The Hour I First Believed: A Novel

by: Wally Lamb

Published by: Harper (division of Harper Collins Publishers)

Reviewed by Elizabeth Bright

Caelum and Maureen have experienced a rocky time in their marriage as a result of adultery. In anger Caelum Quirk assaulted his wife’s lover with a wrench, and was prosecuted for the assault. The marriage didn’t dissolve but in order to save it, the couple moved from Connecticut to Colorado.

When Caelum’s Aunt Lolly falls ill, he returns east. Maureen stays behind in Colorado, where she hides in a cabinet when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold begin their slaughter at the Columbine High School.

Maureen survives the murders in body, but her mind can’t overcome the experience. The couple return to what they believe is safety in Connecticut. While Maureen fights for her sanity, Caelum finds memorabilia from the past and begins his own journey of recovery from a painful past.

Lamb’s 700-plus-page novel is ambitious. He’s chosen to use the actual names of the Columbine perpetrators and victims and the depiction of the murders is disturbing. The novel is intriguing and begs to be read until Lamb begins to lose his way as he examines Hurricane Katrina, the Civil War, vehicular manslaughter, alcoholism, suicide, child abuse, etc.

The novel began to feel like a personal catharsis where the author lashes out at everything bad in the world. In some ways, the book also seems influenced by the author’s political beliefs. Lamb might have done better if he’d written two books instead of one.

I loved She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much is True. They were authentic, believable and well-written. The Hour I First Believed was disappointing. In all fairness, an author of lesser talent would have drowned with this project. Lamb manages to keep afloat, but barely.

Read She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much is True for a better reading experience of this writer.

Armchair Interviews says: A troubling book that doesn’t serve the talent of the author very well.