Following his acclaimed New York Times bestseller Did You Ever Have a Family, Bill Clegg returns with a “delicate, deeply observed, and deftly crafted” (Nickolas Butler, author of Shotgun Lovesongs) second novel about the complicated bonds and breaking points of friendship, the corrosive forces of secrets, the heartbeat of longing, and the redemption found in forgiveness. A retired widow in … longing, and the redemption found in forgiveness.
A retired widow in rural Connecticut wakes to an unexpected visit from her childhood best friend whom she hasn’t seen in forty-nine years.
A man arrives at a Pennsylvania hotel to introduce his estranged father to his newborn daughter and finds him collapsed on the floor of the lobby.
A sixty-seven-year-old taxi driver in Kauai receives a phone call from the mainland that jars her back to a traumatic past.
These seemingly disconnected lives come together as half-century-old secrets begin to surface. It is in this moment that Bill Clegg reminds us how choices–to connect, to betray, to protect–become our legacy.
“Written in lyrical, beautiful prose that makes even waking up seem like a poetic event” (Good Morning America), this novel is a feat of storytelling, capturing sixty years within the framework of one fateful day.
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I don’t know what I can say that hasn’t already been said about “The End of the Day”. I really like the story and the characters seemed real enough to me. The story is involved and I don’t think it’s in the quick read category. The characters have depth and I enjoyed getting to know them. Bill Clegg reminds us that our choices no matter how insignificant we may think they are have real world effects, that don’t always make themselves known right away.
The author manages to create real people with real emotions and what I thought were real thought processes. I found myself wanted to know what they were going to do next and how those choices would be ones I might make under the same circumstances. Everything about this book was well done and it impressed on me how much I am willing to invest into a story that took the time to offer me the chance to become involved in lives of others and their outcomes.
A great read and a recommendation to read for those interested in wonderful story telling.
Not as well structured or as interesting as “ Did you ever have a Gamily?”
A let down ending
I really couldn’t get interested in it. I tried reading it twice.
Constantly changed timelines with the characters, very confusing and for no apparent benefit
Sometimes hard to follow.
Unlikable characters doing unlikable things. On the other hand I admired his previous book, Did You Ever Have a Family, greatly.,
In this sweeping saga, one tragic event serves as the catalyst to reveal the secrets and betrayal that bonded these estranged friends for 60 years.
I was totally immersed in this book from page one. Part drama/part suspense mystery, the stories of these characters kept me reading for hours in anticipation of answers.
The alternating chapters written from multiple perspectives were a bit confusing at first, but once the story developed I was completely riveted. There are many unlikable characters and interesting twists, making this an engaging read.
An excellently written multi-layered plot, vividly detailed landscapes, and well fleshed-out characters makes Bill Clegg’s “The End of the Day” one my favorite reads of 2020.
I recommend for fans of Mary Beth Kane’s novel “Ask Again, Yes”
*Thank you NetGalley, Gallery/Scout Press, and Bill Clegg for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
“The End of the Day” tells the stories of multiple characters whose seemingly disparate lives are actually intertwined by long-held secrets. Their complicated relationships, which span more than 60 years, are revealed as the protagonists grapple with betrayals, acceptance, forgiveness, regrets and the meaning of family.
Bill Clegg’s writing is just beautiful. He has a unique way with words and while some passages were heartbreaking, other lines literally made me laugh out loud. The characters, for the most part, have a lot of depth and their motives and choices ring true. Clegg seems less concerned with making his characters likable than he does with making them realistic which I appreciated. I was all in on the first half of this book and while I found the revelations in the second half surprising, the ending left me wanting more. Overall, I enjoyed “The End of the Day” – I just wish it had finished as strongly as it started. 3.5 stars rounded up.
Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, Gallery Press and the author for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
The End of the Day is the first book I’ve read by Bill Clegg. I was eager to begin reading this as I’ve heard so much about his other book Did You Ever Have a Family. I was also eager to find out how he would tie so many disparate characters together into the events of one day (with a back story of sixty years leading up to it). I opened the book with glee.
I am struck by his skill with words – I highlighted multiple phrases that cut right to my core with their truthtelling force and the beauty of the words chosen. I am also taken by his ability to make his characters seem like real people – not extraordinary people, but fully complex, flawed, examples of humanness; people who love, do things they regret, who sometimes hurt others, knowingly or unknowingly, who dream and fall short.
What I didn’t get from the book were characters I really cared about. I wanted to understand their connections, and how/if they were able to resolve the differences that drove and kept them apart. We all hope for some happy endings, don’t we? An acceptance of us again, despite our mistakes. But we don’t always get what we want in life. Maybe that was the point.
My thanks to NetGalley anad Gallery Scout Press for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed are my own.
A very complex, multilayered story that will touch you deeply as it unwinds before you.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
THE END OF DAY by Bill Clegg is a beautiful, sweeping look into a group of people and how, with secrets and betrayals, their lives are inexplicably changed. Across the hours of one day all comes to light in a series of flashbacks interwoven effortlessly into the story.
It’s absence of love that shapes the individual characters of THE END OF DAY, whether it was love not given or love not received. Lupita, the young immigrant that lives with an abusive father and has too few people she can confide in; Dana, who loves best friend Jackie to a fault, but receives no love from her parents; Jackie, who single-mindedly pursues the man who becomes her husband and abandons Dana to do this; Hap, who feels guilty that he had not loved his father and stepfather enough to know who they truly were and Alice, whose secret is the catalyst that starts the book.
Told from the third person omniscient point of view, this character-driven story is heavy with each characters’ thoughts and feelings, shaping each character as someone that readers can empathize with. Themes of immigration, LGBT relationships, and classism are handled with care, making THE END OF DAY a book both relevant and engaging.
While it took a couple of chapters to truly engage myself in THE END OF DAY, I quickly reached the place where I couldn’t put it down. In so many ways this book resonated with me, including the idea of regret for things we did when we were younger. As we age it is regrets, in particular, that way heavy on an individuals and Clegg captured this brilliantly.
4 Stars for THE END OF DAY!
Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery/Scout Books for an early copy of THE END OF DAY in exchange for honest feedback.
The End of the Day by Bill Clegg is a great novel that is a story about friends, family, love, loss, hurt, acceptance, forgiveness, perseverance, and the relationships that we hold close (and yet at the same time take for granted and push away).
It is this concept of push and pull that Mr Clegg has created and interwoven between several different scenarios of individuals that are related by family or other close relationships that are then described and expressed over the course of a 60-year span over the pages of this book. These paths and trials, which are different for everyone in the book, are oddly similar in the end.
The dialogue, pace, and images that were created throughout these journeys kept me engaged from beginning to end. I enjoyed getting a peak into others’ lives and how they dealt with, and overcame, adversities (external and internal) to end up at a place of acceptance at the end.
5/5 stars