Did You Ever Have A Family

By: Bill Clegg

Narrated by: Bill Clegg

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD, MAN BOOKER PRIZE, PEN/ROBERT W. BINGHAM PRIZE, AND ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE • AN ALA NOTABLE BOOK

Hailed as “masterly” by The New York Times Book Review, “a brilliantly constructed debut set in the aftermath of catastrophic loss” (2015 Man Booker Prize Judges).

The stunning debut novel from bestselling author Bill Clegg is a magnificently powerful story about a circle of people who find solace in the least likely of places as they cope with a horrific tragedy.

On the eve of her daughter’s wedding, June Reid’s life is upended when a shocking disaster takes the lives of her daughter, her daughter’s fiancé, her ex-husband, and her boyfriend, Luke—her entire family, all gone in a moment. June is the only survivor.

Alone and directionless, June drives across the country, away from her small Connecticut town. In her wake, a community emerges, weaving a beautiful and surprising web of connections through shared heartbreak.

From the couple running a motel on the Pacific Ocean where June eventually settles into a quiet half-life, to the wedding’s caterer whose bill has been forgotten, to Luke’s mother, the shattered outcast of the town—everyone touched by the tragedy is changed as truths about their near and far histories finally come to light.

Elegant and heartrending, and one of the most accomplished fiction debuts of the year, Did You Ever Have a Family is an absorbing, unforgettable tale that reveals humanity at its best through forgiveness and hope. At its core is a celebration of family—the ones we are born with and the ones we create.

Tragedy and grief written incredibly well

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.

A note about the narration: Bill Clegg narrates this book himself, but may not have been the best choice. He has a very flat, blunted affect, which is understandable given the nature of the story, but I had trouble distinguishing when a new character and chapter began. The story is compelling and the narration didn't ruin that for me, but it would easily have been a 5-star listen for me with better narration.

Did you ever wonder how writers get so deep?

"Elegant and heartrending" describes this well. Part non-southern "As I Lay Dying," this book has a lot to say about life as we currently know it, as it makes you want to rush out and touch and hug and love on your loved ones.

Not very many writers can expose so deep, Snarky New York Times Book Review notwithstanding.

Writers don't always make the best readers

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I was really enjoying the book but found the narration was so bad I had to buy the written book to finish it. Please consider re-releasing with a different reader.

Why do authors think they are readers?

This book was grim grim grim....and it was made worse by the author being the reader. Why??? Was it vanity? Was it a cost saving measure? I cannot recommend this audio book. I would not put someone else through this. I had trouble keeping up with the characters because it was read with the same monotonous voice. I had to rewind several times..."now, who is this?" I'm sure the story was much better than I give it credit for, but I just couldn't get past it.

Did You Ever Have a Family

Several reviews have not like this book because it is read by the author and I guess they feel his reading is not animated. However, I loved the book and the reading by the author. This is a beautifully written story of loss and grief and I think it would be diminished the over-theatrical readings that many audio books have and thought the simple narrative reading style of the author was very appropriate.