This book of dark secrets opens with a blaze. On the morning of her daughter's wedding, June Reid's house goes up in flames, destroying her entire family - her present, her past and her future. Fleeing from the carnage, stricken and alone, June finds herself in a motel room by the ocean, hundreds of miles from her Connecticut home, held captive by memories and the mistakes she has made with her only child, Lolly, and her partner, Luke. In the turbulence of grief and gossip left in June's wake we slowly make sense of the unimaginable. The novel is a gathering of voices, and each testimony has a new revelation about what led to the catastrophe - Luke's alienated mother Lydia, the watchful motel owners, their cleaner Cissy, the teenage pothead who lives nearby - everyone touched by the tragedy finds themselves caught in the undertow, as their secret histories finally come to light. Lit by the clarity of understanding that true sadness brings, Did You Ever Have a Family is an elegant, unforgettable story that reveals humanity at its worst and best, through loss and love, fracture and forgiveness.
At the book's heart is the idea of family - the ones we are born with and the ones we create - and the desire, in the face of everything, to go on living.
This was a really great book. It is kicked off by a terrible tragedy, but the rest of it is beautiful. I loved how the story is woven through many different points of view, even through people who are only involved in the most peripheral way. It also travels through time, revealing the entire picture one tiny piece at a time.
It’s less about what actually happened to June’s family, and more about how people handle grief, revelation, and forgiveness. It’s full of tiny pieces of kindness, things, like a thermos of soup, that shouldn’t make a difference but actually do.
I feel like I should say so much more, but I read it a few months ago and it’s not as fresh in my mind as it was. But it’s definitely a book I would recommend to anyone. Perhaps my favorite this year.
