Books like The hour I first believed by Wally Lamb

When 47‑year‑old Caelum Quirk, a high‑school teacher, and his younger wife Maureen, a school nurse, take jobs at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, they are swept into the 1999 tragedy that turns their lives upside down. After Maureen survives a pre‑meditated school shooting, the couple returns to Caelum’s family farm in Three Rivers, Connecticut, hoping to rebuild. As Maureen battles post‑traumatic stress and Caelum discovers a trove of diaries, letters and newspaper clippings in his ancestral home, the story expands into a multigenerational exploration of the Quirk family, from the Civil War era to the present. Unveiled are hidden traumas, buried guilt, and the weight of legacy, prompting Caelum to reconcile his past and search for faith amid modern American calamity. Wally Lamb stitches together myth, psychology and family history into a meditation on humanity, faith, and the enduring impact of violence.

First publish date: 2008