Did You Ever Have a Family

Full of small-town secrets and whispers, Bill Clegg has woven a richly textured tale of loss and healing. This is a deeply optimistic book about the power of human sympathy to pull us from the wreckage of our fate. – Anne Enright, winner of the Man Booker PrizeThe force, range, and scope of Bill Clegg’s Did You Ever Have a Family grab you with its opening line, and don’t let go until its final one. I can’t recall another novel that so effortlessly weds a nuanced, lyrical voice to an unflinching vision of just how badly things can go for people. I read it deep into the night, all the way through, telling myself it was getting late, I could finish the book in the morning. I finished it that night, however, slept a few hours, and then, in the morning, started reading it again. – Michael Cunningham, author of The HoursLike the question it poses, Did You Ever Have a Family is brutally direct yet it’s got an enormous symbolic power. You hold in your hands a great book of kindness – every restrained, exquisite sentence comes loaded for bear. It’s been a lot of years since a novel has so moved me. Number Bill Clegg among that endangered species: major American writer. – Darin Strauss, author of Chang and Eng and Half a LifeThis devastating novel is almost the definition of a literary pageturner and somehow it escapes being too bleak: a dark tale of family secrets shot through with glimmers of light and hope. * Bookseller *This devastating novel is almost the definition of a literary pageturner and somehow it escapes being too bleak: a dark tale of family secrets shot through with glimmers of light and hope. * Bookseller *A masterfully well-made debut. – Sam Leith * Radio Times *Clegg has produced a moving, clever novel that subtly dissects the relationships between mothers and their children, lover, neighbours and strangers. – Fiona Wilson * The Times *A tale of prodigious tenderness and lyricism. – Clare Clark * Guardian *Beautifully paced… it approaches grief gently and, in the end, its gentleness is its triumph. – Lucy Daniel * Telegraph *It’s the kind of book which will sneak up on you when you least expect it, and remain in your mind for weeks after reading it. – Daniel Carpenter * Bookmunch *

Bill Clegg is a literary agent in New York and the author of the bestselling memoirs Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man and Ninety Days. He has written for the New York Times, Esquire, New York magazine, the Guardian and Harper’s Bazaar.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.