"She's Come Undone" Wally Lamb

I'll admit it. After devouring "The Hour I First Believed" I became addicted to Wally Lamb. And it's not at all because Oprah likes him. I have nothing against Oprah, but it bugs me when people only read books because she's recommended them! Anyways, after reading "The Hour I First Believed" I went and checked out "She's Come Undone", one of his earler books, from my library. Thanks in part to the several hours that we spent waiting in the emergency room last Tuesday I was able to fly through it despite the busyness of last week, and I finished it late Saturday afternoon.

*sigh* I wish that I hadn't finished it. Unsurprisingly, I loved it and had a hard time putting it down! "She's Come Undone" is essentially the life story of Dolores Price. We meet her in her earlier childhood; which quickly becomes traumatic for her as her parents divorce and she experiences another tragedy (I'm not going to spoil it for you!). Childhood turns into adolescence, which is no better for poor Dolores, and after another tragic event we follow her to college. After college we follow Dolores into the big, bad world, staying with her as she spends time in a mental institution, and later tries to survive (and thrive) among the average population.

I rooted for Dolores the entire way through. I wanted so badly for her to succeed in life and find happiness, despite the horrible things that had left their mark on her. Lamb's talent lies not only in telling a great story, but in making the reader care for his characters along the way. This was a truly remarkable book, well worth reading for anyone who has not yet had the pleasure.

You can find out more about "She's Come Undone" here.

Up Next: I've apparently been reading about mental health lately (I just figured that one out!) and am currently reading Paulo Coelho's "Veronika Decides to Die". The jury's still out on this one.