{"product_id":"the-hour-i-first-believed","title":"The Hour I First Believed","description":"From Bookmarks Magazine\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFans of Wally Lamb's previous novels will find few thematic surprises in his newest: tales of family dysfunction, loneliness, sexual abuse, infidelity, and pain abound. Critics agreed that Lamb, a wonderful storyteller, allows his tragedies to unfold naturally; the best—and scariest—part relates the details of the Columbine massacre. However, not all agreed that the novel fully succeeds. While the first half (about Columbine and its aftermath) is utterly riveting, the second part—which tries to recount every violent event from the mid-19th century to the present—contains too many subplots and \"fails even as a melodrama\" (Washington Post). But readers who don't buy into Lamb's grand statement on the American experience should still find something worthy in his very real, achingly complex, set of characters.\u003cbr\u003eCopyright 2008 Bookmarks Publishing LLC\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmazon.com Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProduct Description\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWally Lamb's two previous novels, She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, struck a chord with readers. They responded to the intensely introspective nature of the books, and to their lively narrative styles and biting humor. One critic called Wally Lamb a \"modern-day Dostoyevsky,\" whose characters struggle not only with their respective pasts, but with a \"mocking, sadistic God\" in whom they don't believe but to whom they turn, nevertheless, in times of trouble (New York Times).\u003cbr\u003eIn his new novel, The Hour I First Believed, Lamb travels well beyond his earlier work and embodies in his fiction myth, psychology, family history stretching back many generations, and the questions of faith that lie at the heart of everyday life. The result is an extraordinary tour de force, at once a meditation on the human condition and an unflinching yet compassionate evocation of character.\u003cbr\u003eWhen forty-seven-year-old high school teacher Caelum Quirk and his younger wife, Maureen, a school nurse, move to Littleton, Colorado, they both get jobs at Columbine High School. In April 1999, Caelum returns home to Three Rivers, Connecticut, to be with his aunt who has just had a stroke. But Maureen finds herself in the school library at Columbine, cowering in a cabinet and expecting to be killed, as two vengeful students go on a carefully premeditated, murderous rampage. Miraculously she survives, but at a cost: she is unable to recover from the trauma. Caelum and Maureen flee Colorado and return to an illusion of safety at the Quirk family farm in Three Rivers. But the effects of chaos are not so easily put right, and further tragedy ensues.\u003cbr\u003eWhile Maureen fights to regain her sanity, Caelum discovers a cache of old diaries, letters, and newspaper clippings in an upstairs bedroom of his family's house. The colorful and intriguing story they recount spans five generations of Quirk family ancestors, from the Civil War era to Caelum's own troubled childhood. Piece by piece, Caelum reconstructs the lives of the women and men whose legacy he bears. Unimaginable secrets emerge; long-buried fear, anger, guilt, and grief rise to the surface.\u003cbr\u003eAs Caelum grapples with unexpected and confounding revelations from the past, he also struggles to fashion a future out of the ashes of tragedy. His personal quest for meaning and faith becomes a mythic journey that is at the same time quintessentially contemporary—and American.\u003cbr\u003eThe Hour I First Believed is a profound and heart-rending work of fiction. Wally Lamb proves himself a virtuoso storyteller, assembling a variety of voices and an ensemble of characters rich enough to evoke all of humanity.\u003cbr\u003eFrom the Author: Wally Lamb's Playlist for The Hour I First Believed\u003cbr\u003eI’m often asked what novels by other authors I 'm reading when I’m writing one of my own. The better question is: What and who am I listening to? I’m pleased to share many of the tunes, recognizable and obscure, that helped me write Part I, \"Butterfly\" of my novel, The Hour I First Believed. I hope you enjoy them.1. \"Gloria,\" by Van Morrison from The S","brand":"OUATB","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47927226401023,"sku":"*R0025171*","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.onceuponatimebooks.com\/products\/the-hour-i-first-believed","provider":"Once Upon a Time Books AR","version":"1.0","type":"link"}