We Are Water: A Novel

Wally Lamb

Oct 2013 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this eBook

“A mesmerizing novel about a family in crisis.”— Miami Herald

A disquieting and ultimately uplifting novel about a marriage, a family, and human resilience in the face of tragedy, from Wally Lamb, the New York Times bestselling author of The Hour I First Believed and I Know This Much Is True.

After 27 years of marriage and three children, Anna Oh—wife, mother, outsider artist—has fallen in love with Viveca, the wealthy Manhattan art dealer who orchestrated her success. They plan to wed in the Oh family’s hometown of Three Rivers in Connecticut. But the wedding provokes some very mixed reactions and opens a Pandora’s Box of toxic secrets—dark and painful truths that have festered below the surface of the Ohs’ lives.

We Are Water is a layered portrait of marriage, family, and the inexorable need for understanding and connection, told in the alternating voices of the Ohs—nonconformist, Anna; her ex-husband, Orion, a psychologist; Ariane, the do-gooder daughter, and her twin, Andrew, the rebellious only son; and free-spirited Marissa, the youngest. It is also a portrait of modern America, exploring issues of class, changing social mores, the legacy of racial violence, and the nature of creativity and art.

With humor and compassion, Wally Lamb brilliantly captures the essence of human experience and the ways in which we search for love and meaning in our lives.

Ratings and reviews

Disappointing despite it taking four years for him to finish writing. The dialogue seemed unnatural and contrived in many parts. Loose ends and issues wrapped up a little too easily. Maybe, Lamb wanted it to be over. I am a fan of Lamb since She's Come Undone. Actually, I think I may reread that...

Wally Lamb's prose reaches in and gives me a visceral reaction each and every time. At around the 2/3 mark, I actually had to walk away from this book to stifle my sobs. Everyone who has dealt with sexual abuse or molestation should read this.

This started a little slow, but came on strong in the middle and end. Family drama is very hard to do well, but not for Lamb. Read all his books, he's good at his craft. This story is disturbing and sometimes brutal, but the way it is delivered makes it tolerable and at times compelling. Recommend highly.

About the author

Wally Lamb is the author of five New York Times bestselling novels: She’s Come Undone, I Know This Much Is True, The Hour I First Believed, Wishin’ and Hopin’, and We Are Water. His first two works of fiction, She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, were both #1 New York Times bestsellers and selections of Oprah’s Book Club. Lamb edited Couldn’t Keep It to Myself, I’ll Fly Away, and You Don’t Know Me, three volumes of essays from students in his writing workshop at York Correctional Institution, a women’s prison in Connecticut, where he has been a volunteer facilitator for two decades. He lives in Connecticut and New York.