Friday, December 4, 2015

Did you ever have a family, by Bill Clegg



The premise of this novel is so horrifying that it was difficult to pick up and begin.  June Reid’s daughter, her daughter's fiancé, her ex-husband and current boyfriend, Luke, are killed in a gas explosion in her home on the eve of Lolly’s wedding to Will.  Shortly after the disaster, June gets in her car and drives aimlessly away from her former home in Connecticut ultimately ending up in the eccentric hotel run by Rebecca and Kelly on the coast of Oregon.  Luke was much, much younger than she, the half-black son of Lydia, who has never escaped the small eastern town nor her reputation.  Through Lydia’s story, and those of the other characters on both sides of the continent, we slowly learn what really happened back in time and lead up to the present day.  Ultimately a hopeful story, despite its beginning, and the characters are well drawn.  Recommended.  293 pp.

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