (technically) and more to emphasize. I use them to set off a particular phrase, or to show a natural pause in speech (dialogue) that cannot be shown on the page as easily as it can be inserted into actual speech. I recently read a book where the author used no dialogue tags whatsoever. It was a bit awkward, I admit, but that was their style. If we are all going to follow the letter of the S&W book, we will all end up sounding like imitations of each other. I just wanted to point that out because I get it. Our styles are as individual as our methods.

This book received a lot of hype, and a number of nominations for prestigious awards. I’m not going to say it wasn’t deserving, but it would never get my vote. Although not the worst book I’ve read, kudos to the person who wrote the synopsis. They managed to put a shine on what is contained between the covers. Again, I did like Clegg’s actual writing. Add a few three-dimensional characters and a plot with substance; this might have been a memorable read.

Did You Ever Have A Family, Bill Clegg
This book surely packs a wallop. It will be the rare person who will not be moved by the introspective examination of the psyches of these diverse characters as they each experienced the same horrific tragedy in their own way and worked to climb back out into the world. It should have been the best of times for all, but in a random act of fate, their destinies changed. In this story, questionable choices, carelessness and arguments spelled catastrophe for all. Havoc and misfortune rained down upon a cast of characters that should have been revelers, dancing at a wedding, but instead were either attending funerals or burying their loved ones.
When disaster struck June Reid’s life, she was 52, and after years of being single, she had finally found someone to love, Luke Morris, although he was a rather nonconforming choice. Her daughter Lolly and she had just begun to repair their broken relationship, and she was happily planning Lolly’s wedding to Mark. Suddenly, her worst nightmare occurred, life as she knew it was simply over, destroyed, and she was totally alone. Completely bereft, without any support system, engulfed in pain and sadness, she left everything behind, although not much but bills were left. She got into her car and took off without being sure of her destination. In a state of shock, for sure, she was lethargic, had no appetite, wore the same clothes day after day and she soon realized that she was tracing the path her daughter Lolly had once taken with her betrothed; it was at a time when Lolly was coming to terms with her parents’ divorce and was beginning to understand that she had labored under many misconceptions about her mother and her father’s relationship. She was beginning to realize that she had, perhaps, placed the lion’s share of blame upon her mother’s shoulders a little unfairly. It was a time when she was happy with the future in front of her, and she wanted to try and mend fences with her mom. June kept driving not knowing for sure where she was going until she wound up at the Moonstone Hotel in Moclips, the place Lolly had stayed with her fiancé. She checked in and rarely left the room until commanded to by Cissy, the wonderfully sympathetic housekeeper at the hotel, who quietly took June under her wing. She understood that June was a woman with no will to live, and although she does not know why this is, she brings her sustenance everyday, hoping to help her, since she had observed that June was surviving on practically nothing.
Some background information is pertinent. Lydia is Luke’s mother. Luke is black; she is not. He is the product of a brief fling during a time in her life when she was extremely bitter and unhappily married to an abusive husband, Earl, who left her when the child was born, as soon as he realized he was not the father. Shamed and alone, the small minded townsfolk rejected and ridiculed her afterwards. When her son Luke was arrested, although he insisted he was framed, Lydia sided with his accusers. The townspeople were only too eager to blame him, the outsider, and the son of a fallen woman. He was convicted and imprisoned. Afterwards, his relationship with his mother was understandably strained. At the time of the tragedy, Luke and Lydia were working to repair their relationship. Luke had started a landscaping company and he hired the local kids to help. One of these local kids, Silas, along with some chums, had goofed off, smoked pot instead of doing work as instructed, and Silas had forgotten his backpack containing all of his contraband and his bong at the shed at June’s house. On the evening of that day, the day that the final preparations were being made for the nuptials planned to begin the following day, he returns to retrieve it, and that backpack and an unexpected, unwitnessed act of mercy changed the future.
The circumstances around the deaths that occurred at the home of June Reid are revealed very slowly as each character is introduced and speaks in alternate chapters until the entire story is woven into a coherent pattern, and all of the characters involved in the tragedy are linked. The author connected all of the characters very plausibly, minor and major, and developed each so very well that they became truly authentic figures in the narrative, each experiencing their own personal ordeal (and they all did have one as the author covered many areas in which the human being can suffer, shining a light on the hardship, pain and loss, anger, grief and joy of life), as they worked out their own attempt at healing and moving forward in a distinctly individual way.
The author reads his own book and although he reads each word carefully, making it fully comprehensible, it was not the best choice. He reads the book in the same morose voice for each character and it was very often difficult to figure out which character was being featured, especially when it was a woman, since his tone and pitch never changed. I found only one other negative for the book and that was the inclusion of a politically correct agenda with one wronged black young man, framed for a crime he didn’t commit, spawned by a very successful black father who never knew about him but who had slept with the female housekeeper at the inn where he stayed to hold a vigil over his severely injured son, and she happened to be white. It seemed to be a portrayal of something like poetic justice with a reversal of fortunes. However, their brief encounter brought with it the unintended consequences that set the stage for the unfortunate set of circumstances that brought so much pain and distress to the major characters. I do not think that was poetic justice, but rather the unkindness and irrationality of chance. The slow roll out of the plot with its varied themes and a timeline that moved from past to present, worked well for this story that mainly concerns what happened on one particular fateful night, a night that changed everything for so many people, but what actually did happen on that night? Who was responsible for the tragic set of circumstances that suddenly unfurled? As each character suffers through their own guilt, regret, remorse and search for recovery, and the back story is told, the reader will discover the truth for him or herself.

This novel begins on the morning of a wedding, which should be a happy time. Instead, it is the scene of a disaster, as a fire leaves the future bride, her husband to be, her father and her mother’s partner dead, after a fire guts the family home. June Reid finds herself alone and her entire family gone. She flees to a motel, where she stays alone and, gradually, we hear the story of what happened through the eyes of all those involved.

Although this novel centres on a tragedy, this is not really the story of how the fire started – although we do discover that along the way. Rather, it is the characters, and the community, that Clegg is interested in. June Reid is a successful art dealer and her house is one of many in a small town that is largely populated by weekenders and holiday home owners; while locals are partly grateful for the work and partly resentful at this influx of homeowners who have priced them out of the market.

Along the way we hear from those central to events; such as Lydia (the “small town Elizabeth Taylor”) whose son, Luke, was the much younger boyfriend of June, the father of Will, who was to marry June’s daughter, Lolly and June herself, as well as from more peripheral characters – Edith, the florist, and Rick, whose catering company have not been paid for their work. This is a tale of small town rumours and gossip, of blame and speculation. It shows what makes a family, what bonds forge us together and the hurt when they are broken apart. Poignant and moving, this would be an excellent choice for book groups, with much to discuss.

Amazing story. You are thrown into the tragedy that occurred in a small town, surrounded by much speculation as if you are an outsider, just passing along. You become the sounding board for almost all the people whose lives were deeply affected by the horrible deaths of soon to be newly weds and a new found love. In their own way, each character is either trying to heal from this tragedy or trying to avoid the fact that these young people are just gone.
At first each perspective leaves you confused as to what connection each character has with the main story but Clegg brings it all Together- each story is told in such a poetic way, you fall in love with the prose and it leads you down to the discovery of what really happened that night.
The truth is heartbreaking and tragic. Did you Ever Have A Family can bring you to tears, and make you thankful to have people in your life that you can count on to be there for you, and you begin to heal with these heartbroken characters. The writing style is beautiful. When I picked up this book, I didn't know what to expect but I am glad that I got to know June, Lydia and Luke. I've had a chance to mourn the loss of their family members that they just had started reconnecting with and I was able to heal alongside of them.

Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg is a difficult book to sum up without becoming too simplistic. A book about family, about interpersonal relations, about life with its highs and lows. These are true, but still don't capture the essence of the book. Rather than get into a lot of detail, I'll just mention what, in general, made this work for me.

We are all told that a good book has a beginning, a middle and an end. We have become accustomed to endings that bring all of the conflicts to a solution. We also expect the story to move along, to have things happening and to then have more things happen. This novel doesn't follow all of these things in the way that most books do. That, for me, is a positive. I had the same problem some readers had, it tended to move slowly, until I changed how I was reading it. In life, most of us ponder things to death. People, comments, situations, what should or should not have been said. I shifted my reading of this novel to the same type of mindset and it worked for me. Pondering the different viewpoints from the various characters, deciding what I believed as more or less accurate while not actually calling any of them a liar. In other words, instead of having the novel do most of the work while I just put pieces together I did most of the work. The novelist, on the other hand, must have done a great deal of work to create a novel that would make me do that much work, and I thank him for it.

I would recommend this to readers who enjoy taking on a larger portion of the work in the novel/reader dynamic. This is not a quick-moving plot so those who don't enjoy multiple narrators and a slow developing plot may not enjoy this as much. This is definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but those who enjoy it will likely remember it for a long time.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

At first, I rejected this book because in the opening chapters -- the main character, June, looses her entire family in a horrific home accident, and with the cruelest twist of all - on the eve of her daughter's wedding. I closed the book thinking, well this is just too sad for me today.

But then I read that Did You Ever Have a Family was nominated for both the Man Booker Prize and National Book Award and reviewers were using words such as "wondrous, eloquent and beautifully nuanced". I decided to give it a another go. I vowed to give it four or five chapters this time.

That did it, I was totally captured -- caring so much about the characters that I couldn't stop reading. Yet, I found myself reading slowly to fully absorb the language and the wisdom within its pages. But, be prepared, Did You Ever Have a Family is unusual -- beyond just the missing question mark in the title -- very little happens in the present and there is only a smattering of dialogue.

Mr. Clegg guides us through the devastation a tragedy brings to a small community and how the pain can spatter far and wide. With each chapter, he allows those effected to open their hearts.

Each character slowly reveals their memories and accounts. Everyone is linked, some in minor ways -- others with strong connections. And it's these connections that the author deftly weaves together into a bittersweet tapestry of people who love, who care and form more than just a community, but a family. This comes alive with some gorgeous writing - as here, with Lydia, a waitress in the diner :

"When you see someone every day for a while, you settle into a rhythm and you come to count on them even if for nothing more than fifteen minutes each morning they spend sitting at your counter, on one of your stools, talking about the weather and giving you a big smile and thumbs up when they sink their teeth into a poppyseed muffin."

The quiet heartache of this novel will resonate with anyone who has lost a loved one. But surprisingly Mr. Clegg counteracts the sadness with the characters revealing little snippets of past and present happiness. Many of their happiest moments and memories are the little things -- which often turn out to be enormous. I underlined this sentence and re-read it several times, simply lovely...

"All we can do is play our parts and keep each other company. And it might be you never know the part you played."

Did You Ever Have a Family concludes 3,000 miles away from the original tragedy, with a gentle happiness warily gathering around the main characters. As if their new community - this new family -- is a healing shawl around their shoulders .

Yes, Did You Ever Have a Family is sad, but it is also a heartening testament to the fundamental human need to connect with others. Those that keep us getting out of bed each morning, those we care for, worry about, love and if we're lucky - wonders of wonders - they love us back.

See all my book reviews at[...]

DID YOU EVER HAVE A FAMILY embeds a mystery, but it is actually much more of a puzzle made up of human pieces. June's daughter is getting married, and she has gathered her lover, the bride and groom, and her ex-husband into her home the night before the wedding. Something terrible happens, and the entire house goes up in flames, killing all of its occupants. June happens to be outside under the wedding tent when the tragedy strikes, and the rest of the book tells the story of her family and its demise from various perspectives while keeping the genesis of the fire a mystery until the end.

June's daughter, her nearly son-in-law, her lover, her lover's mother, and a family friend all have their moments as pieces of the puzzle. But we see June from the outside as well, when she flees the town of Wells, Connecticut, where she lost her family. She drives across the United States, meeting some characters and visiting some landscapes that provide focus to her suffering, finally ending up at the edge of the continent in a motel room on the beach in Washington state. Here her life intersects with the owners of the motel and its cleaning woman, filling in the missing pieces of the puzzle. There are many emotional moments throughout the book, but the story of the two women who run the motel is one of the most touching.

As the full picture comes into focus, the last few puzzle pieces explain the fire and the end of June's family. At that point, she starts to heal and recognize that the people who are caring for her in Washington are forming a new family to hold her close. The author, Bill Clegg, brings each character to life and manages to give each a distinct voice. This is quite an accomplishment, considering the number of characters who speak throughout the book. The writing about emotions and loss is exquisite, with each character dealing with this theme in a manner that is uniquely his or her own. The locations, on both sides of the country, are so well written that they become almost characters in their own right.

DID YOU EVER HAVE A FAMILY reads like a thriller, pulling the reader through the story while at the same time it pulls the heartstrings. The structure of the book, with short sections about and from the perspective of different characters, helps move the pace along. In the end, there is resolution, but there is also a beginning. This is Clegg's fiction debut, and we can only hope that his next is as intense and beautiful as his first.

This review first appeared at[...]

All my past reviews, except those for Craig Johnson, Wally Lamb, and ALice Hoffman, have been rubbish. Can we add a 6 star category, please?

I rode my bike through some of the streets in the little towns listed and wondered where some of the made up places might be. I thought of Joanne Dubord as Lydia, a girl so pretty and trapped and wondered what happened to her. I thought of the girls who stayed home to relinquish their dreams to care for an ungrateful parent. And those dreams were what? To work as a store clerk and marry a boy you'd known since kindergarten? It's almost like incest.

And the disdain for the weekenders. Now, as an older adult I am one of those 3,000 miles away. And when I text Tim to mow my lawn the Tuesday before I come up, I know they are just being town-nice to me, not seeing all the years of over working.

To have an author be able to pull the soul from each character and lovingly expose them on paper, to make them so emotionally vulnerable that you are horrified for their anguish.. who can do that so skillfully? I wondered if they were actual people whose lives he had somehow spied upon. This couldn't be fiction.

I would love to go back in time and have had this as the corner stone of every literature class I ever sat in.

I have actually wallpapered a wall with pages from SIlas Marner. OK, just a sunroom. What kind of testimony for this Bill Clegg guy? "Happy birthday, sweetheart. Here's a book that will stick with you for a very long time and make your chest ache when you think about it. It's Ok in the end though."

You have made generations of literature teachers so proud of their craft. Thank you for one of the best wasted days ever.

Did You Ever Have a Family is one of those rare books where storytelling, characterization, and a beautiful writing style come together to create an emotionally authentic literary experience that will stay with you for a long time. I haven't read any of Bill Clegg's other writings - this is his first novel - but if his previous work is anything like this, I'll be reading all of it.

The story takes place in a small Connecticut town where June Reid is planning for her daughter's wedding. Through a terrible accident, her daughter, future son-in-law, ex-husband and current boyfriend are killed. In the aftermath of this unimaginable loss, June takes a road trip to the other side of the country, where she holes up in a beachside motel. Each chapter of the novel is told from the point of view of a different character - first person narrative for some, third person for others - and so we get to know both the Connecticut townspeople and various people in the beach town where June is staying, and gradually understand their connections to one another. Clegg is very adept at giving each character a distinct voice. I particularly liked Edith, the flower shop owner who was supposed to provide the wedding flowers, and Rebecca, the co-owner of the motel. The depiction of the town, through the eyes of its long-term inhabitants, is great - it's one of those tourist towns mostly populated by weekenders and renters, where the "have-nots" serve the "haves".

I really like how Clegg is able to get to the emotional heart of the story without being maudlin or wallowing. That's rare. I need the emotional connection to be invested in a story and characters, but I hate fake or cheap sentiment. I also like the "shoulda, coulda, woulda" aspect of the story, where various characters are either sorry or grateful for the fact that they did or did not take a certain path in life.

Although the book will certainly sound like a depressing journey, I found it very balanced because Clegg provides enough instances of past or present happiness to counteract the sad scenario that drives June on her road trip. I also think the emotional honesty and sincerity, plus the wonderful characters and beautiful, almost poetic writing, make the story so appealing that even those who normally shun "sad" books will find this one worth their time.

Very highly recommended. It's definitely a keeper for me. I look forward to more from Mr. Clegg.

I don't see why this book got an award. I thought the story itself could have been a good one but I really hated how the book was written. Each chapter came from the point of view of a different character and there were so many characters that it got confusing. There might be something really interesting going on with one character and then the chapter would end and switch to another character. Because there were so many different perspectives from so many characters, by the time it got back to the one where something interesting was about to happen, I couldn't even remember what was happening so I'd have to go back and reread and it was a pain.

Usually when an author uses this technique it's with about 4 characters so it's easy to remember each one. I just wish the author would have found a better way to make the story easier to follow without having to take notes while reading. That's not enjoyable reading for me.

I knew going into it that it was a bit of a slow start, but that everything would come together if I stuck with it. I definitely found that to be true. There is no dramatic build up to Something Terrible happening. The reader goes in knowing that something terrible has already happened: a tragic event has killed June Reid's daughter, future son-in-law, boyfriend, and ex-husband the night before her daughter was to marry. What follows are chapters, narrated by different people involved directly and indirectly with June and her tragedy. Their stories weave together alternating storylines which, at times, seem unrelated. The beauty of Clegg's work is that each chapter and each new perspective creates a clearer picture of the people involved and highlights the despair and beauty in walking through a tunnel of grief and coming out on the other side. Admittedly, I was intrigued enough to read on, but wasn't fully invested in the book until about halfway through. I'm so glad I stuck with it, though. Though there isn't much "action" or even dialogue in this book, I found the stories to be so true, human, and real. This is a very thoughtful work that I'm so glad to have read.

Beautifully wrought, the intertwining of the characters' individual stories and how they are conjoined in this moment of time by a horrible tragedy is masterfully told. A tale of stunning loss and dogged perseverance in a small town in CT. Here's a poignant excerpt that resonated deeply with me.

"... Rough as life can be, I know in my bones we are supposed to stick around and play our part. Even if that part is coughing to death from cigarettes, or being blown up young in a house with your mother watching. And even if it's to be that mother. Someone down the line might need to know you got through it. Or maybe someone you won't see coming will need you. Like a kid who asks you to let him help clean motel rooms. Or some ghost who drifts your way, hungry. And good people might even ask you to marry them. And it might be you never know the part you played, what it meant to someone to watch you make your way each day. Maybe someone or something is watching us all make our way. I don't think we get to know why. .."

A terrible explosion and within minutes all of those whom Julia Reid holds close to her and loves are gone. It’s almost incomprehensible and yet it happened in this small Connecticut town.

We know very little about Julia, her daughter Lolly and her fiancé Will, as well as Julia’s ex husband Adam and her boyfriend Luke. In the aftermath of the tragedy Julia spends a few nights at a friend’s home and then decides to drive West, she grabs her car keys and the few clothes that she has left and drives and drives. The fire is never investigated which was a little hard to believe but the town has come to a conclusion about who started the fire.

It is in the following chapters told in first person as well as third person narrative that we learn about the many people who are touched by and sometimes changed by the tragedy and loss. We learn about Luke through the chapters about his mother Lydia. She is a complex character, having endured a loveless marriage she had a brief affair with Luke’s father. She and her siblings have come to live together after some mistakes and poor decisions earlier in their lives. I found Lydia to be one of the most interesting characters. The book is peopled by a very diverse cast, the woman who owns the floral business and is out a large sum of money, only to find a use for the flowers in funeral arrangements after the fire destroyed the wedding plans. Turning tragedy into something useful for the community.

There are so many characters both in town and those people whom June met along her travels West that I won’t describe them all. They are well developed and seamlessly woven into the story. At no time did I have to flip back pages to remember who was who as the author, even through using short chapters at times, did such a great job of connecting everyone.

The book was a quick read. If you are looking for a truly mystery driven plot you won’t find that here. What you will find is a brilliant debut novel that moves from the small town in the East to the Pacific Northwest where June settles with a plethora of interesting, fully developed characters. I highly recommend this book to everyone and it will be a good choice for book clubs.

He writes such lovely sentences, I wish I had enjoyed the storytelling. I'm glad I got the Kindle version, so I could go back and search for the first occurrence of character names. At first, I thought Luke was the groom, but how did he get from Columbia law student to prisoner to boyfriend of someone twice his age? It took a moment before I realized "Oh, he's dating *the mother* of the bride.

I liked reading books written from multiple POVs back when David Payne, for example, would write from three different perspectives, but this "everyone has a POV" thing has become too much. I just finished figuring out who "George" and "Robert" are, I think, and I'm worn out. I'm not sure why learning about them here and now is so important, or if they are even very important at all. What I do know is that I'm not sure I want to go back for more.

ETA: I finished the book. Interesting that George and Robert got dropped in the end, as if Clegg realized they were interesting enough as a plot point, but not as characters.

This is the second such book I've read recently that takes its narration from all over its character universe, and it is not a trend I'm enjoying. My mind just couldn't process the East 3rd Street gang in City on Fire, and I still have no idea whether Samantha lived or died in the end. With George and Robert, I just want to say "STOP IT!"

If only Clegg weren't such a damned good writer of sentences-slash-user of language, I could have easily dismissed this book.

This was a really great book. It is kicked off by a terrible tragedy, but the rest of it is beautiful. I loved how the story is woven through many different points of view, even through people who are only involved in the most peripheral way. It also travels through time, revealing the entire picture one tiny piece at a time.

It’s less about what actually happened to June’s family, and more about how people handle grief, revelation, and forgiveness. It’s full of tiny pieces of kindness, things, like a thermos of soup, that shouldn’t make a difference but actually do.

I feel like I should say so much more, but I read it a few months ago and it’s not as fresh in my mind as it was. But it’s definitely a book I would recommend to anyone. Perhaps my favorite this year.

A high impact debut novel from Bill Clegg. The narration from his multiple characters seems like private musing. He says that he wants to write about the place that he grew up and he does a wonderful job of intervening the geography with an amazing story.

The book has many lead character but the story centers around June in the town of Wells, CT. She is planning a wedding for her daughter, Lolly when the night before the ceremony her house burns to the ground killing her boyfriend, daughter & finance and her ex-husband. The sadness and guilt drives her away from Wells and the novel goes back and forth on things that happened in the past and things that are happening as she drives away from Wells.

The author does a wonderful job of contrasts. The contrast between Wells, CT and Moonstone, WA, Lolly's family and Will's family & June and Lydia. Plus, he does a great job of depicting how good natured lies within families can completely transform the future relationships in the family.

As the novel is narrated by many characters, the story develops slowly at first but rapidly later as links between different narrations made at a fast pace. The book prey on your patience's for the first quarter but after that it is impossible to put down.

To get your debut novel from Man Booker Prize shortlist is a great achievement. This book is definitely worthy of that achievement.

I listened to the audio version of this book, so I did not encounter the formatting and stylistic issues that some reviewers found with reading the book on paper. At first, I did find the alternating characters difficult to follow, but about a third of the way into the story the connections between them became clear. I can see why the book was nominated for so many awards and gained such critical acclaim. It is a compelling story with characters who evolved over time, and the need to know what really happened that fateful night that propelled the story was as strong in me as it was for the people in the story.

Small communities are like a family. I live in one, so I know how tragedy can have a ripple effect like it does in this story, and I appreciated the way the author brought it all to a resolution that offered hope for the future.

This is a story of a family with a lot of secrets. Most families do but this one has more than their fair share. June is looking forward to reconciliation with her daughter who has been estranged for years. Lolly is getting married the next day and June hopes that with Will, her daughter will find peace and contentment and maybe just maybe that would spill into a better relationship with June.

Tragedy strikes and June loses them all. Not just her daughter and son in law to be, but also her ex husband and her lover Luke. In this small knit tight community gossip spreads like wildfire and without reason and June flees this town for anywhere she can get some peace.

The story is told in segments with many different people involved in the story having a part. June, Cissy, Lydia all tell their stories and overall its a mixture of sadness and hopelessness of lives lived with a great deal of suffering and remorse without hope of ever seeing closure.

Very much highlighting the power of the family, our need for love and affection and the very great need we all have to just survive to see another day are seen in this writing.

Though very emotional, the book was an excellent read. The sadness was never off putting.

Bill Clegg employs a style that I found a little off putting at first. As already noted, this is very much a tell and and not show type of story. Which is not my favored form of narrative. As this is a novel driven by the various characters' introspection, this is not as bad as it might seem. However it still made for a slow read for me.

What strength lies in this is Clegg's ability to delve into grief and how it can define someone and how that same someone can try and resist any such definition. Here the slow almost meandering approach works well. And it is the heart of the story itself. So it is the style itself I guess I had problems with. Completely subjective of course. But it was enough to make me wonder, and wish, to read Clegg's ability to capture grief in this way but with a different narrative approach. There were so many small moments that I, on one hand, was completely moved by and yet at the same time felt was deflated a bit emotionally by the manner in which it was delivered.

I do think Clegg is a new voice that is almost startling in some of his skills in the area of completely tapping into the moment he sees and feels and conveys through his lead character.

I enjoyed the structure of this novel. A central event is seen, chapter by chapter, by various key players. As they describe their experiences, the truth is revealed.

The stage is set for a beautiful garden wedding for June's daughter. But in the night, a fire engulfs the home, killing June's daughter, fiance, ex-husband and boyfriend. The officials clean up the site immediately, taking no care to find the source of the fire. Everyone thinks they know who set it and why.

June needs to redefine her life, so goes off and lives in a quiet motel by the Pacific Ocean. And it is this location which connects many of the characters in the town. The caterer who never got paid, the local kid who helped with yard work, the mother of June's boyfriend... They all get to tell their side of the story.

Intricate web of strands ties this circular tale into a beautiful story. well worth reading.

I agree with other readers who said way too many narrators, too much to keep track of. Not only are there too many narrators, but each narrator starts referring to his own family and friends and it gets way too confusing. It took me a month to get through this book. At one point I was going to quit reading it if yet another name/identity of someone was introduced. I didn't hate it, but I got sick of trying to remember who everyone was and why they were important. Even after finishing the book there are a couple of relationships that are hazy in my mind. Characters have good development, there's just way too many of them. I'd give it 2.5 stars if I could.

Did You Ever Have A Family is an example of excess: too many characters, too many narrators, and too much going on. I could feel no connection to any of the characters and found the plot to be pretty lacking. I had to force myself to finish this and I was left with the feeling that the book was a story with a precipitating event and nothing else. For these reasons, I cannot recommend Did You Ever Have A Family.

How would you react to a gas explosion and fire destroying your house and killing your live-in lover, ex-husband, daughter and daughter's fiancé the night before the daughter's wedding? June, understandably, is in shock, and after quickly taking care of legal and financial affairs, flees the scene, driving from western Connecticut to Moclips, Oregon. There, she hides away in a motel where her daughter once stayed, and never leaves her room.

Meanwhile, Lydia, mother of June's lover, Luke, copes in her own way with the loss of her son. Lydia apparently is white – Luke, her out of wedlock son, black (and considerably younger than June, who is closer to Lydia in age). Both Lydia and Luke have been the subject for years of small town gossip. Luke, who was also imprisoned for a year for drugs, is also now unfairly scapegoated – blamed for causing the explosion.

A third key character in the novel is Silas, a teenage boy who had worked part-time for June's family, and who knew Luke to be a kind and decent person. Silas is haunted by the tragedy, and follows Lydia around town, intending to speak about it, but unable to do so.

These are the three main characters, to whom author Bill Clegg devotes at least five chapters each in his novel. I probably would have rated the book five stars if it had alternate chapters in the first person, expressing the experiences of each of these three. However, Clegg creates confusion and clutter by introducing chapters in the voices of eight other characters – some who didn't even know Lydia, June or Silas or were only very remotely affected by the tragedy.

Eventually we begin to perceive the connection between some of these characters, but a few are simply too peripheral. We don't need the voices of Edith, Rick, Rebecca, Kelly, George or Dale, all who interrupt the flow of the story. In fact, we don't even need the subplot with Lydia and the man who tells her she won a lottery. That too detracts from the main story.

I had decided initially to read this novel because I am, for personal reasons, drawn to books about grief, and hopes that Clegg's novel would probe the depths insightfully and authentically. In that regard, it did not succeed. In fact, it runs away from directly dealing with grief just as June runs away when she flees into her car and drive cross-country. Who can blame her? But I do criticize the author for abandoning her experience for too long and in fact never really revealing to us much of her inner process.

Two thirds of the way through the novel I was frustrated, reacting with a "So what? Who cares? annoyance whenever a new initially irrelevant character was introduced and given his/her own chapter.

But then, suddenly, a new focus related to the tragedy began to emerge, with different puzzle pieces falling into place, and Clegg's writing style and characters becoming emotionally engaging. The last 90 pages are superb. Too bad Clegg didn't omit some of the unnecessary characters, condense the first 2/3 of the book by half, and take us deeper into June's psyche. I then would have rated it five stars, rather than the four stars I give it now, and only because of its exceptional ending.

The story is told from the viewpoint of many. I found myself struggling at first to remember who each person was or how they pertained to the story. The struggle was short because soon each person was ingrained into my soul. I followed journeys like tides going in and out. I rode each wave with too many emotions to follow. Every part of this story started and ended with perfection, leaving no question unanswered, no stone unturned. I believe this story was written for anyone...those with a family, those without. No matter your situation, you will close the book asking yourself; Did You Ever Have A Family?

This is the story of a tragedy that takes several lives, leaving behind those struggling to deal with the loss. There was supposed to be a wedding. Instead there is a senseless accident. In the aftermath, June, the bride-to-be’s mother, is still breathing but not really living when she leaves town with nothing but a bank card and the clothes she’s wearing. Through the voices of all the characters who are left, Mr. Clegg masterfully reveals their places in the story - how they relate to the event and the people who were lost. This is a book that touches all emotions and one you will remember.

If you've ever had a family you will recognize, and empathize with, the complex and tangled relationships that Bill Clegg examines in his poignant and wonderfully crafted novel.

On the eve of Lolly and Will's wedding her mother's house because engulfed with flames killing Lolly, Will, her father Adam, and her mother's boyfriend, Luke. The story takes place after the event with each chapter told from differing character's points of view and examining their relationships with the deceased, with other people and how the event is effecting their lives. There is also a careful build up to the cause of the fire which I felt was masterfully done. The how and why never eclipses the wonderful relationship dynamics and character portrayals.

Poignant, maudlin, gut-wrenching, uplifting, Did you Ever Have a Family is a must for readers looking for a character driven novel with depth.

I savored so many components of Bill Clegg’s debut novel titled, Did You Ever Have a Family. I enjoyed the absence of a question mark in the title since it caught my attention immediately and made me think. Clegg uses multiple narrators to assemble points of view that reflect a wide range of human behavior, and tease out for a reader a slowly developed understanding of the pivotal action in the novel: a house fire the night before a wedding. I appreciate the tension among multiple characters, insight into small town community, and Clegg’s presentation of the long process of grief and forgiveness. Though finely written restrained prose, Clegg offers insight into how individuals can bear the unbearable. Fans of literary fiction and good writing are those most likely to enjoy this novel.

Rating: Five-star (I love it)

A great book that was a wonderful way of showcasing how things are connected to each other. How sometimes one event can stay with you no matter what you try to chance that, and how sometimes the smallest thing can completely transform your life and have the biggest impact.

This story is not perfect, it has its moment where i felt that the author tried a bit hard to put a negative moment in every single character that appeared in this book and would have just liked one character that just had a -comparative- boring life where nothing other then the typical every day stuff happened to them, but that is a personal preference!

All in all this book is a fantastic story, nicely told, greatly written, with good characters and realistic situations and reactions. And it is definitely a story wroth reading!

*I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review*

I thoroughly enjoyed Bill Clegg's new novel, "Have You Ever Had a Family". It is beautifully written, perfectly paced, with a fascinating and touching cast of characters. And his use of the varying character's points of view was beautifully executed; each character unique and identifiable (i.e., I didn't have to go back to the beginning of the section to see who was narrating or who was being described).

The story is about grief and loss after an "obscene tragedy" befalls the main character, June. But in telling the stories of the related characters who satellite June's story, we come to see that everyone has experienced loss and grief personal to them. It's something we know is true as humans. This novel's examination of grief - along with crushing responsibility and regret - is not without hope; this passage moved me: "The world's magic sneaks up on you in secret, settles next to you when you have your head turned."

If we read fiction, in part, in an attempt to understand and identify with our fellow humans thorough their inner-thoughts, feelings and experiences, then "Have You Ever Had a Family" is a perfect vehicle for such understanding and empathy.

June's entire family is destroyed in a tragic fire in her home on the eve of her daughter Lolly's wedding. The details of the accident are murky, and are gradually filled in throughout the novel. June is only half-alive herself, numb with grief, when she decides to escape the small town where the accident occurred, the only place she's ever lived, and drive until she arrives at the opposite coast. She ends up in the tiny town of Moclips, Oregon, at a small motel where she exists as a recluse, making almost no connection with any of the people there. She is not really living, just occupying space, tolerating each minute until the next one arrives. It's a sad and lonely existence.

The story is told in chapters narrated by each of the main characters in the tragedy: Silas, June, Edith, Lydia, Rick, Rebecca, George, Dale, Kelly, Lolly, and Cissy. It takes a while to figure out the relationship of each of these characters and their part in the narrative, and I was rather confused for the first few chapters until I started to put the puzzle pieces together. It's an unusual and rather bold narrative style, but may be off-putting to some readers.

Many of the characters have suffered from broken marriages, fractured families and disappointments - a reminder that the warm and loving Norman Rockwell-stereotyped family simply does not exist - in this novel or anywhere else. The characters long for connection, and some find it in unlikely ways. Eventually the details and cause of the fire emerge, and there is closure and healing for some of the characters. As Cissy commented in the final chapter: "All we can do is play our parts and keep each other company." "And it might be you never know the part you played."

The themes in this novel will resonate with anyone who has lost a family member, or has a broken relationship with a family member, or wishes for connection with family members and others - that's pretty much everyone of us. It's a sad, though sweet testament of the fundamental need for each of us to connect with others, and make our own families if the one we're born into isn't the right one.

I became aware of this book, and Bill Clegg, after my wife and I became friends with Bill's mother during a river cruise in the Netherlands last April. All it took was reading one page of his mother's advance copy to know Bill's writing talent was very special. After a 5 month wait, I finally got to read it, and for me, it certainly rates 5 stars. I cannot remember a book that had characters with so much dimension, and the telling of the story by each character worked perfectly. I prefer the short chapter format, and 293 pages was just right. It will be no surprise to me to see this top the Best Seller lists.

WOW!! Intense. I mean, intense. Having survived the suicide of a sibling this year was not sure I could read a story about loss. Very hard reading at the beginning. Worth every bit of sadness, guilt ,denial felt. The story is told in alternating characters, a chapter at a time. All are inter-woven in the end. If you have suffered loss you understand the actions of some of the characters.
Read! This book is worth it.

Bill Clegg explores a wide range of emotions from sadness to anger; hopefulness to despair in Did You Ever Have a Family, a surprisingly uplifting story about the power of forgiveness in the face of despair. The characters are vivid and complex even though we never meet most of them. There's a strange tension that permeates the book as we seek for answers about what really happened to June's family.

If you've ever had a family you will recognize, and empathize with, the complex and tangled relationships that Bill Clegg examines in his poignant and wonderfully crafted novel.

On the eve of Lolly and Will's wedding her mother's house because engulfed with flames killing Lolly, Will, her father Adam, and her mother's boyfriend, Luke. The story takes place after the event with each chapter told from differing character's points of view and examining their relationships with the deceased, with other people and how the event is effecting their lives. There is also a careful build up to the cause of the fire which I felt was masterfully done. The how and why never eclipses the wonderful relationship dynamics and character portrayals.

Poignant, maudlin, gut-wrenching, uplifting, Did you Ever Have a Family is a must for readers looking for a character driven novel with depth.

A sad, beautiful tale about love, loss, regrets, disappointments, and so much more. At first the POV of multiple characters was a little off putting, but as I relaxed into the tale, I realized that each character brought an extra layer of nuance and richness. The poem, 'Song and Dance' by Alan Shapiro at the beginning of the novel is breathtaking in its beauty and sets the tone for the story that follows.

"You should have
heard him,
his voice was
unforgettable, irre-
sistible, his voice
was an imaginary gar-
den woven through
with fragrance.

Did you ever have a
family?
Their eyes are closed.
That's how I know
we're there
inside it,
it's made of sound and
steam
that weaves between
dark
dining room, bright
kitchen.
We're there because I'm
hungry,
and we'll all be eating
soon
together, and the
hunger's sweet

--Alan Shapiro

Shapiro wrote this poem after his brother's death from brain cancer. Although the poem lays bare the grief of losing a loved one, it is the bright bursts of love and light that expose how great the loss. The first stanza made me think of my father who died a little over two years ago. "His voice was an imaginary garden woven through with fragrance." What do you do when you're separated from this wonderful garden? How does grief begin to describe the feelings?

Bill Clegg builds a story on the foundation of Shapiro's poem. How does one go on after tragedy? Clegg shows how most of us don't recognize the garden of our loves until we're forced to the ultimate separation.

I savored so many components of Bill Clegg’s debut novel titled, Did You Ever Have a Family. I enjoyed the absence of a question mark in the title since it caught my attention immediately and made me think. Clegg uses multiple narrators to assemble points of view that reflect a wide range of human behavior, and tease out for a reader a slowly developed understanding of the pivotal action in the novel: a house fire the night before a wedding. I appreciate the tension among multiple characters, insight into small town community, and Clegg’s presentation of the long process of grief and forgiveness. Though finely written restrained prose, Clegg offers insight into how individuals can bear the unbearable. Fans of literary fiction and good writing are those most likely to enjoy this novel.

Rating: Five-star (I love it)

A great book that was a wonderful way of showcasing how things are connected to each other. How sometimes one event can stay with you no matter what you try to chance that, and how sometimes the smallest thing can completely transform your life and have the biggest impact.

This story is not perfect, it has its moment where i felt that the author tried a bit hard to put a negative moment in every single character that appeared in this book and would have just liked one character that just had a -comparative- boring life where nothing other then the typical every day stuff happened to them, but that is a personal preference!

All in all this book is a fantastic story, nicely told, greatly written, with good characters and realistic situations and reactions. And it is definitely a story wroth reading!

*I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review*

I thoroughly enjoyed Bill Clegg's new novel, "Have You Ever Had a Family". It is beautifully written, perfectly paced, with a fascinating and touching cast of characters. And his use of the varying character's points of view was beautifully executed; each character unique and identifiable (i.e., I didn't have to go back to the beginning of the section to see who was narrating or who was being described).

The story is about grief and loss after an "obscene tragedy" befalls the main character, June. But in telling the stories of the related characters who satellite June's story, we come to see that everyone has experienced loss and grief personal to them. It's something we know is true as humans. This novel's examination of grief - along with crushing responsibility and regret - is not without hope; this passage moved me: "The world's magic sneaks up on you in secret, settles next to you when you have your head turned."

If we read fiction, in part, in an attempt to understand and identify with our fellow humans thorough their inner-thoughts, feelings and experiences, then "Have You Ever Had a Family" is a perfect vehicle for such understanding and empathy.

June's entire family is destroyed in a tragic fire in her home on the eve of her daughter Lolly's wedding. The details of the accident are murky, and are gradually filled in throughout the novel. June is only half-alive herself, numb with grief, when she decides to escape the small town where the accident occurred, the only place she's ever lived, and drive until she arrives at the opposite coast. She ends up in the tiny town of Moclips, Oregon, at a small motel where she exists as a recluse, making almost no connection with any of the people there. She is not really living, just occupying space, tolerating each minute until the next one arrives. It's a sad and lonely existence.

The story is told in chapters narrated by each of the main characters in the tragedy: Silas, June, Edith, Lydia, Rick, Rebecca, George, Dale, Kelly, Lolly, and Cissy. It takes a while to figure out the relationship of each of these characters and their part in the narrative, and I was rather confused for the first few chapters until I started to put the puzzle pieces together. It's an unusual and rather bold narrative style, but may be off-putting to some readers.

Many of the characters have suffered from broken marriages, fractured families and disappointments - a reminder that the warm and loving Norman Rockwell-stereotyped family simply does not exist - in this novel or anywhere else. The characters long for connection, and some find it in unlikely ways. Eventually the details and cause of the fire emerge, and there is closure and healing for some of the characters. As Cissy commented in the final chapter: "All we can do is play our parts and keep each other company." "And it might be you never know the part you played."

The themes in this novel will resonate with anyone who has lost a family member, or has a broken relationship with a family member, or wishes for connection with family members and others - that's pretty much everyone of us. It's a sad, though sweet testament of the fundamental need for each of us to connect with others, and make our own families if the one we're born into isn't the right one.

I became aware of this book, and Bill Clegg, after my wife and I became friends with Bill's mother during a river cruise in the Netherlands last April. All it took was reading one page of his mother's advance copy to know Bill's writing talent was very special. After a 5 month wait, I finally got to read it, and for me, it certainly rates 5 stars. I cannot remember a book that had characters with so much dimension, and the telling of the story by each character worked perfectly. I prefer the short chapter format, and 293 pages was just right. It will be no surprise to me to see this top the Best Seller lists.

WOW!! Intense. I mean, intense. Having survived the suicide of a sibling this year was not sure I could read a story about loss. Very hard reading at the beginning. Worth every bit of sadness, guilt ,denial felt. The story is told in alternating characters, a chapter at a time. All are inter-woven in the end. If you have suffered loss you understand the actions of some of the characters.
Read! This book is worth it.

Bill Clegg explores a wide range of emotions from sadness to anger; hopefulness to despair in Did You Ever Have a Family, a surprisingly uplifting story about the power of forgiveness in the face of despair. The characters are vivid and complex even though we never meet most of them. There's a strange tension that permeates the book as we seek for answers about what really happened to June's family.

Did You Ever Have a Family may possibly be one of the best books I've read this year. If they're done well, I'm a big fan of stories told through the eyes, hearts, and feelings of different characters and multiple perspectives, and Bill Clegg does this incredibly well. This heartbreaking, devastating, almost unimaginable tragedy is a very tough story to tell (and read), but Clegg drew me in with his characters, his writing, and plot.

June Reid loses everything – her daughter, her daughter's fiancee, her boyfriend, ex-husband, all of her identification, clothing and possessions – in an explosive fire the night before her daughter's wedding. A woman gossiping with friends in a coffee shop asks, “How do you recover from that? How would you even begin?” As Clegg begins to answer those questions and the story progresses, small but pertinent pieces are added by those affected directly and peripherally by the tragedy. These pieces recounted by characters serve to further the main story line, but also elucidate their own lives and stories. I had some trouble keeping the characters' relationships straight in the beginning, but found the novel so compelling that I kept reading. Stick with it; the story comes together, and the reward is worth a little reading effort. There are two small things (possible spoilers so I won't include them here) that kept me from giving Did You Ever Have a Family five stars, but this book is still entirely deserving of its place on the Man Booker Longlist.

I read Wave last year, and was surprised that I liked a memoir of unbearable grief so much. Did You Ever Have a Family deals with grief just as beautifully and truthfully. I'll be thinking about this book and its characters for a long time.

Extraordinary book. All the while I was reading it, and I never did put it down, I kept thinking, "THIS is a great book. Where did this idea come from?"
There are many different people in this book, lots of little stories interwoven into the main story. Many times I will quit a book because I can't keep everyone straight. But, this author made everybody so real and lifelike to me, that I had no problems following along.
5 star rating all the way.

"Did You Ever Have a Family" is a story about an event that affects an entire town but more about the people affected and the town itself. On the eve of a wedding, and explosion and subsequent fire kill much of the wedding party, leaving only the bride's mother to survive. That happens before the novel starts. When the novel starts, a fifteen-year-old boy named Silas wakes up to the sound of sirens, smokes some marijuana, and looks out his bedroom window to see the commotion. As it turns out, Silas is a gardener, not one of the characters directly affected. And this point is key to the book. It is told through alternating perspectives of several characters, including Silas.

As June, the survivor, drives from Connecticut, where the fire was, to the other side of the country, we read her perspective and others', including those of the florist who was to provide daisies in cups for the wedding, the mother of the would-be groom, and others. We get a real sense of these people in their responses to the conflagration and the aftermath, but we also get a sense of a simmering resentment in the town, a place where the locals rely on and resent the out-of-towners who own homes that they rarely visit or visit on weekends yet manage to dictate much of the pace of life in the town. I found the manner in which author Bill Clegg captured the spirit and nature of the town to be especially captivating.

The alternating perspectives, some as short as just a few pages, might cause some to have trouble with this book, and I do get that. (When I started the book, I knew the premise that the story was of a fire that wipes out almost an entire family, so I was initially surprised by the first chapter's focus on Silas.) The characters are identified only by name, and their relation to the event takes a page or so to become apparent. But Clegg has given each a distinct voice and a clearly defined set of circumstances, and by page 50 or so--and certainly by half way through the novel--, readers should have no trouble remembering who's who. What follows then is an especially insightful novel, one that will probably stay with me for quite a while.

In a small Connecticut town, several individuals are caught up in a tragedy that ultimately links them, and through the pages, the author takes us into the lives of some of these individuals, revealing past and present choices, and leading us to a place of understanding just what happened that day.

It happens the night before the wedding between June's daughter Lolly and her fiancé Will. At a time when everyone has gathered to celebrate, the explosion kills everyone but June.

The multiple narrators are somehow connected to those who were killed, and separate chapters are devoted to each of them, sometimes in first person and other times, third person. Each narrator has been somehow scarred by events, both before and after the tragedy. Some have been living outside societal norms, clinging to what sets them apart, as if the familiar roles they have fallen into are too comfortable to change. What truths have kept each of them outsiders? Who are they? There is Lydia, whose son Luke was also killed, but is somehow blamed for the tragedy. And then there is June, who was Luke's older lover, dubbed a cougar by the townsfolk. And then there are Rebecca and Kelly, who live in Moclips, Washington, as far from events as could be, but somehow they are connected to what happened by virtue of offering refuge to one of them.

How did June escape the tragedy, walking away without an identification, to find that refuge? Why did the small town folk believe only the worst about Luke and Lydia? And even though she was from a more polished life, why did they also seem to shun June?

Did You Ever Have A Family could be a poignant view of small town life, with all of its flaws and foibles, reminding us that sometimes the people we choose to dismiss are more like us than not, and that understanding goes a long way toward forgiveness.

The characters' stories were intimate and insightful. Even though I struggled at times to make the connections between the numerous characters, by the end I could see a clear picture forming. 4 stars.

An intricate story told from many points of view about a troubled family over several years. The crucial event in the book is the explosion of a gas stove killing several people. This is not a very long book but the characters are extremely well developed with each one being unique and worthy of a novel on their own story. This is a National Book Award Nominee finalist which I fully support. Mr. Clegg is an author to be reckoned with and I feel sure he will gather many more literary plaudits in the future.

I was really moved by this book and felt for the characters, each of whom felt very real. They had deep flaws in some cases but Clegg somehow lets their humanity shine through nonetheless. This is particularly true of Lydia. It's not a quick read. It's slow and thoughtful. Not for everyone but I would recommend for those who like well-written books centered on character development.

Tthe end doesn't exactly freshen up with much optimism but I found that I didn't want to put it down. I pretty much read the whole book in one evening. The shifting POVs were a bit jarring because for at least half of the book the reader had not been introduced to this sudden new name at the beginning of a new chapter. Within many chapters were shifting points of time which would probably play very well on screen but was cause for me to re-read sentences to ensure hadn't missed something of importance.

Did You Ever Have A Family
By
Bill Clegg

What I think is the main idea or theme of this book...

This was one of the loveliest saddest books I have read. It was a portrait of June and the family that was lost to her on the eve of her daughter's wedding. The relationships were complex. As you read each chapter you realize the connections between these characters. They were not clear...at first...these connections...but they became startlingly clear as I read further into this book.

The characters that I thought were the most interesting as well as intriguing...

For me...June was intriguing...she was the saddest and most alone...but so were many other characters. I won't name them...each character has a story and a connection. The stories were thoughtful as well as thought provoking.

My thoughts about this book...

This book was sad but I loved it. I loved the way this author linked the chapters. I loved the thoughts I had while I read this book. It was sad but also kind of fulfilling.

My thoughts for potential readers of this book...

This isn't a fast paced mystery but rather a study into very unique and different personalities and people and the choices they made both before this tragedy as well as after it.

Did You Ever Have A Family is a book that discovers the aspects of the human soul, not just their every day reactions. It's a multi-dimensional account of a family's devestation after a fire takes the lives of several loved ones. Instead of a wedding, they are now planning funerals. The small Connecticut town has people coming out of the cracks to tell their own stories of how they knew the people who died in the fire and the way they are all connected is an astounding story of love, betrayal, loss and tribulations.

I just simply loved this story, from beginning to end.

Absolutely brilliant. Embracing two small towns, one in New England, the other on the Pacific Coast, Clegg's many "minor" characters slowly
reveal the lives of those who might seem almost inconsequential to each other; yet whose experiences, actions, and decisions have profoundly affected the lives of others and will ultimately sustain those lives in the wake of a shattering tragedy. A stunning novel and a wonderful, ultimately illuminating read.

What a poignant and beautifully written novel. Bill Clegg so capably was able to connect very different and diverse people in a masterfully crafted tale of life, humankind and family. It is sad, heartrending, beautiful and powerful. The characters were all well defined and likable, not something I've usually found in novels of late. This is a novel where each chapter is from another person's perspective, a literary device I've seen so often of late in recent novels. Not many were as successful as this author in making it all tie so nicely together.

4.5 stars

In one night June loses her whole family when her gas stove blows up. Her ex-husband, her boyfriend, her daughter and her daughter's fiancee. June just happens to be in the back yard because her and her boyfriend are having a little argument and she's not ready to go inside the house yet. She is devastated. The rest of the book brings into play other characters that somehow, someway know the people who were in the house that night.

This story is all about human emotion, hurting the ones we love, ignoring the ones we love, taking for granted the ones we love, and using the ones we love. It is a great story which I truly loved. The character development was great. There were a lot of them, so sometimes it was hard to keep up with who was who for me, but I'm just old may have just been the problem. There are several quirky characters as well. There are some actions taken by some that are just not excusable at all. There are bad people, mean people, good people, great people, selfish people and lowlifes. It's a mixed breed of all types of people.

It was just one of those stories you can't put down. I really thought it was Lolly that was in room 6. I thought maybe somehow, she got out of the house. Darn.

Thanks to Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Press and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

It took awhile until the people and their parts came together and to tell you the truth I still , after 80% through, had to stop and remind myself who was who and what part they played, but like life, if you can hang on it starts to make sense. There was a paragraph on the second to last page that simply resonated and made so much sense, I will need to go back and write it down to read over and over. I read this book in one day, it's that moving.

Not set to be release until 15 September 2015, Did you Ever Have A Family by Bill Clegg is definitely a book to add to any reading list. Did You Ever Have A Family is a story about family, those we are born into and those we create, and the celebration of life and family while beginning with a tragedy. Clegg’s fictional debut is expertly written, filled with depth of characters, deep and expansive emotions, and is told from various viewpoints which adds to the beautiful structure and depth of this book. The night before June Reid’s daughter is to be married a horrific tragedy unfolds taking the lives of everyone in June’s family, except June. While June’s small community in Connecticut attempts to come to terms with the devastating loss to their community, June begins her journey alone and directionless driving heartbroken across the country until she settles in at motel on the Pacific Ocean, where June falls into a state of mere existence, and yet the after affects of so many dead in such a horrific manner causes ripple effects which lead to secrets becoming unburied, truths being discovered, and slowly life returns as a wonderful and eclectic cast of characters find solace. Did You Ever Have A Family is a beautiful story of family, love, hope, and a view of humanity at its finest. I highly recommend Did You Ever Have A Family to anyone who enjoys well-written works of fiction and anyone in a book discussion group.

As an avid reader I normally do not care for novels that tell the story from the distinct and turn following perspectives of the characters. There are a lot of characters telling this story but somehow it all works and culminates in a truly thought provoking and satisying conclusion.

That said, the "who dunnit" was obvious to me at the start but that didn't really matter to me. What makes Did You Ever Have a Family worth the read is the journey of the revelation of each character's inner and outer reaction to the experience of the tragedy they all endured.

I would have given this novel 5 stars if it weren't for what seemed gratuitous and inappropriate sexual innuendo that left me feeling a bit icky.

Overall, despite some impatience on my part with reading through a lot of detail and inconsistency in the timelines of the respective character's narratives, I enjoyed this novel enough to seek out what else author Bill Clegg offers.

I really wanted this book to hit me as hard as Bill Clegg's memoir, Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man, which I found visceral and urgent and unforgettable. It didn't quite reach that bar, for me.
But I still recommend this novel highly. There is much in this short novel to praise, especially in the spare, muscular prose. The tale is a harrowing one of instant loss and what comes after, and Clegg means to show us the web that pulls these sorrowful people together.
His portraits are unflinching and his characters' sins of commission and omission are glaring. If not grace, he does give them some sense of respite and relief as they try desperately to make meaning from what remains. And there is brilliance in the subtle ways Clegg pulls the story threads together.

Clegg's novel, Did You Ever Have A Family, is a really beautiful and moving story. Well written, nuanced and excellently paced. There are a few extraneous characters that weren't really necessary to the story, and they are the only reason I didn't give this five stars. I felt that they slowed down the pace a bit, but not too badly.

There's a lot of darkness and heartbreak here, but the hope and resilience shine through. June is hosting her daughter, Lolly's wedding the next day. That night, an explosion rips through the home, and kills Lolly, her soon-to-be-husband, Will and June's previous husband (and Lolly's father} Adam, along with Jane's current boyfriend, Luke. June is the only one to survive the explosion and resulting fire. In an instant, her entire history, and everyone important to her life, is gone.

After a short time, June heads out to the other side of the country, filled with grief and regrets, and trying to cope with the devastating loss. The book is written by the characters in the story, each telling their story and giving the characters layers of humanity that, along with the author's style, give the story an authentic feeling look at grief, hope, moving forward, and our shared human condition.

Wonderful debut work from an author to watch in the future.

--I received a free copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway--

My first thought before I actually read the book was that it was going to be a typical sad story about the survivor "finding" themselves in the end, but that wasn't the case. This story is more then just grief and sadness... it's a wonderful display of how a community of individual people react and come together to cope and move forward.

Bill Clegg did a beautiful job of creating complex, but believable connections between the characters. By moving to the point of views of a variety of people, you come to not only understand how different people react to the death of June's family, but you gain important insight to that individual and the way they react/treat others.

As sad as the story may seem, I would highly recommend this book to others.

This is a very moving and touching novel. A "simple" act ( or non-act) destroys a family and we are left to discover what family really means. In the process, we learn about those who survived, their past and how their lives intertwine. Keep a pad and pen handy to jot down notes about each character- if you read the book in multiple sittings, you might forget who's who.

I loved this book which reminded me a bit of Olive Kitterage, without the humor. Clegg tells a story of tragedy through many voices and perspectives, though June Reid and Lydia Morey take up most of our emotion. June is a wealthy divorcee who has taken up with a local landscaper who is 20 years younger. She lives in her beachfront home in Massachusetts where her daughter is about to get married. The chapters are told in alternating voices, mostly characters that surround a tragic house explosion that wiped out June's daughter, Lolly, her fiancé Will, her ex-husband, Adam and her current boyfriend, Luke. So it is understandable that we see June driving away, to get away, at the start of the novel. On her trip she discovers a letter from Lolly about this motel in Washington where Will proposed to her and June winds up staying there. The other voices include Lydia who is Luke's mother , a son she conceived with another man and whose blackness would seal the break up of her bad marriage with Earl. Here is a quote from a local gossip about Lydia, "The woman he’s heard described as the mother of the crackhead whose negligence blew up a house and killed three people and himself; the sex-mad slut who cheated on Earl Morey with a migrant worker, a drug dealer, a hitchhiker, a Zulu tribesman; the mother of the hustler who conned June Reid into being his sugar mama until she threw him out and he came back on a suicide mission; the monster who gave birth to a bad seed who finally got what was coming to him." So as you can see, Luke gets a raw deal throughout this narrative.
In addition, on the West coast there are characters who are trying to decipher what is going on with the unknown woman in room 6 who checked in without ID and only pays cash. These women include Rebecca and Kelly, two gay women who have recently bought the motel and Cissy, a part Indian cleaning woman who seems to take care of providing sustenance for June. And there are more characters, Silas, that teenage boy whose bong hits become integral to the plot, and Dale, Will's father who has the perfect family with his wife Mimi, and three children. At one point just before the wedding, Prudence, his daughter is asked by an overwhelmed June, Did You Ever Have a Family? Prudence is happy to be utterly thankful for hers, including her brother Will. "Will was the son-in-law Adam always dreamed of: the kind of guy to read up on infectious diseases in foreign countries before traveling there, who paid all of his bills on time, filled the coffeemaker with water and ground beans and set the timer the night before." He is then the opposite of June and her daughter Lolly, who never took the time to fix what needed to be fixed.
There is also something about itinerant living situations here, or about motels. Many of the narrators - Cissy, Lydia, June, Rebecca , are either living in or cleaning rooms lived in temporarily. The author does a masterful job of letting the story unfold through these various eyes, but it takes some close reading to connect all the details strewn about the interrelated narrative. One of the nice features about Kindle reading is the explore tab which allows you to easily go back and see where a character first entered the novel. I used to do all this with my pencil in hand but have to admit I am getting used to the new medium. But the time taken to go back and check the connections between these characters is well worth the effort. Highly recommend Mr. Clegg's first novel.

Did You Ever Have A Family is the story of a tragedy in a small town in Connecticut told through many different perspectives.
Lolly and Will were about to get married. Lolly's mother June was hosting the wedding at her house and had allowed her ex-husband Adam to stay at her house for the wedding, along with her boyfriend Luke. When the house explodes, killing everyone except June, who was outside at the time, half the town blames Luke, the young black man who had gone to prison for dealing drugs. June doesn't blame anyone. She just has to leave. Luke's mother Lydia is used to being the topic of gossip but now the gossip is saying that her son blew up a house full of people and she can't handle it.
This story is so well crafted, woven with all the voices of those involved, however slightly, in the lives of those that have been lost. It's a sad story but one that doesn't depress the reader in any way, only intrigues them and makes them want to know more about how this tragedy happened. It ends not necessarily happy but with a philosophical approach that ties it all up nicely. This is one of those books that you wish wouldn't end.

June loses her daughter, her ex-husband, her boyfriend and her daughter's fiancé on the day that should have been a joyful wedding day. Did You Ever Have A Family deals with the aftermath of this event and also takes you back into these people's (and some other's) pasts. It is a book that will stay with you long after you've finished it, and I am saying this even though I contemplated not finishing it after struggling through some of the first third of it. I am so glad I stuck with it because by the 60% mark I was glued to it. There are lots and lots of viewpoints, and I found it extremely confusing to work out who these people were and how they were connected to each other, hence the great effort of reading the first third. When it all came together slowly though, I have to admit I was in awe because, very cleverly, it turned into a very poignant and powerful story about relationships, loss, redemption, forgiveness and perseverance. Because of the subject matter I was expecting a tearjerker, and while some of it was definitely emotional, several of the descriptions about the characters' backgrounds and the way people were relating to each other just evoked feelings of anger. The author has created some very memorable characters. For me, June was actually one of the less interesting ones. I thought Lydia, the mother of June's boyfriend, was the most fascinating one. Not an easy read, but certainly worthwhile. A good choice for book clubs, as there were so many issues that could be discussed.
Thanks to the author and the publisher for providing me with a complimentary copy via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I am giving this book four instead of three stars because it is well written. That usually bothers me, a great story with a bad writer. In this case, it's almost the opposite. Clegg is clearly a good writer, but this was the most depressing, devastating story I've ever read. My own husband died five years ago at the age of 41, and this book by far surpassed the devastating feelings I felt when he died. There was almost no redemption in it. June loses everyone, Lydia lost her son twice, and there was NO LIGHT at the end of the tunnel. What Clegg misses is that in this life there is light at the end of the tunnel. He needs to go on a spa retreat or something. Cheer up, Bill! You're killing us.

I normally do not like alternating narratives. This is the exception and what an exception it IS !! Mr. Clegg has taken a story and finely crafted it and as one reads it is as if you are slowly peeling an onion. Tears included. An explosion occurs and various friends, neighbors and/or family members recount the days/years leading up to and the days/year after the explosion.

Did You Ever Have Family by Bill Clegg

4.5* A beautifully written, sad story of prejudice, secrets, relationships and deceit.

This quiet, understated book has enchanted me with the almost poetic style of writing. It is a story of tragedy and how everyone touched by it deals with it, copes and comes to an understanding of how one mistake has shattered their lives forever.

An event, an accident, however you view it, literally blows June's life apart and wipes out her entire family and future with it. Grief stricken June does what her instinct tells her to do, she gets away after the funerals of her ex husband, daughter, soon to be son in law and boyfriend. Driving, blinded by grief and guilt, June finds Lolly's, her daughter's, overnight bag in the boot (trunk for the Americans). In the bag are a collection of sketches, notes, random utility bills and most importantly a letter, written but never posted to June.

The contents of the letter reveal the emotions and thoughts that Lolly has never been able to express to her mother in person. Fate takes June to the Moonstone motel where she hunkers down to begin the healing process.

The author weaves the characters beautifully into this story. This book is a treasure

I was fortunate to be approved to read this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Bill Clegg's novel is heartbreaking. I could really empathize with the characters involved in the fire on the morning of a wedding. I became more deeply involved with the novel after getting to know Luke. His racial heritage really intrigued me. My one problem, I thought the author gave too much detail about the lives of the characters. I felt too much knowledge about their pasts led me away from that fiery moment. Otherwise, the novel is fascinating.

A book about regret. About holding back and storing up. And about love and guilt. Clegg's writing channels the tightness and pain, the nuanced introspection of loss. He draws his ordinary people clearly and with authenticity, the pace matching their agonized reality. Excellent writing. Would be a fine choice for a serious book club.

This is the story of a universal nightmare where everyone you love - your entire family - is destroyed in one tragic moment.

There will be many detailed reviews which outline the plot in great detail, so suffice it to say on the eve of a family wedding the bride's mother, June, is the only survivor of a horrific explosion and fire. It is all too easy to imagine (fear, dread) how one would feel in the aftermath of such tragedy, and how on earth you find the courage to go on.

This book is beautifully written with a cast of intensely drawn characters who at first seem almost peripheral to the story, but through the author's finely nuanced writing share their own stories. It was all to easy to identify with June's emotional paralysis and her struggle to cope with her grief and guilt.

It's almost impossible to put this book down, and almost impossible to continue reading. It is very likely to trigger a strong emotional reaction, one that will take a while to fade.

Every now and then along comes a book you want to press into everyone's hand. This is such a book. Told from many points of view, the effects of a tragedy of immense proportions reach wide. A house containing all that June holds dear explodes in the early hours before her daughter's wedding, and many lives will never be the same. Blasted by grief and guilt, June drives to Washington state, to a motel seemingly at the end of the world.

Bill Clegg writes with such empathy and strength, no surprise given the success of his memoirs. Each character carries their burden of guilt and misconception, usually rooted in one moment of miscalculation or misdirection. But the writing is so beautiful, so haunting. For instance, ..."She takes a long late day look at the town where she has lived her whole life where there are no friends no family but where her feet are famous to the sidewalks. " Healing comes slowly, and redemption painfully. Highly highly recommended.

This was such a great book. I read a review that said it "reads like a thriller." It really does. I couldn't stop turning the pages. I was thinking about the book when I wasn't reading it. I was sorry to finish it. I loved all of the flawed characters. Loved the writing style. The characters pain was palpable. I cannot wait for Bill Clegg's next book.

I found this a very powerfully written book along with the story.

It starts off high, really high pitched and I wondered if it could remain the same throughout.
A tragedy happens and we, the readers have to piece all the pieces together from the time of the tragedy before and after.

At times I found it quite frustrating as you really had to concentrate pieces it all together so you need to pay attention, its not an easy read.

Awful to loose your entire family in an explosion.

I am in two minds about this story, because at times it was hard going in the explanations.

My thanks go to Random House UK, Vintage Publishing via Net Galley for my copy

The multiple layers of the characters revealed like peeling away old paint was what made this novel a great read for me. Though I am not a fan of stories told in multiple voices, this time it seemed to move the story along quickly. My only difficulty came in sometimes having a hard time deciphering who was speaking. If you like to uncover a character's background and motivation slowly, and can pay attention to hints, this might be as fun for you as it was for me. It worked well for me in print, but I'm not sure I would recommend it as an audio selection because of the abrupt changes in narration. I believe however, that I would suggest Did You Ever have A Family as a book discussion selection. The themes of loss, family and recovery lend themselves well to question and debate.
*I received my copy through NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Very interesting book written about a very sad experience from the perspective of several people. Each voice is different and at first I needed to really pay attention to who was talking and who they were. But once I got going, this change of voice was a great experience. Though it's about the one main character, there is suspense in where she'll end up and what actually happened in the beginning. It's a great life story. The author, who has been an agent, has done a great job. Ironically, almost the next book that I read was Julianna Baggott's Harriet Wolf's Seventh Book of Wonder which was also told from 4 different viewpoints that come together in the last chapter.

I am lucky enough to have read Did You Ever Have a Family? by Bill Clegg months before it was published. And for all these months, I have thought of those characters many, many times.

When a tragedy occurs the morning of her daughter's wedding, June finds herself alone and grieving. As various people affected by this tragedy narrate portions of this story, the ways they are connected are revealed. Each one has played a part in the way the events have unfolded.

There were points where I found this story utterly heartbreaking, where I wanted to change how I knew things would end. And yet, there were also parts that were revealed and allowed me to see a glimmer of happiness, of the way people come together and that life does go on.

Did You Ever Have A Family? is an amazing novel, one that I think people will be talking about for a long time, that book clubs will read and enjoy and that is absolutely unforgettable.

I have struggled with what to write about this novel, not wanting to give too much away. Did You Ever Have a Family? is a must read novel for 2015.

This is a very well constructed tale of tragedy upon tragedy. It is about trust and its loss. The story goes back and forth in time bringing in new characters that quickly advance the story and give it depth. Although not difficult to follow this short novel is one you must stay engaged for its full satisfaction.

When a book is this stupendous, words really fail me. Usually how long it takes me to read a book is a good indication of how enthralling it is...I read this in under a day. There were small lapses here and there - some of the connections seemed contrived, rather than realistic (Lolly's letter being one - necessary for plot development, but it seemed incongruous that it would appear in that fashion - or that Lolly - or anyone really- would write something so nuanced and poetic). However, the breadth and depth of the various characters, their interconnections, and the emotionally satisfying ending make this one of the better of this year's Man Booker Longlist nominees. Hopefully it will make the Shortlist... and is even a strong contender for taking the prize. PS... shouldn't there be a ? at the end of the title??

Good book overall, even though the cast of characters is very large and got a little confusing at times. Still, the writing is solid and it was an enjoyable read. I will definitely look for more from this author.

If you like jigsaw puzzles, you may enjoy the innovative, but disjointed writing style in this author's debut novel. The book is a composite of chapters narrated by various characters. My challenge (and frustration) was that the narrations are puzzle pieces that reveal viewpoints in a nonlinear timeline that only become clear and cohesive in the last pages of the book. Many times I found myself wondering about the relevance of a character and whether I even cared for him or her.

The primary thrust of the novel is the ripple effect of a terrible tragedy; namely, a woman, June Reid, who loses her entire family (her daughter, the daughter's fiancé, her ex-husband and her boyfriend) in a fire on the eve of her daughter's wedding. As the only survivor, June's life is upended as she flees the catastrophic event and the ruins of her home. Additional viewpoints are provided by Lydia, the boyfriend's mother, and a variety of supporting characters on both coasts. Each one contributes knowledge and experience concerning the lives of those lost in the fire.

Perhaps one of the greatest messages in this book of love, loss, grief and guilt is that things are never as they seem. Each person believes they know the truth and yet there are secrets, unspoken communications and misunderstandings that source deep feelings of guilt and regret in those left behind.

I am not a big fan of this book, but I did feel that once the momentum started building, the second half was more enjoyable - the puzzle pieces began to reveal the bigger picture. This is not escapist entertainment; it is a novel that will evoke compassion for the profound grief of key characters as well as anger with the small-minded gossips who take pleasure in affirming their petty judgments of others. If you have the patience and perseverance to finish the book, I believe you will find some satisfaction in the culmination of the storyline.

Opens and rooted in small-town life Connecticut (the land of my people) and I gobbled it up. It's the story of June Reid and opens with an explosion and subsequent fire that rips all she holds dear from her the night before her daughter was to get married: her daughter, her lover, her ex, and her daughter's fiance and even her own home. Like Forrest Gump and only half alive emotionally, June sets off on a road trip and ends up in the tiny coastal town of Moclips, in the Pacific Northwest. Multiple narrators, all connected to the dead have chapters, some chapters are written in first person and others in third person.

Just finished listening to this novel read by the author. The story of rippling effects of loss on the people around us-great narrative, easy read. It is almost like a Buddhist matrix showing us how connected we are and that we do not live forever as we sometimes think.

if i am reviewing the way the author writes, i would say it is a decent read to that degree. the book moves swiftly, the thoughts and musings are (overall) well written. however for me, the problem with this book is that there is not a single character that is likable. not one person is compelling. June, a complete mystery as to why she is so singularly focused on herself, a bit of a narcissist, is the main character. Lydia is so vulnerable and you want to like her (and you find yourself hoping for her) but she is so beaten down, so afraid, too frail, too anonymous . the towns people are dislikable, the events when characters overhear people talking about them is either (to me) so un- natural, contrived or unrealistic that it feels like a cheap trick. other parts of the book were also questionable making the story awkward and incomplete. for example, silas (the teenager who is somewhat responsible for the fire...and then the question being to what degree). or george or the caterers for the wedding or rebecca, kelly and penny. too many characters and too many back stories and while you could say that they added interest and dimension, i would say they added confusion and almost time warped the story. the story takes modern day June and her struggle (with some of her past) and pits those elements in an effort to feel empathy for June against lydia who has a horrible and pathetic past (and almost too abysmal to feel true...her mother didn't stick by her, her HS boyfriend who becomes her abusive husband...pretty contrived at that point, the HS schools who bully her because she is so pretty and has a great body). you definitely are not drawn to Lolly and Will seemed like a disney super hero and his family was so created to feel ultra hippie modern that i didn't like anyone in his family... i felt there was definitely a lot wrong with this book.

I have a new favorite author, Bill Clegg. This writer has taken what could be a very sad story and has made a very interesting novel. As others have written in their review and detailed ad nauseum, this story is told from various characters perspectives in the way that they are impacted by the events at the beginning of the book. Mr Clegg has a beautiful writing style and I will follow him by reading other books by him. this novel comes with my highest recommendation. Please don't miss it.

Fantastic read! No crazy climax or heart thumping action. Just a good book you have a hard time putting down. Each chapter chronicles another character. Love, loss and rebuilding in the wake of tragedy.

Clegg's stunning, beautiful debut novel opens on a tragedy: a house fire has killed a young bride-to-be, her fiancé, and many of her family. Did You Ever Have a Family tracks the now permanently interconnected lives of those left behind after the fire, exploring the many ways we carry guilt, regret and loneliness within ourselves and the power of hope in the most hopeless of times.—Kerry McHugh, Readerly

This is, above all, a story of loss, grief and blame. I didn't agree with some reviewers who said the novel w was placed like a thriller, but it still has a steady pace until the novel reaches its conclusion. Clerk's writing is peppered with small wisdom, and he illuminates small town life with striking clarity. Highly recommended.

This book was a little hard to get into but well worth the read once it started falling in place. The characters were well developed. I could feel for all of them, and did. Not exactly what you would call a light read.

It was sweet, had some touching moments, but I just couldn't really get into it. There were a lot of different viewpoints presented, and I sometimes got confused about who was who (and I read it very quickly, so I'd imagine it would be even harder if it takes someone longer to get through.) It was a very easy read, short quick chapters, and I did enjoy the way things were tied together at the end. But I didn't really feel connected to the characters or the story completely.

Not many books can touch the souls of the characters they are written about as well as the readers who read them. This book does just that. Bill Clegg is a masterful writer who has been able to capture what is essential to all of us. I couldn't put it down. The characters were so believable and familiar and their journies through unimaginable tragedy to a place of acceptance, forgiveness and love were carefully revealed through wach chapter. It is a book you don't just read, it's a book you experience.

I didn't imagine that a novel could top the author's outstanding memoirs, but this was an equally mesmerizing read. He has a very rhythmic, engaging writing style that pulls you in from the very beginning. Set it a small, rural town, the characters were very authentic, with each chapter revealing additional relationship connections and complexities. Throughout this compelling story of life amidst tragedy, the title question is asked and answered in unexpected ways.

This book takes one incident and tells it from the perspective of many of the people involved. The story moves along through different people. I cared deeply for the pain that each person was going through and I hoped for some resolution or healing for all as I was reading the story. Very well written book.

Very powerful book. Bill Clegg is able to gain our full attention and empathy with his precise words and images. His characters are ones you will not soon forget as is the wise understanding of human nature they impart. Although the story is about death, more importantly it is about living and the choices we make.

This is billed as a mystery but it is much, much more. It is truly a story of families, how they fall apart and how they come together both by design and by accident. There is a mystery but it isn't important, what is important is the mood.

Anyone would be proud to have written this. If there is any criticism, it is that you don't want it to end. You want to know more about each of the characters but you can write that in your own mind.

Brilliant in many ways.

This is at times a brutal reading, but it also has tender spots. It's rich in family values and in joy at times and heartache at others. This will wrench your heart often, but overall, there's a warmness here. It's not a long book, but it does have a strong impact and I strongly recommend it to thoughtful and compassionate readers.

I am glad I read this book

I am glad I read this book but I had to 'work at it' a bit. It went back and forth and sometimes that was a bit frustrating. The story was interesting and thoughtful. I just wish I had cared more about the characters.

bI

This book disappointed me as I really disliked the writing style, which I found to be confusing and disjointed. I assumed that the lead narrator would be the poor woman who lost several family members in a tragic fire (a fire that was not shown in the book but was the subject of many musings by the surviving family members of the victims. Often whether you like a story told from multiple points of view depends upon personal preference. I know that at one time I liked this approach, but now I often find it annoying, as I did in Mr Clegg's novel, where narratives just seemed to be all over the place. While this is not my cuppa I expect it might become a great favorite over time to those who have the patience to solve literary puzzles.

One of the worst books I have read so far this year........I have read 52 books so far this year. This was the most difficult to finish. I would rate it at minus one star if this was
one of the possibilities.

​I enjoyed Did You Ever Have A Family but to me was a little different then most books. In this story Bill Clegg has made the event that happened the main character and the other characters (to me) are like spokes on a wheel heading to and from that main hub. Look forward to reading more by this author. I was given a copy to review.

This book takes one incident and tells it from the perspective of many of the people involved. The story moves along through different people. I cared deeply for the pain that each person was going through and I hoped for some resolution or healing for all as I was reading the story. Very well written book.

Very powerful book. Bill Clegg is able to gain our full attention and empathy with his precise words and images. His characters are ones you will not soon forget as is the wise understanding of human nature they impart. Although the story is about death, more importantly it is about living and the choices we make.

This is billed as a mystery but it is much, much more. It is truly a story of families, how they fall apart and how they come together both by design and by accident. There is a mystery but it isn't important, what is important is the mood.

Anyone would be proud to have written this. If there is any criticism, it is that you don't want it to end. You want to know more about each of the characters but you can write that in your own mind.

Brilliant in many ways.

This is at times a brutal reading, but it also has tender spots. It's rich in family values and in joy at times and heartache at others. This will wrench your heart often, but overall, there's a warmness here. It's not a long book, but it does have a strong impact and I strongly recommend it to thoughtful and compassionate readers.

I am glad I read this book

I am glad I read this book but I had to 'work at it' a bit. It went back and forth and sometimes that was a bit frustrating. The story was interesting and thoughtful. I just wish I had cared more about the characters.

bI

This book disappointed me as I really disliked the writing style, which I found to be confusing and disjointed. I assumed that the lead narrator would be the poor woman who lost several family members in a tragic fire (a fire that was not shown in the book but was the subject of many musings by the surviving family members of the victims. Often whether you like a story told from multiple points of view depends upon personal preference. I know that at one time I liked this approach, but now I often find it annoying, as I did in Mr Clegg's novel, where narratives just seemed to be all over the place. While this is not my cuppa I expect it might become a great favorite over time to those who have the patience to solve literary puzzles.

One of the worst books I have read so far this year........I have read 52 books so far this year. This was the most difficult to finish. I would rate it at minus one star if this was
one of the possibilities.

This was a very plodding story. Yes, there was some good writing, but a lot of description of unimportant elements. I thought Joyce put an end to that sort of thing. I'm also not a fan of shifting narratives. It's just a dodge, an artsy trick, still in play in college literary magazines. There's no real plot here, no, at least to me, riveting character to drive the story along. The story itself is sort of implausible. Unless I missed it, no one ever investigates the explosion. Anyway, with all the novels out there to read, I'd say this one doesn't belong on anyone's bucket list. [the store keeps taking this review down]

The story jumped around but wasn't awfully hard to follow. It's better to read it quickly as to not forget who's who. It's a sad story filled with regrets, sorrow, loneliness and makes one think about their own families and lives. A good read and great for a weekend where you want to escape or perhaps need to.

DID YOU EVER HAVE A FAMILY is a short but powerful novel about surviving the unthinkable - the loss of one's entire family. The novel is told in alternating voices and has great writing, universal themes abd memorable characters. DID YOU EVER HAVE A FAMILY is the best novel I have read in awhile.

I read this book for my book club. It was tedious switching back and forth between characters. The character development was shallow and I didn't like any of the characters. I never felt sad for any of them even though the book was based on tragic deaths. I would never recommend this book. .

This book is so good, I fear it has at least temporarily ruined future fiction reading as it is the new benchmark against which other stories will be compared, and cannot (I imagine) possibly be equaled.

Meh - about sums it up. VERY slow moving, the story is told via many characters different views of the tragedy & it's aftermath. Not a cheery read but you (& I) knew that going in.
Not horrible, not great, just ok.

This is the opposite of story telling. The climax happens "off screen" in between the first and second chapters and everything that follows is a dull, lifeless reconstruction of characters former lives. And none of them had very interesting lives. I was so looking forward to this book, and have never been more disappointed in a novel.

When I read the synopsis of DID YOU EVER HAVE A FAMILY, I thought it would be a cathartic, emotionally involving novel. I told my husband when I picked it up last night, "This is going to be a tough one to get through." But I do enjoy reading novels where people are recovering from tragedy; they often help me figure out a few things in my own life, you know?

Sadly, this book disappointed on every level. I gave up on it after 69 pages and too many chapters written from the perspective of different characters. I have gotten to the point with novels that have alternating narrators for each chapter that I'm simply not going to read them anymore, because it rarely works. In this case, it makes the story plod along painfully, and it prevents the reader from developing an emotional attachment to anyone in the story. It is written in such a detached way that I never felt anything for the pain anyone was in, not even for June, the woman who lost her daughter, daughter's fiancé, ex-husband and boyfriend in the explosion that destroyed her house on her daughter's wedding day. And I am one of those readers who gets sucked in and cares about characters and what happens to them, even sometimes with trite romance novels -- if the writing is engaging. Clegg's writing is not.

Because several reviewers said the pay-off for slogging through the entire book was worth it, I considered keeping at it. But really, life is too short to waste time on a book you simply can't get into. I skipped through to the last quarter of the book and read those chapters, and nope, still dull. The passive way Clegg reveals how the explosion happened, which is nothing so dramatic or out of the ordinary, and how he placidly describes the sobbing of someone who thought they could have prevented it, kept those plot points from having any impact.

All in all, the book is just bland and there was no compelling reason for me to stick with it. At times, when I've encountered a book that plods along, I've skipped to the end, found it enthralling, and then gone back to read the rest. But without the pay-off here, just a story that gradually winds down as slowly as it began, it wasn't worth it. Don't waste your time on this one.

The author did an interesting job weaving the characters' relationships but he never developed the characters themselves. You never find out what they are feeling or thinking. A fair read but not the best.

Ok, I really wanted to like this book for the fact that so many other readers loved this book. Yet I have tried and tried to give this book a fighting chance but I can't get into it. No matter what I do. At first I thought it was because of the environment that I was reading this book in so I changed locations. Then I thought it was because of my mood, so I tried to read this book when I could focus more time to this book. Yet I have come to realize it is not me but the book itself.

Yes the tragic event that displaced June is horrible. I would not wish it on anyone. Yet, I could not feel sympathy for June or any of the other characters in this book. This is the problem. This is the type of book that is supposed to evoke emotions from me the reader. So when this does not happen I can't find a reason to continue on with the book.

Dull, dull, and duller. I tried listening to this book. The writer did the reading himself. Maybe if someone who really knew how to dramatize a book had read it, I would have been interested. But he droned on and on. I never quite knew who each character was. For instance, June's name is not revealed for many "pages." I had no idea who she was. Maybe her chapter was called "June," but I was listening, so I didn't see that. Also, I have read books about these types of losers and complainers previously. The plot has to be a lot better to support their whining and the long descriptions such as the early one of the road June is driving on. Who cares?

"Did You Ever Have A Family" by Bill Clegg is a book I would have like so much more if it hadn't been written in present tense. I don't mind short stories written in present tense but book written this way begin to annoy me and it takes away from the story. I feel like I'm reading a play and not a novel.

I like the basic idea of the story but not its execution.