The Hour I First Believed

By: Wally Lamb

Narrated by: George Guidall

When high school teacher Caelum Quirk and his wife, Maureen, 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 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.

While Maureen fights to regain her sanity, Caelum discovers five generations' worth of diaries, letters, and newspaper clippings in his family's house. As unimaginable secrets emerge, Caelum grapples with the past and struggles to fashion a future from the ashes of tragedy. His quest for meaning is at once mythic and contemporary, personal and quintessentially American.

©2008 Wally Lamb; (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

Excellent and heartbreaking

Like this author's other book, This Much I Know is True, this book is primarily about survivor's guilt and the people living with it. Set to a back drop of survivors of the Columbine shooting, this story traces the long, dark road the characters travel in the wake of that tragedy. The narrator was excellent and the story was compelling and beautifully written. I cried alot in this book.

The Hour I First Believed

I have listened to both this book and "I Know This Much Is True" and I'm not sure which I like the most. The writing is so clear and beautiful. The stories are fascinating. Some might complain that the novel contains 3 or 4 separate stories and that each could have been a novella itself. But I enjoyed every minute and did not lose track of what was happening. The narration was so good I kept forgetting that this was not Wally Lamb telling his own story.

George Guidall is an amazing Narrator

This was a very long winded book for me to listen to. I found the main character to be whiney and martyr like. I think it was the point of the book. By the end of the book, I found myself sobbing. It was a great way of depicting life as an individuals narrative. Something I came to enjoy, was how Wally weaved history into the fabric of the story. It appalled me to know that women of 19th century would be incarcerated for being raped and beaten if she was in any way drunk or around drunks. It made me think of how far we have come and maybe not come. While I doubt I would listen to this again, I would most graciously listen to anything narrated by George Guidall. His voice, inflections, changes in character for the story were the best I have heard.

excellent

I love Wally Lambs books. This one is my favorite. you could imagine that this was really 2 books. book 1 & 2. but when you bring it around full circle and really realize it's all about his life, through his eyes.... that's when you get it; and it becomes amazing!

A favorite

Great author and well read story. Relevant to our time still each time I read it.