We Are Water Audio Book

There are not enough superlatives to describe this latest book by the very talented Wally Lamb. It is the story of a family struggling to redefine itself when a long-term marriage ends and when long-held secrets create multi-layered dysfunctions. Wally Lamb's characters are revealed with a

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compassionate understanding of their struggles and their love for each other. At the end of this book, we want them to succeed individually and as a unit. I hated to see this book end. I have always loved Wally Lamb's books, but this one is exceptionally good.

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I picked up this read simply because I was drawn to the title, not knowing what the story was about. Partway in, I realize that it's about a middle-aged woman who has left her husband for.... another woman. I chose to continue reading as, by that time, I was drawn into wanting to find out what goes

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on in the psyches of the parties involved. I admit, that it was very disconcerting and even uncomfortable reading some of the more lurid details about events that led to that development -- abandonment, abuse, etc. The author has bravely tackled some very taboo subjects and spelled them out -- I believe, not so much to unsettle the reader, but to paint a very dynamic backdrop of understanding that things aren't always as they seem (and that it's easy to judge), and that these are circumstances that are very real in the world today. Ultimately, metaphorically and symbolically, it comes down to water being both the strong (carving and formative) and weak (taking the path of least resistance) forces, which we all are at some point or another.

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Enjoyed the presentation with each character telling their part of story from their perspective. Interesting plot although I felt a bit jarred to resume the story 3 years later when things were so complicated and messy only to be nearly wrapped up in a chapterm or two.

This is another fantastic Wally Lamb book. Its the story of the Oh family, mother and artist Annie who leaves her husband Orion after 20 some years of marriage to marry a women and its about the reaction of their three children to that marriage. But its so much more than that. Its also the story of

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their earlier lives - Annie's loss of her mother, her abuse by a cousin, how she and her husband met and how she raised her children. Its about the secrets that were kept in the marriage and how their lives changed when the secrets were revealed. Its a long book but I couldn't put it down. Another fantastic book by a great author!

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Like all of Wally Lamb's books, this one is pretty ambitious. It touches on a wide-range of topics including racism, murder, homophobia, abuse of all kinds, child molestation and pornography, drowning, alcoholism, gay marriage, divorce, Christianity, suicide, single parenthood, guilt, PTSD and

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artificial insemination. I'm also certain I left SOMETHING out of the list.

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I had a love/hate relationship with this book. I am a big Wally Lamb fan and this was my third read by him. This book was as equally riveting to me, as it was draggy. There was soooo much detail... and of course it wasn't until later in the book that it all came together and it was an amazing

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story. But I had to renew it three times from the library. I found some of it hard to get through but I was determined.
Of the three books I have read by the author, they all take place in CT, in an area I frequent near the casinos. This is a great attraction for me. His characters are very well developed and quite interesting and themes are very contemporary.
I look forward to reading many more by the author and do recommend this book.

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Of Wally Lamb's books, I've enjoyed this one the least.

First, it is far longer than it needs to be, mostly because the characters won't stop talking about how they feel about everyone and everything at every possible opportunity. Who talks that much--even to themselves?

Second, the main theme of

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the book--that abuse carries a terrible legacy--is repeated ad nauseum, and Lamb offers neither forgiveness nor much insight for those caught in the crossfire. They are all bloodied, innocent and guilty alike. Not sure what the message is in that.

Third, and this may be personal, there's too much here that is cringeworthy and outright revolting. It's overplayed and I can't see the justification.

I had hoped for much more than a lukewarm first draft.

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I am a big fan of Wally Lamb and had high hopes for We Are Water. Unfortunately I just never fell in love with the book. It just seemed to go on forever and then the end felt just kind of tacked on. I love big books but just maybe this one would have been better at only 350 pages instead 560.

We Are Water is the story of the end of Annie Oh's marriage and how that effects her, her adult children, and her former spouse. It is a story of family secrets and dysfunction. Along the way it touches on themes of racial inequality, art and creativity, pedophilia, and gay marriage.

We Are Water is

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by one of my favorite authors, Wally Lamb. The story is set in 2007 to the present, but tells how a 1963 flood changed the course of many lives. It's the story of the cause and effect of life altering events; the water in the title metaphorically cascading and rippling through the lives of those touched both directly and indirectly by these events. Lamb has such deep insight into the psychology of his characters. He understands and explains to his reader what makes these characters tick far better than the characters understand themselves.

As with all Wally Lamb books, I loved it, and couldn't put it down.

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Of all Wally Lamb's books this is the best. His writing pulls the reader into the depths of this dysfunctional family as they gather for their mother's wedding to her female partner. Lamb is able to pull details from different points of view, from her ex-husband to her three children as well the

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pivotal cousin from her troubled youth. Her children are varied from a NYC daughter who want be an actor, to a daughter who runs a San Francisco soup kitchen and her son, a born again Christian living in Texas. The last sentence is one of the best I've read, but you need to read the book to understand the power of these few words, that of enduring love, redemption and forgiveness.

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The Good Stuff

A truly remarkably well written character study - not one character is written in black and white. Characters that you might outwardly hate, have so many layers, that although you might not agree with their actions, you can understand their motives.
A truly gifted writer to keep me

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enthralled, even-though this is usually the type of book I avoid like the plague.
Each and every character is well developed and realistic
At first I was a little surprised about all the points of view, but it actually enhances the story, so many layers, slowly unraveled
Uncomfortable, yet healing
Deals with the ignorance and malice of intolerance brilliantly
Even-though the child molesters perspective is horrific to read, Lamb's brilliance in understanding people and treating them like humans really makes you think. I really had a hard time with this. On one hand I was sickened by the chapters, even put the book down for a while, but at the same time these chapters helped me understand. Again want to convey that Lamb has a true gift in seeing the grey where others can only see black and white
Perfect book for a book club or class discussion
This is another one that I know will win awards and sell like hotcakes at the Chapters I work at
Hope and forgiveness - two things I need to truly enjoy a book
Touches on so much - prejudice, art, family, compassion, forgiveness, child abuse, loss, grief and love in all its wonderful forms
Takes some pretty uncomfortable situations and makes you think and want to discuss - yes my friends this book will lead to long hours of discussion - cannot wait to talk wit my co-workers and staff about
Totally got the part where Anna talks about the frustration of taking care of her kids and all the hard stuff a Mom has to deal with and than as soon as Dad comes home the kids want to play with the "FUN" parent. Totally unfair.
Hard to read about Orion's reaction when one of his students committed suicide. My Dad had a similar experience and he ended up in the psych ward because he thought it was his fault that a kid had killed himself. There was nothing he could have done, but he was the type of man who cared too much.

The Not So Good Stuff

I personally would have cut out about 50 pages, but that is just me. I just think it would have been a tighter book
The perspective of the child molester is a difficult read - I admire Lamb's skill and understand what he was trying to relate, but still made me sick
I understand and admire Lamb's talent and his effort to make Anna someone you can understand and relate too, and I do in a way, but at the same time she disgusted me. My kids drive me absolutely bonkers, and I too have had some difficult times in my life, but I would never ever ever want to hurt my kids
Won't lie, next book I read is going to be totally escapism - this was intense and thought provoking - dammit Wally I am a mom - I want to escape from my world for a while ; )

Favorite Quotes/Passages

"He stops talking after that . It's something I've noticed since the paralysis: you mention depression and it's a conversation killer."

"Which I interpreted as him saying that it was better to have a fight and get things out than to give people the silent treatment and let things keep festering. I could have been wrong though; poetry's hard for me to understand because it never says things plain and simple."

"But as the people of the Old Country say, il destino mischia le carte, ma siamo noi a giocare la partia. Destiny shuffles the cards, but we are the ones who must play the game."

I received a copy of this at the HarperCollins Party at Book Expo America 2013. Thank you Wally about putting me at ease and truly enjoyed chatting with you.

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I've been a fan of Wally Lamb since She's Come Undone. He takes awhile to write another novel but they are worth waiting for. This starts with a wedding being planned. An artist, Annie Oh and her art dealer, Vivica are getting married. The catch...Annie has been married for many years to Orion and

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they have 3 grown children together. So, no one in this group is doing very well with this situation (except for Vivica). There is a lot going on in this book but it certainly held my interest. Finished it in two days.

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Far too many words. I liked the plot and characters, but felt the awe of his previous books was missing..

Wally Lamb once again takes a family and examines in detail the dynamics that have made each member of that family into the people they are at the point in time when the book takes place. Dynamics including the events that have occurred as well as the secrets that are buried deep. Such scrutiny can

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be in turn emotionally draining and tedious as the plot moves (sometimes plods) forward. If you like Wally Lamb, you will like this book. Contemporary, set in NY City and Connecticut.

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If I could give this 6 stars I could, absolutely breathtaking and engaging all the way through to the very end of this lengthy novel. Lamb takes issues sometimes hard to write about - child molestation, gay marriage, and artificial insemination as well as some other more commonly used threads as

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murder, neglect, class as well as ratial segregation and makes it all work into a very engaging book I could not put down. Very masterfully done!

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Annie Oh is a divorced mother and artist who plans to marry her female lover, an art dealer who discovered and promoted her work. The book is told from alternating points of view by the many characters, and extends from today's issues of gay marriage and homophobia to past issues of race, all with

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the changing face of artistic creativity as a backdrop. This is a complex buildup of relationships that weave in and out toward a climax that exposes long-buried secrets and hints that, as Wally Lamb wrote in my copy at the book signing, "Love Wins!"

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I love Wally Lamb. I did not love this book. Disappointed.

There is an awful lot of story going on between the covers of this book. This story is a well fit puzzle of subplots that all serve to enhance the main story line. It is rare in a book with so many sub stories that you care equally for all the characters and their story lines. Usually you are more

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drawn to some over others. However I have to say that I was very interested in what was happening to all these different characters and how their ill fated lives were going to play out.

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I was not familiar with Wally Lamb’s writing before I read this novel. It came to me as one of the books long-listed for the Maine Readers Choice Awards, and it blew me away. The subject matter is not pretty, and is bound to make some readers uncomfortable. The characters are so well-portrayed

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however, that the reader is able to understand all the complex motivations that drive the players in the story.

Orion Oh is a psychologist on the staff of the local college. Married to Annie Oh, for over 25 years, they are the parents of twins Arianne and Andrew and another daughter Annie is an eclectic artist whose work often demonstrates an internal anger. She has gradually moved out of the family house in Connecticut to live in New York As the story unfolds, we gradually become aware of Annie's fractured childhood background which definitely impacts her adult actions. In the meantime, the now adult children are coping with their own coming of age difficulties while processing their mother’s choice of lifestyle and what they perceive as their father’s being abandoned by her.

The new bride, a high visibility art gallery owner, is quite assertive and is determined to have her wedding be one of the social events of the year. They are marrying in CT since same-sex marriage has, at the time of this story, not been approved in NY where the couple reside.

As the story progresses, each chapter presents a different character’s perspective, both about the upcoming marriage and also a retrospective glance back to the earlier years of the marriage and their own childhood. The past life experiences (especially regarding Annie's behavior) that influence the characters sneak up on the reader, and unexpectedly explode in a devastating scene of powerful emotions.

Without much of a spoiler, it seems that the children were traumatized throughout their growing-up years by actions of their mother who in turn has unresolved issues from her mother and younger sister's death in a flood; the children never thought to tell their father, and the father-busy with his professional life-was blind to what was happening in his own home to his own family. He is horrified when he realizes what may have happened and how that impacted his now grown children.As the family members gather back in the Connecticut home town to attend the wedding, emotions boil over, memories are triggered, and disaster seems inevitable.

I’m normally not a fan of epilogues, finding them often a tack–on that detracts from the reader’s assimilation and interpretation of the details. In this instance however, the epilogue could just as easily have been titled as another chapter giving the reader a glimpse into the future of the main characters. I found it fulfilling to be able to see how these lives played out, even though the scenarios were different from what I might have imagined or hoped for.
This is a powerful book that delves into very timely issues with compassion, and non-judgmental understanding. It does not sugar-coat unpleasantness, but neither does it make choices for the reader about the correctness of individual actions. It’s a well-researched, well-constructed story of life today, and one that will certainly be a popular choice for book discussion groups in the future.

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Lamb's latest novel is We Are Water, another sad story. Annie Oh is a successful middle-aged artist who creates what some people would call violent works of art. She began creating dioramas in the basement of the home she shared with her husband, a therapist at a college, and her three young

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children.

Now her children are grown- Ari lives across the country at works in a non-profit organization and wants desperately to have a baby. Andrew is in the army, has become ultra-conservative with a fiancee who turns to Dr. Laura for advice and Marina wants to be an actress, but hasn't gotten any work.

Annie's husband Orion is shocked when Annie announces she wants a divorce to marry a woman- Viveca, her art benefactor and dealer. Marina is fine with the marriage, she likes Viveca, in part because she is rich and takes Marina shopping. Ari is willing to support her mother, but Andrew is opposed to the marriage on moral grounds.

Viveca pushes Annie to marry at her old farm house, the one in which she lived with Orion and her children. Orion, hurt and confused, feels like this would be yet another betrayal. Annie has kept secrets from him, things that happened in her past as a young girl, and he finds that his children kept secrets about their mother from him as well.

The theme of secrets and the damage they cause to those who keep them and the consequences of finally revealing them is explored in depth here. If Annie had trusted Orion with her secret, would things have been different for them? When Annie finally reveals her secret, the consequences are devastating.

Another theme here is the function of art. As an art judge says:
"What is the function of art? What is its value? Is it about form and composition? Uniqueness of vision? The relationship between painter and painting? Sometimes I'll award the top prize to a formalist, sometimes to an expressionist or an abstract artist. Less often but occasionally I will select an artist whose work is representational. But whenever and wherever possible, I celebrate art that shakes complacency by the shoulders and shouts "Wake up!"
Annie's art certainly shakes complacency. Her family doesn't understand where all the anger comes from, but Viveca knows how to make money from it.

I liked what Annie said about love early on in her relationship with Orion.
"Maybe that's what love is. Having someone who guides you through different experiences, coaxes you to try new things but still makes you feel safe."
We Are Water is such a multi-layered book, filled with emotion and depth and characters you can relate to. We see their flaws and their hurts, and the sibling relationships in particular feel so real. Lamb succeeds once again by bringing deep inside characters so that we can see their humanity.

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This is a typical Wally Lamb book. Escellent character development and a good story. He had my attention for the whole book. Recommended.

This is a story about family, and about what intimacy and trust really mean in a relationship. Annie is a recently-successful artist, married to Orion, a psychologist. They have three children, twins Ariane and Andrew, and Marissa. As the story opens, Annie has left her husband after 27 years and

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is preparing to marry Vivica. As we watch each family member struggle, initially with the idea of their mother marrying a woman, and (as the story deepens) other secrets from their past, the story evolves into what secrets can do to us and our relationships.

At the end, I loved this book. But, like other reviewers, it took me a while to get into it. The multiple points of view were often written as the character speaking to the reader....lots of telling rather than showing. But it comes together and deepens in a way we've come to appreciate from Wally Lamb.

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I read the novel for my book club. It's not something I would have normally picked up however, I have heard of Wally Lamb and was actually looking forward to reading this book.

There are many ways to approach this novel. A cautionary tale on the evils of sexual abuse and its' long lasting and long

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reaching effects; the search to discover who one is or the strength of family during difficult times.

There are 7 protagonist in this novel but you only hear the voices of 6. Mr. Lamb has created five of the most depressing and stereotypical characters. You hear each of their stories throughout the novel. At first I found the individual chapter monologues interesting and the format refreshing but I soon came to find them increasingly very tedious to read. However, on the flip side this was a good use of literary talent, using these drawn out soliloquies to help establish character definition. I found the chapters narrated by Kent to be very strong and gratuitous. I actually started skipping chapters after 2 thirds of the book.

As I mentioned, characters were stereotypical, the mother who comes to terms with her closet lesbianism, the wounded husband, the insecure overweight daughter, the angry young man and the reckless your daughter.
At first I was most sympathetic with Orion but he soon lost my respect because although he knew Annie had suffered from some traumatic event as a child he could not figure out that she was sexually abused. Simlarly, he was oblivious to the abuse suffered by his own son as the hands of his mother. As a psychologist I would have expected him to pick up on the warning signs. And, up to near the end, I felt the book was quite believable but Mr. Lamb lost me after Orion, a retired psychologist, counsels his son to never talk about the murder.

Overall not a bad read if this is your type of genre. It was a bit too real and depressing for me...I'll stick with my sci-fi/fantasy genre.

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There is somthing I see in LibraryThing reviews that I want to discuss here. First I want to say how much I enjoy the reviews in LibraryThing -- generally I look at them when I've started a book that I"m enjoying. Frequently, reviewers compare an author's books to earlier books by the same person -

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as many have done here. They say not my favorite Wally Lamb, John Irving, or whomever's book. I don't see why we can't enjoy a book for its own merit, instead of diminishing it because it's not as good as our favorite by the same author. I think it is legitimate to compare the work to an author's other writings and to say that an earlier book is better, but to dislike the book because it wasn't as good as something else by the same person seems unfair.

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