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A review by lambsears
Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg
4.0
I bought this book because it was on the Man Booker long list, but then left it sitting dejectedly on my TBR pile as I wasn't sure I was up to reading a book about such devastating loss. However, once I put my nose in it, I barely took it out until I finished.
It's not a difficult read, but that doesn't detract from the eloquent prose and careful construction of the various family stories of members involved and/or impacted by the tragedy which, fortunately, we don't have to witness.
This is Clegg's first novel and the small town it is set in is just like the one he lives in, according to an interview with him I listened to. The lead up to, and aftermath of the tragedy are underpinned by all the simmering undercurrents of familiarity, gossip, malice, family ties and old or new resentments that come with small-town life. Each chapter is spoken in a different voice - in this way Clegg effectively chronicles the overwhelming pain and grief of the main characters and concludes with themes of guilt and redemption.
That all makes it sound a little trite, but while it's not earthshaking literature, it has much to offer in the way of food for thought about family relationships, how we deal with them and how we are affected by them.
Great reading group material here.
It's not a difficult read, but that doesn't detract from the eloquent prose and careful construction of the various family stories of members involved and/or impacted by the tragedy which, fortunately, we don't have to witness.
This is Clegg's first novel and the small town it is set in is just like the one he lives in, according to an interview with him I listened to. The lead up to, and aftermath of the tragedy are underpinned by all the simmering undercurrents of familiarity, gossip, malice, family ties and old or new resentments that come with small-town life. Each chapter is spoken in a different voice - in this way Clegg effectively chronicles the overwhelming pain and grief of the main characters and concludes with themes of guilt and redemption.
That all makes it sound a little trite, but while it's not earthshaking literature, it has much to offer in the way of food for thought about family relationships, how we deal with them and how we are affected by them.
Great reading group material here.