The Hour I First Believed

Readers connected with Wally Lamb's first two books, She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True. They were drawn to the works' fervent storytelling techniques, sharp wit, and profoundly introspective content.

Lamb goes far beyond his previous work in The Hour I First Believed, including myth, psychology, a multigenerational family history, and the fundamental problems of religion that permeate daily existence into his narrative. The end product is a remarkable masterwork that is both an introspective analysis of the human condition and an unwaveringly sympathetic portrayal of a character.

Following their relocation to Littleton, Colorado, Caelum Quirk, a 47-year-old high school teacher, and his younger wife, Maureen, a school nurse, get positions at Columbine High School. Caelum visits his recently stroked aunt in Three Rivers, Connecticut, in April 1999 after returning home. Maureen, however, finds herself in the Columbine school library, crouching in a cupboard and bracing herself for certain death as two resentful kids embark on a meticulously planned, homicidal spree. She somehow makes it through, but it costs her: she can never fully heal from the trauma. Caelum and Maureen escape Colorado and go back to the Quirk family property in Three Rivers, where they feel a semblance of safety. However, it is difficult to undo the consequences of disorder, and more tragedies follow.

In an upstairs bedroom of his family's home, Caelum finds a stockpile of ancient diaries, letters, and newspaper clippings as Maureen struggles to restore her sanity. They tell the vivid and captivating tale of five generations of Quirk family forebears, from the Civil War period to Caelum's own difficult upbringing. Caelum reconstructs the lives of the men and women whose heritage he carries one piece at a time. Unfathomable truths come to light, bringing long-suppressed sadness, remorse, wrath, and dread to the surface.

Caelum battles to create a future out of the ashes of sorrow while simultaneously coping with shocking and perplexing past disclosures. His own search for purpose and religion turns into a legendary voyage that is both very modern and uniquely American.

Fiction written with profundity and heartbreak is The Hour I First Believed. Wally Lamb demonstrates his skill as a master storyteller by bringing together a cast of characters rich enough to convey the whole of mankind and a range of voices.