IF WE HAD KNOWN
One August afternoon, as single mother Maggie Daley prepares to send her only child off to college, their world is shattered by news of a mass shooting at the local mall in rural Maine. As reports and updates about the tragedy begin to roll in, Maggie, an English professor, is further stunned to learn that the gunman had been a student of hers: Nathan Dugan was an awkward, complicated young man whose quiet presence in her classroom had faded from her memory-but not, it seems, the memories of his classmates.
When a viral blog post hints at the existence of a dark, violence-tinged essay Nathan had written during Maggie's freshman comp seminar, Maggie soon finds herself at the center of a heated national controversy. Could the overlooked essay have offered critical red flags that might have warned of, or even prevented, the murders to come? As the media storm grows around her, Maggie makes a series of desperate choices that threaten to destroy not just the personal and professional lives she's worked so hard to build, but-more important-the happiness and safety of her sensitive daughter, Anna.
Engrossing and provocative, combining sharp plot twists with Juska's award-winning, trademark literary sophistication, If We Had Known is at once an unforgettable mother-daughter journey, an exquisite portrait of a community in turmoil, and a harrowing examination of ethical and moral responsibility in a dangerously interconnected digital world.
IF WE HAD KNOWN
A literary tour de force from the acclaimed author of The Blessings—a riveting novel about one of the most urgent crises of our time.
Praise for If We Had Known
“In elegant, gripping prose, If We Had Known offers a startling and empathetic look at the humanity behind the all-too-frequent headlines. Juska has produced that rarest and best kind of literature—a page-turner with a message and a heart.”
Darin Strauss, National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of Half a Life
“A tender, whip-smart meditation on the origins and aftermath of tragedy. Here, Juska asks us an important and quietly devastating question: in what ways are we responsible to and for each other?”
Carmen Maria Machado, author of the National Book Award Finalist Her Body and Other Parties
“[Juska] strikes a cozy tone that is the literary opposite of toxic masculinity… In our age of political rancor and tweet storms befitting our state of emergency, there is something radical about a take on the gun problem that concerns itself more with raising questions than ire.”
New York Times Book Review
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Entertainment Weekly
“Juska's story nests in a thicket of current issues: social media, gun violence, teenage anxiety and anorexia, and the responsibility of academics with regard to troubled students. Well-written, realistic, and suspenseful to the point of dread.”
Kirkus Reviews
“What a gripping and wise book this is. Elise Juska’s unparalleled ability to convey how a single tragic event reaches out to change the lives of many is on full and compelling display here.”
Robin Black, author of Life Drawing
“This brilliantly-written novel is a great read for those who look for good fiction built around serious issues.”
The Washington Book Review
“Highly readable... Juska constructs If We Had Known with intelligence [and] sensitivity.”
Portland Press Herald
“Juska explores the aftermath of a violent event in a story that successfully speaks to issues of gun violence, the rise of anxiety in young people, the use and abuse of social media, and the role of educators today, capturing human vulnerability and the impact of tragedy on survivors.”
Library Journal
“Captivates through the close and honest lens it places upon each of its characters.”
RT Book Review
“[A] compassionate, searching novel… Moving and memorable in its portrayal of people unexpectedly involved in devastating events.”
Publishers Weekly