I loved Clegg’s first novel, Did You Ever Have a Family, so I was happy to receive an advance review copy of his second novel, The End of the Day. Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me.

This novel is a story about three women in their sixties who grew up together in rural Connecticut and who haven’t talked to each other since they were young. Dana Goss comes from a wealthy family and lives on a rural estate called Edgeweather. Jackie is her neighbor and closest friend, and Lupita’s parents and sister work for the Goss family. The book begins with Dana paying Jackie a visit for the first time in over forty years – with a briefcase full of papers.

What happened to these three women (who aren't quite friends) is told over the course of the book. Unfortunately, the characters never feel developed. This book felt long, though it wasn’t, and I left it without any real sense of who Dana and Jackie were as people. Clegg’s way of telling the story keeps a lot hidden, and even when facts are revealed there’s not a lot of clarity. For example, there’s a character who we discover was adopted, but his parentage is unclear. There’s a husband and wife that separate for a time but the reasons aren’t explained until much later in the book. There are abusive parents and abusive (adult) children, but they don't connect much to the story.

The book feels very disjointed at first, but that’s true of a lot of novels where it takes a while to see how the characters connect. With this book, I kept waiting for it to come together, but I was ultimately disappointed by the direction it took.

Clegg focuses on the income/class disparities among these three women, and it was interesting to see how Dana’s privileged background just keeps on giving while the other two characters struggle. Race is touched on minimally. Lupita’s family is Mexican-American, and while she feels like an outsider, those issues aren’t explored in a lot of depth.

One of the problems with this book is that all the characters do terrible things and have terrible things done to them, but none are sympathetic, and more importantly, none of them grow as characters (I actually love a good unlikable protagonist as long as they are well-developed). I never felt I understood anyone’s motivations. Dana and Jackie are selfish, judgmental, and manipulative. Hap comes off as an absolutely terrible person as he neglects the two fathers he grew up with, then completely ignores his wife, his newborn child, and his mother. Alice, Lee, and Mo were the most sympathetic and interesting characters in the book, and they disappear early on.

Some parts of this book are particularly vivid, such as when Clegg is describing the history of the Goss family estate, or Lupita’s experiences in Kauai (one of my favorite places). But those moments contrast with the lack of definition in other parts of the book.

I find that a lot of novel plotlines revolve around pregnancy – and when it's done well, you can see how a single pregnancy affects not only your whole life, but that of an entire family for many generations. With this book, the pregnancy and child-rearing storylines felt distant and unreal. One woman gives birth but it’s barely described, another has a child to "land a husband", and another adopts a child just because he's there. Sex in this book felt similarly distant. I never really felt like I was connecting with the experiences of any of the characters.

This book is described as being built around the framework of a single day, hence the title, but even that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I was disappointed by the resolution - or lack thereof - of these women's stories (and I'm not someone who likes plots to be neatly tied up at the end).

I really wanted to like this book, but sadly, it didn’t work for me.

Note: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from NetGalley and publisher Gallery Books. This book publishes on September 29, 2020.

The End of the Day is a sweeping novel covering 60 years of history. The main characters are introduced and you have no way of knowing how they all come together, Their stories, revealed over time, are interwoven, complex, messy, and purely human. A story about family, friendship, love and betrayal.

**I received an electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review of this book.

I enjoyed Bill Clegg’s novel Did You Ever Have a Family, but The End of the Day did not come together as well for me. There are interwoven friendships that take place over decades, but I found the stories hard to follow and was disappointed by the ending. I usually enjoy character-driven ficction, but I was underwhelmed by this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC in exchange for my opinion.

Sometimes hard to follow and I really didn't like the characters that much so both of these factors took away from the beauty of Clegg's writing. I would, however, recommend the book for those who don't mind thinking while they read!

3.5 stars rounded up

"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.

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, Gallery Press and the author for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

This is a layered portrait of four women- Jackie, Dana, Lupita, and Alice- and the selfish young man- Hap who links them. The beginning of this might seem a bit fuzzy but all will be clear as the story, the true story, spools out. Jackie and Dana are childhood friends, sort of. Dana was the rich one, Jackie the, for want of a better word, townie. Lupita is the the daughter of the Mexican family who work for Dana's father. Jackie loved Floyd from the moment she saw him, something Dana never quite understood, and it is Floyd who is the lightening rod. Now that all of them are in their 70s, the death of Christopher, who Hap believed to be his father, has opened up a big can of secrets. And lies. Dana is not a likable character; she's manipulative and self centered as, by the way, is Hap. No spoilers from me on how they all fit together but this one kept me turning the pages to find out not only what happened on the 4th of July but also because I was interested in the women, especially Lupita. Thank to the publisher for the ARC. This is a very good read.

This novel is certainly of a different kind and one not particularly to my liking. It is basically a collection of character vignettes, like character studies an author would create as background for writing a novel containing much information the author would ultimately never include in the actual novel. The vignettes bounce around from current time to years ago to some time in between back to the current time. Sometimes it seemed like there were flashbacks in the midst of flashbacks.

There are a number of new characters introduced by such vignettes. Well into one, I would find out this character has had dealings with someone who is a good friend of a previously introduced character. I painfully exercised patience to see how the lives of all of these people would intersect. I have to admit I found myself skimming over lengthy descriptions of places and events from the past that seemed to have no vital relationship to what was happening in the present.

And I found none of the characters engaging. All of them were deeply flawed and either died during the course of the narratives or were just as dysfunctional at the end of the book as they were at the beginning.

I did not appreciate the writing style. The novel is a prime example of lengthy passages of prose describing what people were doing or saying rather than actually having the people act or speak. There were no dialogue quotation marks, for example, but rather italicized sentences to indicate words spoken. Or were they words thought and not actually spoken? It was hard to tell and too confusing to take the time to figure it out.

And at the end, I found myself saying, so what? Relationship issues were not resolved. Dysfunction and troubled people were still that way. I didn't learn anything interesting about some industry or occupation or geographical location. The prose was not particularly memorable. The novel wasn't terrible but rather just blah. I do not anticipate reading anything else by this author.

I received a complimentary egally of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery/Scout Press for the opportunity to read and review a digital copy of the latest novel by Bill Clegg - 3.5 stars rounded up for a wonderfully-written character novel.

The book mainly centers around Dana, Jackie and Lupita whose lives intersected in different ways when they were teenagers. In the present time, we see how those lives turned out and how the decisions made back then influenced so many others. Dana was the daughter of very wealthy parents and lived lives the other girls couldn't imagine. Jackie became her best friend while Lupita's family worked for Dana's. We learn how secrets, misconceptions, jealousy and loyalty all come into play into these relationships.

The writing is beautiful and it draws you into these characters. However, with so many different POV and timelines going back and forth, it was a bit confusing to keep everyone's story straight. Plus, none of the characters really resonated with me or were extremely likable although I found myself relating to bits and pieces of their stories. It is a great character study to see how our actions really affect others.

After loving Did You Ever Have a Family, I approached this book knowing that it would be heavily character-driven, with all of the imperfections and flaws on display. And I was not disappointed. Clegg has a talent for writing characters that feel real, with messes and secrets, lumps and bumps, old age spots and failing bodies.

The End of the Day focuses on one pivotal day for Lupita, Dana and Jackie. Each woman has carried secrets and deceptions for over 40 years, that have culminated in a moment that could destroy each of them. Marital infidelity, rape, teenage pregnancy, domestic assault, young love, adoption, class division, and racial disparities have a moment in this novel.

There is a a wide selection of minor characters, each playing a role in the events leading to the final day, and there were moments where the story felt muddied as I tried to keep track of them all. The three main characters were well-developed, and while I didn’t particularly like any of them, I felt that maybe that was the point. Redeeming character traits were marred by their spitefulness and often petty actions. But I felt empathy for them, as they struggled to right some of their wrongs. The ending, however, left me disappointed. I wanted more closure, rather than what almost presents as a fever dream. If the last chapter was eliminated, I might have felt very different, and rated this one slightly higher.

Thanks to netgalley for this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

The End of the Day weaves together a story of struggle, friendship and I would say moving on, but it’s more letting go.

As with books written from multiple view points you know are converging at some point, I enjoyed trying to fit the puzzle together before all is slowly revealed. That being said, the ending was just meh for me. I thought the story was great to a point, but maybe I wished for more resolution? It took this book from a 4 to 3.

This is an interesting book about a group of women and how their lives intertwine over the span of several decades. It's definitely character driven (with the characters being mostly unlikable). It's a little hard to follow but if you stick with it you will find it has a satisfying, thought-provoking conclusion. I didn't love it but I also didn't dislike it. It left me pondering some things when I was done with it and that's always a sign of a good read. 3.5 stars.

Thie End of the Day frustrates me most of the way through the story. At first there were so many characters to keep track of and figure out their relationships. Then there were just so many words to explain so little. And don’t even get me started about the ending! So many loose ends! Yet somehow I still needed to keep reading and figure out what had happened. So I can’t say I hated it but it was not a satisfying read.

I had high hopes for The End of the Day by Bill Clegg based on my previous experience with his first novel. However, the unlikable characters and the screwball timeline left much to be desired. I found myself about 60% through the story, and I just wanted it to be finished.

Three women who knew each other as teens and one of their children are the main characters of the book. Each tells bits of the story from their viewpoint. The three women had grown up together: one was a spoiled rich girl, another her neighborhood friend, and the third a servant to the rich girl’s family. The son of one of the characters is discovering secrets about his birth.

Had the story been told by one character and in a more straightforward timeline, it might have been saved. As it was, it was just not a book for me.

Author Bill Clegg is also a literary agent. His debut novel was Did You Ever Have A Family? which I liked very much.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting September 25, 2020.

I would like to thank Scout Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

I fell in love with Bill Clegg’s book “Did You Ever Have a Family” and so I eagerly began reading this one. There is so much depth to Clegg’s writing, and the way he develops characters and weaves his stories around their lives is beautiful. “The End of the Day” centers on one day in the lives of three women and the impact of that day on the rest of their lives. This book is a gift, each chapter a slow unwrapping that reveals a true treasure. I highly recommend it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

I had a difficult time following the premise of this story. Each character is unfolding separately and it seemed to take too long before the reader finds out how they all mesh and their individual secrets come together.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for comments.

I loved how this story intertwined so many characters, leaving the reader longing to know how the stories overlap. It was a quick read, The characters were all deeply developed, but perhaps a little too much, at times it was difficult to follow and keep up with the story-lines.

This Amazingly written story was a huge
Insight into human nature and the emotions we have and what we do with them.
These multi layered characters with their jealousy, guilt,and many flaws made for a good story.
I also enjoyed the descriptive back stories of the characters and multi time lines.
In the end every characters life came together, intertwined due to consequences of a single secret.
The ending in my opinion was perfect!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I enjoyed Clegg's previous book, Did You Ever Have a Family, and in many ways this follow-up is very similar by focusing on a pivotal event impacting several individuals through multiple viewpoints. However, I found this tale to be frustratingly muddled as it constantly moved through time and overall it lacked emotional resonance for me other than through Lupita's portions. There are far too many perspectives featured, and a more succinct, impactful story could have been told by streamlining these voices.

The End of the Day describes the turbulent adolescences and early adulthood of a group of young people from vastly different socio-economic backgrounds, whose lives become entwined in a small town in the Northeast in the 50’s and 60’s. Along with the usual jealousies, infatuations, and identify struggles typical of teens, add the stresses of vast wealth and power imbalances, the strain of immigration and assimilation. The narration is told from the point of view of these individuals, now in their 70’s, having raised families, watched their parents die, and now helping raise the children of their children. They are still struggling to come to terms with what they believed about their youth, the lies they told, and the lies that were told to them.

I’m a bit younger than the women in this story, and the opportunities available to girls were vastly greater by the time I came up. Attitudes toward homosexuality and toward immigrants had not changed much and the social stresses were all too familiar and reminiscent of my own high school days.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A briefcase that has been collecting dust for nearly 50 years; an imposing, abandoned house named Edgewater; a road that ends at the river outside of the city of Wells, Connecticut where the lives of three women intersected in the 1960's. When we first meet Dana, Jackie, and Lupita we do not know what threads connect them. Bill Clegg tells their story in alternating POVs and timelines. What will we find at the end of the day? That is for you, the reader, to discover just as I did. The ending was a bit disappointing, but I am rounding up a 3.5 to a 4 for my Goodreads rating.

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.