The Bookies II reading group chose this book for it’s April 16 selection and because I enjoyed it so much (rating 9.25) I volunteered to do the discussion questions.  Well – I read it last September and really don’t remember all that much about it. https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com/092015-2/did-you-ever-have-a-family/

Therefore, a reread wouldn’t hurt although I certainly feel like I remember it –  otoh,  looking through the questions provided by Simon & Schuster  I wasn’t sure I could answer them very well – so –  reread time.   🙂   –  And I am SO SO glad I did.

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Did You Ever Have a Family  –  x2
by Bill Clegg
2015 / 304 pages
rating –  9.5 / contemp fiction
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And we’ll start with the SETTING:

Wells – a tiny old touristy town not far from Hartford, Connecticut.  The time frame is contemporary with some backstories of up to 35 years.  The town is gossipy and mostly rather close-minded.

A fire has just consumed June Reid’s home on the night before her daughter’s wedding.  Four people die in the fire.

On my first reading I was so concerned with how the fire started I didn’t have time to pay attention to the incredibly literary skill which Bill Clegg brought to this book,  his first novel.   >>> MORE WITH SPOILERS – notes,  character lists, themes,  etc.