Title: The Hour I First Believed
Author: Wally Lamb
Publisher: Recorded Books
Narrator: George Guidall
Duration: 25 hours, 14 minutes
Copyright: 2008
Genres: general fiction, inspirational, trauma
Filed in: Audiobook reviews
Review copy provided by Kearney Public Library.
THE GIST: Caelum Quirk doesn’t believe in much. He doesn’t believe in marriage; he's on his third. He doesn't believe in family either; no children of his own, and the weekly calls from his nearest relative, an aging aunt who still lives on the family farm back in Connecticut, bore him to tears. He usually ends up handing the phone off to his current wife, Maureen. When Aunt Lolly’s life partner died a few years ago, Caelum didn't even go home for the funeral, he sent Maureen instead.
But Caelum is about to get a serious wake-up call to what’s important in life. It’s April, 1999, and Caelum is the American Lit teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Maureen is the school nurse.
In that fateful April, Caelum receives a call from back home informing him that Aunt Lolly has suffered a stroke and is in the hospital. Being Lolly’s next of kin, Caelum feels obligated to return home although he does not really want to. Caelum barely arrives before Aunt Lolly suffers another stroke, this one fatal. Maureen agrees to tie up their affairs in Littleton and then join him in Connecticut a few days later. On the afternoon before Maureen's flight east, Caelum decides to take a break from the funeral arrangements to watch a little tv. His remote stops on CNN. The screen tells him that he is seeing live footage from Columbine High School, his school. There is a man dropping from a second story window into the arms of rescuers below. There are crying students exiting the front doors. The reporter is talking about shootings, and death.
Caelum is completely dumbfounded. Is this really happening? Unable to reach Maureen on the phone, he rushes to the airport to catch the next flight back to Colorado. Not knowing if he will find his wife dead or alive, Caelum begins to realize for the first time how much Maureen really means to him, and how much he took for granted.
*Note, this part of the story was incredibly tense so I am not going to spoil it by revealing whether Maureen lives or dies.
In the aftermath of the devastation at Columbine, Caelum’s entire existence is turned upside-down. He tries to escape by selling his house in Littleton and moving back to his family farm in Connecticut, vacant now after the death of Aunt Lolly. To his dismay, Caelum finds that the nightmare visions of that terrible day remain with him no matter where he goes. To make matters worse, sifting through generations of documents and memorabilia reveals that his parents, both long dead now, were not the people he thought they were. The ordeal at Columbine and the family secrets he uncovers will leave him changed forever,but how much tragedy can a man endure before reaching the breaking point?
MY THOUGHTS: I had never heard of Wally Lamb before "The Hour I First Believed" caught my eye. Frankly, I was a little skeptical about this audio book, but I'm so glad I decided to try it. Lam is a fantastic writer. His engaging style grabbed my attention right from the beginning and never let go. The scene where Caelum is rushing home to discover the fate of his wife was incredibly tense and had me literally on the edge of my seat.
Wally Lamb likes to use layered flashback scenes. There were times when I felt like I had missed something, but it always made sense in the end. He uses the scenes well, delivering a wealth of background on a character or a situation.
The final chapters of “The Hour I First Believed” are among some of the most beautiful I have ever read. I actually laughed and cried, sometimes simultaneously, as Lam tied up the loose ends. In his moving finale, Lamb reminds us that there is always hope, and that sometimes, when you go looking for what you want, you runright into what you need.
NARRATOR: George Guidall is one of the finest audio book readers I have listened to. His voice is very rich and mellow and pleasant to listen to, but more importantly, he reads with passion. Not just passion, but COMpassion. He captures the emotion of the characters so well that you can't help but feel their pain. There are times when Guidall sounds like he is actually on the verge of tears. His soulful reading of "The Hour I First Believed" really put the icing on the cake.
FINAL WORD: “The Hour I First Believed” is simply beautiful. This is a story of the ways people reach out to others for help, and the ways we respond when others reach out to us. It is a story of devastating tragedy, and hope reborn. Most importantly, it is a story of how we carry on when it seems that all is lost.
The combination of Wally Lamb and George Guidall is a match made in audio book heaven. Sorry, couldn’t resist. You should definitely read “The Hour I First Believed", you won't regret it.
CHECK OUT THESE OTHER AUDIOBOOK REVIEWS:
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes (Audiobook review)
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy (Audiobook Review)
Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion by Gregory Boyle (Audiobook review)
If you liked this audiobook review, you can purchase the audiobook here:
Get "The Hour I First Believed" by Wally Lamb (Unabridged Audiobook) from Amazon.com.
This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.
Audiobook review by Steven Brandt
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Excellent review. I'm going to look for this on Tuesday when I go to the library.
ReplyDeleteNothing like a good, all is lost HOPE WINS kinda story. ;)
I always heard it said, "You don't know what you got til it's gone", maybe this book is just what I need to understand the reasons why.
Can't wait to read it!
Thanks for directing me to this. Without the review I would've never read the story.
ReplyDeleteSome parts were long and dragged on, like the history of his family, but the way I see it, it's two tales in one. :)