We Are Water

A Novel

By: Wally Lamb

Narrated by: Wally Lamb, George Guidall, Maggi-Meg Reed, Tavia Gilbert, Richard Ferrone, Edoardo Ballerini, Cynthia Darlow, Therese Plummer, Sandy Rustin

Length: 23 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

We Are Water is a disquieting and ultimately uplifting audiobook about a marriage, a family, and human resilience in the face of tragedy, from Wally Lamb, the New York Times best-selling 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.

The complete list of narrators includes Robin Miles and Sandy Rustin.

©2013 Wally Lamb (P)2013 HarperCollinsPublishers

This is one where I wish I had read instead of listened.

Where does We Are Water rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Not sure if it was the production or the writing but there was a part about midway that through me off. It went from each chapter being narrated by one character to a few chapters with multiple voices. It felt more like a script than a narration. And I think I would have enjoyed it more with one narrator, or different choices for vocal styles on the main characters.

What was one of the most memorable moments of We Are Water?

When Anna comes clean with her son was momentous. It was a confessional by the abuser to the abused... A denoument that rarely comes to an abuser.

What three words best describe the narrators’s voice?

When I think of the main narrator I think of Wally Lamb as Orion... I was not a big fan. Three words: unemotional, dry, pathetic.

If you could take any character from We Are Water out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Andrew, the son.

Any additional comments?

I just was not a big fan of the voices. George Guidall was wonderful but his part is very brief. And, because I felt their voices didn't portray the character as I might have heard it in my own head I struggled with the listening.. Still it made a heartbreaking tale of the cycle of abuse that moves through generations....

We Are Water

The problem with judging Wally Lamb's new work is that I can't help but hold it up against She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True. I very much enjoyed this book, but I didn't feel a deep connection to - or even like - most of the characters. And one character made me deeply uncomfortable... like how I'd imagine watching a snuff film would make me feel. But that's kind of a recurring theme from Lamb. Traumatizing the reader, then taking us through healing and overcoming.
I'm glad I read it, but probably won't read again.

So delicious. Already starting to grieve it ending

Where does We Are Water rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

For my bookish friends.......I'm in the last chapters of We Are Water, the new novel by Wally Lamb "(She's Come Undone", "This Much I Know is True", "The Hour I First Believed)". I'm actually listening to it read to me on Audible. I so love this book. Current social topics, complicated family dynamics, great writing. He is high on my list of novelists - up there with Wallace Stegner and John Irving. I Highly recommend.

Too dark for me

Very lengthy book handling very dark subjects. I've read other Wally Lamb books and finally tackled this one; unfortunately, it was not to my liking. I do not agree with other reviewers who did not like the narration, however. Narration was fine, but the story...not so much.

Hard to listen to a pedophile

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

There's so much to like about this book, but it might be better experienced in print. I am finding the intimacy of Kent's voice in my ears repulsive.

Engaging, relevant, compelling, eye opening

This book captured my interest and attention like few others do. The author writes from multiple perspectives and accomplishes the challenging task of maintaining each character’s integrity and humanity. Each character is so genuine and believable. I really enjoyed the full cast of characters in the audiobook, especially George Guidall and the author himself.

Lamb writes Fine Literature/What a Book!

We Are Water is the story of family, marriage, parenting, love, homosexuality, suicide, death, murder, racism---overt and subtle, wealth and poverty, anger, violence, secrets, ghosts, atheists, religion, the power of prayer, classism, drowning in a flood, physical abuse, pedophilia, disabilities, theft, art, alcoholism, politics---liberal and conservative, trauma, and community.
Each character in this book has her or his own voice in this story. The voices are braided together making this important novel unique and so special. The author narrates the voice of Orion Oh the patriarch in the book. Unlike some other authors, Mr. Lambs contribution to the narration is perfection.
Annie and Orion Oh are married and they have three children Ariane, Andrew, and Marissa. Annie is first struggling, then becomes a successful artist. Orion is a psychologist who cannot heal his own family. Annie's traumatic childhood and time in foster care and Orion never knowing his father impacts both parents and their children in profound ways. After over 20 years of marriage they divorce; Annie leaves Orion for a woman.
The backdrop of this story is the narrative of the short life of Josephus Jones and his brother. These black men are ostracized from and suffer abuse from their Connecticut community. Josephus's brother lives with a Dutch white woman. Josephus is a painter of "outsider art" never receiving recognition for his art until after his violent death. The story of the artist, his death and his art are woven throughout the book.
Another voice in this book is Kent, Annie's cousin who is a pedophile. This part, hearing Kent's voice and of Annie's abuse is very difficult but is an integral part of this book. I think it very brave of this author to include this peek into the persona and psyche of this man. Fortunately in the afterword the author explains his reasons for including Kent's voice.
This book touched me in a way few books do. I loved everything about this book; thank you Wally Lamb.

I'm a Lamb Fan But....

I may have rated this book a bit higher but I expected more from Wally Lamb. I have thoroughly enjoyed two of his previous novels. Yet, with this one, I struggled listening to the life of a woman who didn't seem to be able to appreciate anything about her adult life despite the great privilege's that came her way. I didn't like Annie(the protagonist) and could not relate to her lack of growth as she moved throughout her life. The main reader's voice was hard to tolerate. I listened to the entire book but can't say I was glad that I did. I kept wishing that Annie could rise above her difficult early childhood and appreciate the life she was given. It made me sad; yet, maybe that is Mr. Lamb's point. Bottom line, not Mr. Lamb's best and lacking overall.

Emotional & Deep

This book is extremely deep and emotional and it totally consumed me. It is very well written, very detailed and definitely keeps your interest. It shows the heartbreaking damage of childhood neglect and the influence that has on relationships in their adult lives. There is a small part in the book which touches pretty heavily on child sexual abuse. It was very hard to listen to. Other than that, the book was one of my favorites.

I gave this story an overall 4 only because at times, there was just a bit too much detail and information. The ending went about 2 chapters too long.

Couldn't put it down.

Wow. This is a tough book but it is amazingly written. Loved all the different perspectives.