"Fans of Wally Lamb know from his first two novels [She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True] that he tends to write about flawed and, often, alienated people. His latest novel, The Hour I First Believed, is no exception. The beauty of Lamb's novels is that his characters feel like real people--people you want to succeed.
"This novel isn't an easy read, especially the chapters about Columbine. But it is a good reminder of what the U.S. has been through in the last decade. Because the characters Caelum and Maureen Quirk, among others, manage to face tragedy and still make their way in the world, one word describes what I felt after turning the last page: hope."