If We Had Known

By: Elise Juska

Narrated by: Christie Moreau

A literary tour de force from the acclaimed author of The Blessings - a riveting new novel about one of the most urgent crises of our time.

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.

©2018 Elise Juska (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Captivates through the close and honest lens it places upon each of its characters." (RT Book Review)

"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)

"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)

Scary Real-life Drama with, Appropriately, No End

This book was far too close to the reality in which we are living to be comfortable, but I suppose that's the point. The author leads you into the already troubled waters of the life of a small college professor snd her family when a local man goes on a shooting rampage at the local mall. Upset and concerned by the shooting as most of us are, the professor and her family ponder the why's and how's and the how sads of the event, just like everyone, until dragged into the drama by a Facebook post that identified the shooter as one of her students. Another of her students remembered the class she taught and the shooter being "odd" and the paper he wrote for the professor as "disturbing". The cycle of personal disaster this sets up spins out of control, as does the book, until the story stops abruptly in the middle of what's next. This book needs a dozen trigger warnings and an end. At the same time, I wouldn't have wanted to miss it.

Just ok

This was a fairly interesting story that didn't really go anywhere. I enjoyed the idea but would have appreciated a few more surprises along the way.

A completely different perspective on a sad tale

If We Had Known is a complex tale surrounding the simple choices we make and the regretful ones that we do not. The book surrounds the aftermath of a mass shooting by a college student, done at the local mall. Although it does touch on many of the political issues that we struggle with today, it does so without any particular bias. It takes on one of the most controversial and heated topics of our day and it does so from a completely different perspective. The perspective is that of the shooter's old college professor, a woman who taught the shooter and may have missed something in one of his college essays that could have saved many lives. Maggie and Anna are complex and emotional characters, and are people like you and I, completely relatable and real. They draw you in from page one and you find yourself understanding and, even agreeing with many of the decisions that they made although they led to a truly heartbreaking end for many (at least in Maggie's case). This book is beautifully written and the narration is excellent. It is very rare that I stay up past midnight to finish a book and this book had me up at 2AM! I found myself turning on the book every time I had a free moment. I highly recommend this book, hard copy or audio version.

Effects of a shooting

I was surprised at the way this story moved- the effects of a shooting on the people involved that I never thought about. Elise Juska did well with her character development, and moved smoothly pulling these characters together into one well written story. Christie Moreau made the story come to life for me, clarifying the characters and portraying the real emotions of the story. Her narration, and MS Juska's words brought me to tears many times. I would certainly recommend this book!

Returned this half written story!

Well this book could’ve been good, it just ended at a very bizarre place without any conclusions about the characters. The narrator was horrible and distracted the listener from finding any reality in the characters’ voices. The basis for the story is interesting, but the execution fell flat . Disappointing