WE ARE WATER
A Novel
BY WALLY LAMB
ABOUT THE BOOK:
In middle age, Annie Oh—wife, mother, and outsider artist—has shaken her family to its core. After twenty-seven years of marriage and three children, Annie has fallen in love with Viveca, the wealthy, cultured, confident Manhattan art dealer who orchestrated her professional success. Annie and Viveca plan to wed in the Oh family's hometown of Three Rivers, Connecticut, where gay marriage has recently been legalized. But the impending 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 an intricate and layered portrait of marriage, family, and the inexorable need for understanding and connection, told in the alternating voices of the Ohs—nonconformist Annie; 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 Oh. Set in New England and New York during the first years of the Obama presidency, 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 breathtaking compassion, Wally Lamb brilliantly captures the essence of human experience in vivid and unforgettable characters struggling to find hope and redemption in the aftermath of trauma and loss.We Are Water is vintage Wally Lamb—a compulsively readable, generous, and uplifting masterpiece that digs deep into the complexities of the human heart to explore the ways in which we search for love and meaning in our lives.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Wally Lamb is the author of the New York Times and national bestseller The Hour I First Believed, as well as the novels She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, both #1 New York Times bestsellers and Oprah's Book Club selections. He lives in Connecticut with his family.
"FUN STUFF" ABOUT AUTHOR WALLY LAMB:
This Q&A was taken from the HarperCollins website "FUN STUFF" section on Wally Lamb.
My favorite item of clothing is…
my brown, broken-in “Rheingold Beer” ball cap and a raggedy sweatshirt my wife wants to toss.
My greatest achievement so far is…
fatherhood.
If I couldn't be a writer, I would be...
a mail carrier or a shrink.
My one wish would be…
to put an end to poverty.
My best quality is…
empathy.
SOME OTHER BOOKS BY WALLY LAMB:
MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW:
Considering Wally Lamb’s SHE’S COME UNDONE is one of my top five favorite all time books, I always look forward to reading his new books. Some I like more than others but in WE ARE WATER, I found another gem from this author. I am always amazed, as I was with SHE’S COME UNDONE, how Mr. Lamb writes female characters so effectively. This is not to say that other authors don’t also do it, but there is just something about how Wally Lamb can get inside a woman’s head and write her story that grabs me.
WE ARE WATER tells the story of Annie and Orion Oh and their family. Each member of the family is dealing with secrets of their own and issues from their past and present that must be resolved. With the Ohs being married well over 20 years, it is a shock when Annie decides to leave Orion to carry on a romantic relationship with her art dealer, Viveca. This relationship eventually leads to marriage plans.
From this main point, Lamb infuses everyone else’s story into the current time surrounding Annie and Viveca’s wedding. Readers will learn the history and secrets that go into developing each character. With WE ARE WATER including topics ranging from homophobia to racism, to tragedy and violence, as well as abuse and alcoholism, readers must process it all. It helps that the narrative is told through the different characters’ point of view by alternating them through the chapters. Using flashbacks, readers discover additional information about Annie, and thus the narrative draws you in as readers become entrenched in each dilemma. Annie’s story, by far the most complex and devastating, is at the center of the Oh family’s lives.
As the story comes together and secrets are revealed, I found myself so invested in the narrative that I didn’t mind the time it took to read this book. This isn’t an “end of summer, chick lit for the beach” book, but it is certainly a novel that will leave you with a sense of accomplishment and the comprehension as to where the title comes from. I highly recommend WE ARE WATER for book clubs as there is much to discuss and reflect upon.
WE ARE WATER tells the story of Annie and Orion Oh and their family. Each member of the family is dealing with secrets of their own and issues from their past and present that must be resolved. With the Ohs being married well over 20 years, it is a shock when Annie decides to leave Orion to carry on a romantic relationship with her art dealer, Viveca. This relationship eventually leads to marriage plans.
From this main point, Lamb infuses everyone else’s story into the current time surrounding Annie and Viveca’s wedding. Readers will learn the history and secrets that go into developing each character. With WE ARE WATER including topics ranging from homophobia to racism, to tragedy and violence, as well as abuse and alcoholism, readers must process it all. It helps that the narrative is told through the different characters’ point of view by alternating them through the chapters. Using flashbacks, readers discover additional information about Annie, and thus the narrative draws you in as readers become entrenched in each dilemma. Annie’s story, by far the most complex and devastating, is at the center of the Oh family’s lives.
As the story comes together and secrets are revealed, I found myself so invested in the narrative that I didn’t mind the time it took to read this book. This isn’t an “end of summer, chick lit for the beach” book, but it is certainly a novel that will leave you with a sense of accomplishment and the comprehension as to where the title comes from. I highly recommend WE ARE WATER for book clubs as there is much to discuss and reflect upon.
GIVEAWAY
THANKS TO KATHLEEN AND THE GOOD
FOLKS AT HARPER COLLINS, I HAVE
ONE COPY OF WALLY LAMB'S NEW BOOK
WE ARE WATER, TO GIVE AWAY
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE IN
ORDER TO COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY
--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE IN
ORDER TO COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY
HOW TO ENTER:
+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOUT WE ARE WATER THAT WOULD MAKE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK
+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK I CAN FOLLOW IN THE ENTRY
+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE OTHER CURRENT GIVEAWAY YOU HAVE ENTERED ON MY BLOG. IF YOU ENTERED MORE THAN ONE, YOU CAN COMMENT ON EACH ON SEPARATELY AND GAIN MORE ENTRIES THAT WAY
+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE WAY YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. IF YOU FOLLOW MORE THAN ONE WAY, YOU CAN COMMENT SEPARATELY AND EACH WILL COUNT AS AN ENTRY
+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK I CAN FOLLOW IN THE ENTRY
+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE OTHER CURRENT GIVEAWAY YOU HAVE ENTERED ON MY BLOG. IF YOU ENTERED MORE THAN ONE, YOU CAN COMMENT ON EACH ON SEPARATELY AND GAIN MORE ENTRIES THAT WAY
+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE WAY YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. IF YOU FOLLOW MORE THAN ONE WAY, YOU CAN COMMENT SEPARATELY AND EACH WILL COUNT AS AN ENTRY
GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, SEPTEMBER 14
6 PM, EST, SEPTEMBER 14
GOOD LUCK!
NOTE: WE ARE WATER WILL BE FOR SALE ON
OCTOBER 22 SO THERE WILL BE A LITTLE
WAIT FOR YOUR PRIZE. 
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