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A review by readhikerepeat
Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg
3.0
When I first picked up Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg, I didn’t know much about its content. I knew that it had overwhelmingly positive reviews and, based on the title, that it was an emotionally heavy read, but that was about it. It turns out that my assumption was true and it’s easy to see why this book is so popular – it’s well-written, fairly short, and packs an emotional punch. It is the story of a loss so great that even the strongest would have trouble surviving it.
June Reid is one of these people, for in a single moment, she loses her entire family – her ex-husband, boyfriend, daughter, and future son-in-law are all gone. Struggling to take it all in, she flees her hometown in Connecticut, a place where everyone knows everyone and everyone has an opinion about what happened. Armed with only a few necessities, she finds herself clear across the country living in a daze of grief and disbelief while, unbeknownst to June, life back home moves on and the truth about what really happened comes to light.
If you’re thinking this sounds like an emotionally heavy read, you would be right. This is, perhaps, the most emotionally-driven novel I have read in a long time. Although the story focuses on June, Did You Ever Have a Family has several narrators, all of whom were directly affected by the event that took their loved ones from them. The result is a multifaceted perception of what happened that night and leaves each person asking their own what ifs? As with real people, the characters respond to trauma in different ways, and Clegg lifts the curtain on the full spectrum of human emotions that come with profound loss.
For the full review, visit The Book Wheel.
June Reid is one of these people, for in a single moment, she loses her entire family – her ex-husband, boyfriend, daughter, and future son-in-law are all gone. Struggling to take it all in, she flees her hometown in Connecticut, a place where everyone knows everyone and everyone has an opinion about what happened. Armed with only a few necessities, she finds herself clear across the country living in a daze of grief and disbelief while, unbeknownst to June, life back home moves on and the truth about what really happened comes to light.
If you’re thinking this sounds like an emotionally heavy read, you would be right. This is, perhaps, the most emotionally-driven novel I have read in a long time. Although the story focuses on June, Did You Ever Have a Family has several narrators, all of whom were directly affected by the event that took their loved ones from them. The result is a multifaceted perception of what happened that night and leaves each person asking their own what ifs? As with real people, the characters respond to trauma in different ways, and Clegg lifts the curtain on the full spectrum of human emotions that come with profound loss.
For the full review, visit The Book Wheel.