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.

The scope of this book is big. It’s core is focused on two girls that are best friends. They live in rural Connecticut. One named Jackie and the other named Dana. They are neighbors. Jackie’s family is middle class. Dana’s is obscenely wealthy. They meet as preteens and are friends until just after high school. Dana’s wealth has the girls on uneven footing and as they age that gulf becomes wider as their interests diverge. The book flashes between present day and the girls growing up. As they go others are entangled in their story with some tragic consequences. The book follows the course of the lives of this group for nearly 50 years.
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Ok, so the book is good. Very good. However, I just couldn’t get behind most of the characters. Several including Jackie and Dana are awful. I don’t need to read about people who are paragons of virtue but these guys are fairly despicable. There is a lot of abuse and general selfishness dished out. It was hard to get past. However, the story is rich, complex, and layered. It would be an excellent book club selection. Lots of stuff to dissect. Overall, it’s not my cup of tea.

Before writing this review, I looked at some of the reviews already submitted and I agree with the positive and negative reviews.. I know that sounds odd. I agree it was difficult to get through the first 25-30% of the book. I actually set it aside and read 2 other books. I liked the authors beautiful writing style but felt like I was trying too hard to figure out who was who and how they connected with each other. When I returned to the book, I was ready to enjoy the writing and the plot somehow started to come together. The characters were vividly portrayed with thoughts and actions that made them come alive.. There was a lot to like about this story of you stay with it.

I received an Advanced Reader's Copy from Simon and Schuster through NetGalley. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.
#TheEndoftheDay #NetGalley

DNF at 25% and it was a struggle to get this far. The narrative hops around to different characters and through different points in time. It was confusing and I didn't feel any connection to the writing or characters.

I had never read any of Bill Clegg’s books, so I had no idea what to expect in his writing.. I suppose this should not have been a first. I had a tough time getting through this book. It reminded me of a soap opera. The book follows Dana, Jackie, and Lupita over a course of 50 years. It flipped between past and present day and I had a hard time keeping up. I just didn’t find the characters all that interesting nor did there lives. There were numerous other characters throw in which made it more confusing for me. The story just didn’t Grab me.

Thanks to Net Gallery for the chance to read and review this pre-release.

Bill Clegg's writing is skillful and pulled me in on the first page. This new novel is about a day in the life of two women who were good friends, now separated by forty-nine years of betrayal. Dana is a wealthy widow living in New York, and Jackie a the middle-class widow residing in Connecticut. The women are not yet elderly but beyond their youth and the mistakes made at a young age.

BC stretches out the plot to include all the people who suffered some collateral damage from Dana's recklessness as a privileged teenager with homes in New York, Connecticut, and Palm Beach. Jackie was desperate to be her friend. I felt a great deal of empathy for Jackie and mostly disdain for Dana. The characters come alive, and I felt like I knew their whole life stories even though the book took place in one day.

Regret is a difficult feeling to live with, psychologically, and emotionally. Both Dana and Jackie have arrived in a place in their lives where regret occupies their minds more as they age and feel lonely without an abundance of love surrounding them.

I especially love Lupita, who went as far as a ticket would carry her to Kauai. I love Kauai and could feel the sun and surf as she let her mind drift back to a place she still misses, Mexico. Lupita's life was never easy as she moved to Miami and then to Connecticut to live above the garage of the mansion where her father worked. She deserved the paradise of Kauai, and I rooted for her on every page.

I love The End of the Day and hope that Bill Clegg has more novels up his sleeve. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this new novel.

A story told about three lives and how they intersect in a single day, with backstory woven in from 40+ years, The End of the Day was lyrical and beautifully written, perfect for a rainy week or lazy afternoon.

I loved the first 3/4 of this book so much, but felt that the ending began to run out of steam a bit for me. There were a lot of historical details and scene-setting that interrupted what I thought the climax of the story needed to be.

With this being said, this is the first title I've read from Bill Clegg and will absolutely be tracking down his previous book. .

The End of the Day by Bill Clegg is a masterpiece! He writes with such eloquence and beauty. I fell in love with his writing while reading his previous book. I feel like his books are more about the experience than the plot. He delves so deep into the characters back stories and lives I feel like I’ve known them a lifetime. I won’t go into the plot because it is so intricate and multi-layered. Suffice it to say this book is about several different people whom at first you have no idea how their stories fit together, but when you figure it out—-wow! What a storyline! I highly recommend this book and any book by Bill Clegg. Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for the advances copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book had a cast of many characters, but Clegg manages to pull it all together. The description of place and how each person views the events that take place over the many years they know each, brings each one to the fore when it is their to turn to reveal a piece of the story. Lots of moving parts, but in the end, we see how each person makes choices for their own selfish reasons. Several nights I stayed up late reading to find out the next bit of the story and to see how Clegg would bring it into a finely woven story. I liked it and even the ending... Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Copy.

In "The End of the Day", Bill Clegg takes us behind the curtain of an incredibly wealthy family and reveals both the beauty and the ugliness of privilege. The treatment of class and the definition of a person’s place in society based on poverty, wealth, race, and gender are clearly unveiled in this novel. This book is a page turner with the premise of three separate incidents happening in “one day” which are somehow tied together. We are treated to a complicated knot of lives twisted together in ways we could not anticipate. This book is a deep look at how the actions these characters take impact others so dramatically and leave a legacy based on a different set of facts. The characters are all believable which makes the truth even harder to determine until the very end.

Thank you to the author, Gallery Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story is set within the framework of a single day, but covers sixty years of friendship. Lots of misunderstandings, resentments, secrets, jealousy, lies and anger work themselves out over that time. The chapters are told in changing POVs, and all of the characters intersect at one point or another,

It took me a bit to get into the story and the minds of the different characters, but the characters are so well-drawn that the narrative pulled me in. And yet - this complex and multilayered story is perhaps somewhat lacking in depth for a book so rooted in characters. I didn’t find myself connecting with any of them, perhaps because there were too many.

I had not heard of this author before, but will be looking out for his previous book.

Stunning.

Set within the framework of a single day, yet covering sixty years of lies, jealousy, envy, love, and friendship, Bill Clegg's The End of the Day is an intricately woven, complex work that you never want to end.

The main characters, Dana, Jackie, and Lupita, come from three different classes. Dana is wealthy and privileged, Jackie is middle-class, and Lupita is working class. Her family works for Dana's family who is sponsoring them for a green card. Jackie and Dana are childhood friends.

Told from the POV of several characters, the plot unfolds slowly; don't get impatient -- it's worth the time it takes to develop. Clegg pulls this story together one golden thread at a time, weaving in heartbreakingly beautiful prose along the way. More than once I found myself reaching for a notebook to copy down a beautiful line or image. Symbolic elements abound without being intrusive; they are simply little nuggets there for you to find or not, but oh so beautiful when you do.

I was intrigued from the very first page and couldn't put this one down. I love good, literary fiction, and now I want to go back and read Clegg's other work.

Spanning 5 decades, The End of the Day takes the reader on a journey through NY, Florida, Connecticut, and more in this recent release from author Bill Clegg.

I felt such a pull to all of the characters I came across, and found myself rooting for them as they faced each challenge in life.

Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery/Scout Press for the free copy. All opinions 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.

I loved Bill Clegg's Did You Ever Have a Family so I was really excited for The End of the Day. Unfortunately, all of the same components that made Did You Ever Have a Family feel so special fell short in The End of the Day.

The End of the Day tells the story of several different lives that all intersect on one point. It's a book about relationships and family and memory. There are too many characters in the story though, and you don't really connect with any of them. The one character that felt most real and most interesting was the character the story spends the least amount of time with and the two least interesting characters were the characters the story really let you explore in depth. There was very little depth or dimension for a book that was so rooted in the characters, something I found surprising having read Clegg's previous book. For nearly the first 40% of the book you were left wondering what the point of all the intersecting story lines were and then ultimately, when that is resolved and you know better where you're headed, you don't really feel the payoff for all of that leading up. For those who really loved Did You Ever Have a Family, I think The End of the Day might turn out to be something of a disappointment.

A terrific book about love, friendships, and relationships and how we often take for granted all that we value and hold close.

The story follows multiple main characters over a period of 60 years. The story itself is deeply written and intimately connected. There is a lot of depth to both the characters and their stories; all based on how our choices and the consequences make up the stories we leave behind.

A book that leaves the reader with a lot to chew on.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery/Scout Press for an digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

I love the cover of this book and was excited to dive into it. That's why I gave it 2 stars. Unfortunately, after 24%, I have to give up. It's moving quite slowly, and because the characters are OLD, it's making me feel old, and a little depressed. I think if something major had happened in the first 10% of the story, I could stick with it. But I'm not motivated to spend any more energy with Jackie, Dana, and Lupita. Best wishes to Bill Clegg - perhaps others will find this story more moving.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review..

Oh how I disliked this book. Her mixed reviews on Goodreads, but favorable of the author's writing style and beautiful prose. This was a new offer to me so I what's glad for the opportunity to give him a chance. I can agree that he had some talent as a writer, but his storytelling was so not for me. I did not like any of the characters and found myself usually upset or annoyed by them. The book was disjointed and and not enjoyable to piece together. I was so glad to finish this and never have to pick it up again. I'm giving this title two stars instead of one because the writing and editing deserve more then the one star of my personal interest in this story.

I have to say that I had a hard time reading this book and stopped at 40%. The book is slow, and although the reader knows that the individual stories and people are bound to all come together in some way, the story moves very slowly and there is no building to a climax nor does the author draw out any type of questions from the reader, other than a wondering as to what the purpose of the book is and how the families and people will all come together. Unfortunately, this wondering is not insatiable - I left off reading the book not really caring about what happens to them. In short, the book failed to engage me.

A sweeping saga.....I was totally immersed in this book. Lots of well developed characters and once I got into the book, I loved the changing chapters and perspectives....I read his first book and I liked both. Definitely a good read and I will be recommending it to my readers!