The Hour I First Believed - by Wally Lamb (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

New York Times Bestseller

"The beauty of The Hour I First Believed, a soaring novel as amazingly graceful as the classic hymn that provides the title, is that Lamb never loses sight of the spark of human resilience. . . . Lamb's wonderful novel offers us the promise and power of hope."--Miami Herald

The profound and compelling story of a personal quest for meaning and faith, this gripping work of psychological fiction comes from Wally Lamb, #1 New York Times bestselling author of She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True

When 47-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, in a story set against the backdrop of a national tragedy, Caelum returns home to 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 as two vengeful students go on a murderous rampage. Miraculously she survives, but at a cost: she is unable to recover from the debilitating trauma and PTSD. In a marriage suddenly in crisis, Caelum and Maureen flee Colorado for an illusion of safety at the Quirk family farm back east. But the effects of chaos are not so easily put right, and further tragedy ensues.

In The Hour I First Believed, Wally Lamb travels well beyond his earlier work to deliver a powerful family saga. He 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, a moving story of grief and loss that is at once a meditation on the human condition and an unflinching yet compassionate evocation of character.

From the Back Cover

When high school teacher Caelum Quirk and his wife, Maureen, a school nurse, move to Littleton, Colorado, they both get jobs at Columbine High School. In April 1999, while Caelum is away, Maureen finds herself in the library at Columbine, cowering in a cabinet and expecting to be killed. Miraculously, she survives, but at a cost: she is unable to recover from the trauma. When Caelum and Maureen flee to an illusion of safety on the Quirk family's Connecticut farm, they discover that the effects of chaos are not easily put right, and further tragedy ensues.

Review Quotes

"The Hour I First Believed is a moving, sprawling story that seesaws between hope and despair." - Boston Globe

"Every character is rendered with vivid, utterly convincing depth...The Hour I First Believed is, at heart, a study of character and society and how they mold one another, but under Mr. Lamb's incandescent stewardship, it's also a thriller and a heck of a page-turner." - Joy Tipping, Dallas Morning News

"Weaving the various storylines into something beautiful and rewarding took great skill--something Wally Lamb has in spades." - Santa Cruz Sentinel

"The Hour I First Believed is a nuanced, multi-level and omni-dimensional story...It's a wonderful, honest book." - The Day

"Lamb does an extraordinary job narrating some of the most terrifying tragedies of the past 10 years. . . . This is an epic journey that ponders the inexplicable nature of tragedy and its terrible repercussions. Through the chaos, Lamb reveals a quiet thread of hope. Grade: A." - Ashley Simpson Shires, Rocky Mountain News

"Lamb does an extraordinary job narrating some of the most terrifying tragedies of the past 10 years....an epic journey. Grade: A." - Rocky Mountain News

"Every character is rendered with vivid, utterly convincing depth. . . . A heck of a page-turner." - Dallas Morning News

"A rich and sprawling story." - Anne Stephenson, Arizona Republic

"Profound and moving. . . . The beauty of The Hour I First Believed, a soaring novel as amazingly graceful as the classic hymn that provides the title, is that Lamb never loses sight of the spark of human resilience. . . . Lamb's wonderful novel offers us the promise and power of hope." - Connie Ogle, Miami Herald

"A soaring novel as amazingly graceful as the classic hymn that provides the title" - Miami Herald

"What a comfort to get lost in Lamb's characters.... [Lamb's] pacing is superb: Sections of the story expand to accommodate a mix of characters, yet scenes don't linger overlong." - Janet Okoben, Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Too compelling to put down . . . a richly textured story . . . moving, funny, and completely unpredictable." - Gail Pennington, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Lamb's narrative . . . quickly pulls the reader into the lives of its characters. . . . Lamb casts a wide net and hauls back themes both grand and personal. . . . Lamb is exceptional in his exploration of the direct and indirect impacts of survivor guilt." - Robin Vidimos, Denver Post

"Lamb . . . has delivered a tour de force, his best yet." - Entertainment Weekly

"Wally Lamb is a remarkable talent... In his latest novel, he nimbly weaves real events, especially the Columbine school shootings, with the fictional story of Caelum Quirk." - Alan Johnson, Columbus Dispatch

"Wally Lamb is a remarkable talent." - Columbus Dispatch

"A page-turner. . . . Lamb remains a storyteller at the top of his game." - Craig Wilson, USA Today

"When you put Lamb's newest novel down, it will be reluctantly. It's that good...Lamb is a writer to be envied...he gives birth to characters so unforgettable they become part of his readers' psyche." - Knoxville News-Sentinel

"It's part picaresque, part Russian novel, part mystery...ambitious...Caelum is an unusual, provocative character, neither a hero nor an antihero but a regular guy experiencing both the tragic and the absurd. His tone is by turns funny, irritating, depressive and sentimental--which is to say, recognizably human." - Louisa Thomas, New York Times Book Review

"An embracing, troubling book that spans the Civil War to the present, filled with those other Lamb trademarks--a deep understanding of loss, tempered by compassion, big-heartedness, and that most necessary quality, humor." - Susan Larson, New Orleans Times-Picayune

"Lamb has crafted another affecting, engrossing tome about complicated, interesting characters." - Cherie Parker, Minneapolis Star Tribune

"[Lamb] knows just how to let the details of a tragedy unfold without decoration or commentary. He's a master at the kind of direct, unadorned narrative that brings these events alive in all their visceral power. . . . This portrayal of a couple dealing with the asymmetrical effects of trauma is Lamb at his best, wholly sympathetic, deeply moving." - Ron Charles, Washington Post Book World

"Lamb, a maestro of orchestrating emotion . . . knows how to make his fans' hearts sing." - Corrie Pikul, Elle

"This epic novel (700-plus pages) is a profound meditation on how, against all odds, lives derailed by chaos are filled with hope once again." - Hallmark Magazine