Did You Ever Have a Family
Written by Bill Clegg
- Longlisted
- The Man Booker Prize 2015
- Published by Jonathan Cape
Buy the book
Bill Clegg explores the idea of family - the ones we are born with, the ones we create - through his story of loss and love, fracture and forgiveness
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. 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.
Bill Clegg
Bill Clegg turned to fiction after writing two memoirs detailing his addiction to crack cocaine and alcohol. If there’s more to say about the subject of dependency, he says, ‘I'll tell my cat, Benny’
More about Bill Clegg