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Wally Lamb

Goodreads Author


Born
in Norwich, Connecticut, The United States
Website

Genre

Influences

Member Since
February 2019


Wally Lamb is the author of six New York Times bestselling novels: I’ll Take You There, We Are Water, Wishin’ and Hopin’, The Hour I First Believed, I Know This Much Is True, and She’s Come Undone. His latest novel, The River is Waiting, will be released in May of 2025 through Marysue Rucci Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
Lamb also edited Couldn’t Keep It to Myself and I’ll Fly Away, two volumes of essays from students in his writing workshop at York Correctional Institution, a women’s prison in Connecticut, where he was a volunteer facilitator for twenty years.
Lamb lives in Connecticut with his wife, Christine, and they have three sons.

CT Public: Wally Lamb’s new book, ‘The River Is Waiting,’ explores prison injustice and forgiveness

Wally Lamb’s new book, ‘The River Is Waiting,’ explores prison injustice and forgiveness

Written By Tess TerribleCatherine Shen

Listen Here: https://www.ctpublic.org/show/where-we-live/2025-08-19/wally-lamb-interview-the-river-is-waiting

Best-selling author Wally Lamb spent nine years working on his newest book, “The River Is Waiting.”

In this time, he wrestled with self-doubt, naviga

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Published on August 19, 2025 15:43
Average rating: 4.06 · 1,071,368 ratings · 68,685 reviews · 22 distinct worksSimilar authors
She’s Come Undone

3.92 avg rating — 369,642 ratings — published 1992 — 12 editions
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I Know This Much Is True

4.21 avg rating — 332,510 ratings — published 1998 — 89 editions
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The River Is Waiting

4.28 avg rating — 201,749 ratings — published 2025 — 14 editions
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The Hour I First Believed

3.84 avg rating — 66,915 ratings — published 2008 — 54 editions
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We Are Water

3.85 avg rating — 57,469 ratings — published 2013 — 45 editions
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Wishin' and Hopin'

3.61 avg rating — 19,870 ratings — published 2009
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I'll Take You There

3.29 avg rating — 12,057 ratings — published 2016 — 22 editions
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Couldn't Keep it to Myself:...

4.11 avg rating — 7,961 ratings — published 2003 — 10 editions
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I'll Fly Away: Further Test...

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2,954 ratings — published 2007 — 19 editions
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The Wally Lamb Fiction Coll...

4.42 avg rating — 127 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions
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More books by Wally Lamb…

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Wally’s Recent Updates

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The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb
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Quotes by Wally Lamb  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“Love is like breathing. You take it in and let it out.”
Wally Lamb, She’s Come Undone

“Accept what people offer. Drink their milkshakes. Take their love.”
Wally Lamb, She’s Come Undone

“I am not a smart man, particularly, but one day, at long last, I stumbled from the dark woods of my own, and my family's, and my country's past, holding in my hands these truths: that love grows from the rich loam of forgiveness; that mongrels make good dogs; that the evidence of God exists in the roundness of things. This much, at least, I've figured out. I know this much is true.”
Wally Lamb, I Know This Much Is True

Polls

April 2017 BB's Choice
Vote For 1, Top 2 Win

The Obituary Writer The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood by Ann Hood
On the day John F. Kennedy is inaugurated, Claire, an uncompromising young wife and mother obsessed with the glamour of Jackie O, struggles over the decision of whether to stay in a loveless marriage or follow the man she loves and whose baby she may be carrying.
 
  4 votes 30.8%

Behind Her Eyes Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough by Sarah Pinborough
Why is everyone talking about the ending of Sarah Pinborough's Behind Her Eyes?

Louise is a single mom, a secretary, stuck in a modern-day rut. On a rare night out, she meets a man in a bar and sparks fly. Though he leaves after they kiss, she’s thrilled she finally connected with someone.
 
  2 votes 15.4%

The Handmaid's Tale The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood by Margaret Atwood
Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable.
 
  2 votes 15.4%

A Boy Made of Blocks A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart by Keith Stuart
In the tradition of Nick Hornby and David Nicholls comes a warm and tender novel in which a father and his autistic son connect over the game of Minecraft.
 
  1 vote 7.7%

God-Shaped Hole God-Shaped Hole by Tiffanie DeBartolo by Tiffanie DeBartolo
Written with the snap, glitter and wit of The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing, God-Shaped Hole is a memorable, poignant love story that will leave you weeping with laughter. It is told in the wry, vulnerable voice of Beatrice "Trixie" Jordan who replies to a personal ad, "If your intentions are pure I am seeking a friend for the end of the world."
 
  1 vote 7.7%

I'll Take You There I'll Take You There by Wally Lamb by Wally Lamb
New York Times bestselling author Wally Lamb weaves an evocative, deeply affecting tapestry of one Baby Boomer's life—Felix Funicello, introduced in Wishin’ and Hopin’—and the trio of unforgettable women who have changed it, in this radiant homage to the resiliency, strength, and power of women.
 
  1 vote 7.7%

Lone Wolf Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult by Jodi Picoult
A life hanging in the balance…a family torn apart. The #1 internationally bestselling author Jodi Picoult tells an unforgettable story about family secrets, love, and letting go.
 
  1 vote 7.7%

The Butterfly Garden The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison by Dot Hutchison
Near an isolated mansion lies a beautiful garden. In this garden grow luscious flowers, shady trees…and a collection of precious “butterflies”—young women who have been kidnapped and intricately tattooed to resemble their namesakes. Overseeing it all is the Gardener, a brutal, twisted man obsessed with capturing and preserving his lovely specimens.
 
  1 vote 7.7%

13 total votes
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