We Are Water

Lamb, Wally

3.82

52,753 ratings by Goodreads

ISBN 10: 0062282840 ISBN 13: 9780062282842

Publisher: Harperaudio, 2013

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

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Review:

"We are water: 'fluid, flexible when we have to be. But strong and destructive, too.' That's evident in this emotionally involving new novel from the author of She's Come Undone....Clear and sweetly flowing; highly recommended."--Library Journal, starred review

"Through alternating perspectives this addicting novel reveals how secrets can define a person and wreak havoc on her loved ones."--Real Simple

"Wally Lamb's latest, We Are Water, works the same magic as his 1992 Oprah-anointed breakthrough, She's Come Undone, capturing a snapshot of modern life (class struggle, racial violence) through the lens of a family faced with jarring news from its matriarchal figure."--Out.com

."..this family saga is hard to put down."--Entertainment Weekly

"It's a sign of a good novel when the reader slowly savors the final chapters, both eager to discover the ending and dreading saying goodbye to the characters. We Are Water is a book worth diving into."--USA Today, 4-star review

"True to his talents, Lamb finds a way to incorporate in other diverse elements into WE ARE WATER -- a natural disaster, racial injustice, American life during the Obama years, even a bit of a ghost story - to add heft and depth to this painfully honest, character-driven family drama."--Miami Herald

"Wally Lamb's latest, WE ARE WATER, works the same magic as his 1992 Oprah-anointed breakthrough, She's Come Undone, capturing a snapshot of modern life (class struggle, racial violence) through the lens of a family faced with jarring news from its matriarchal figure."--Out.com

"Lamb excels at delivering unexpected blows to his characters, ratcheting up the suspense to the final page."--Publishers Weekly

"In his singularly perceptive voice, Lamb immerses his characters and the novel's readers in powerful moments of hope and redemption and shocking descriptions of violence and abuse... fascinating."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Wally Lamb's fifth work of fiction...is a mesmerizing novel about a family in crisis that pulls together many characters and diverse themes and sets the bulk of its action against our collective modern angst and ambivalence."--Miami Herald

From the Back Cover:

After twenty-seven years of marriage and three children, Annie Oh—wife, mother, and outsider artist—has fallen in love with Viveca, the 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. 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.

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