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The Laments
Meet the Laments—the affably dysfunctional globetrotting family at the center of George Hagen’s exuberant debut novel.
Howard is an engineer who dreams of irrigating the Sahara and lives by the motto “Laments move!” His wife Julia is a fiery spirit who must balance her husband’s oddly peripatetic nature with unexpected aspirations of her own. And Will is the “waif with a paper-thin heart” who is given to Howard and Julia in return for their own child who has been lost in a bizarre maternity ward mishap. As Will makes his way from infancy to manhood in a family that careens from continent to continent, one wonders where the Laments will ever belong.
In Bahrain, Howard takes a job with an oil company and young Will makes his first friend. But in short order he is wrenched off to another land, his mother’s complicated friendship with the American siren Trixie Howitzer causing the family to bolt. In Northern Rhodesia, during its last days as a white colony, the twin enfants terribles Marcus and Julius are born, and Will falls for the gardener’s daughter, a girl so vain that she admires her image in the lid of a biscuit tin. But soon the family’s life is upturned again, thie time by their neighbor Major Buck Quinn, with his suburban tirades against black self-rule. Envisioning a more civilized life on “the sceptered isle,” the Laments board an ocean liner bound for England. Alas, poor Will is greeted by the tribal ferocity of his schoolmates and a society fixated on the Blitz. No sooner has he succumbed to British pop culture in the guise of mop-top Sally Byrd and her stacks of 45s, than the Laments uproot themselves once again, and it’s off to New Jersey, where life deals crisis and opportunity in equal measure.
Undeniably eccentric, the Laments are also universal. Every family moves on in life. Children grow up, things are left behind; there is always something to lament. Through the Lament’s restlessness, responses to adversity, and especially their unwieldy love for one another, George Hagen gives us a portrait of every family that is funny, tragic, and improbably true.
Howard is an engineer who dreams of irrigating the Sahara and lives by the motto “Laments move!” His wife Julia is a fiery spirit who must balance her husband’s oddly peripatetic nature with unexpected aspirations of her own. And Will is the “waif with a paper-thin heart” who is given to Howard and Julia in return for their own child who has been lost in a bizarre maternity ward mishap. As Will makes his way from infancy to manhood in a family that careens from continent to continent, one wonders where the Laments will ever belong.
In Bahrain, Howard takes a job with an oil company and young Will makes his first friend. But in short order he is wrenched off to another land, his mother’s complicated friendship with the American siren Trixie Howitzer causing the family to bolt. In Northern Rhodesia, during its last days as a white colony, the twin enfants terribles Marcus and Julius are born, and Will falls for the gardener’s daughter, a girl so vain that she admires her image in the lid of a biscuit tin. But soon the family’s life is upturned again, thie time by their neighbor Major Buck Quinn, with his suburban tirades against black self-rule. Envisioning a more civilized life on “the sceptered isle,” the Laments board an ocean liner bound for England. Alas, poor Will is greeted by the tribal ferocity of his schoolmates and a society fixated on the Blitz. No sooner has he succumbed to British pop culture in the guise of mop-top Sally Byrd and her stacks of 45s, than the Laments uproot themselves once again, and it’s off to New Jersey, where life deals crisis and opportunity in equal measure.
Undeniably eccentric, the Laments are also universal. Every family moves on in life. Children grow up, things are left behind; there is always something to lament. Through the Lament’s restlessness, responses to adversity, and especially their unwieldy love for one another, George Hagen gives us a portrait of every family that is funny, tragic, and improbably true.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
March 3, 2023
Setting: Rhodesia/Bahrain/UK/USA; 1950's to 1970's.
This is the entertaining and often amusing story of the Lament family - Julia and her husband, Howard and their children, Will, and, later, twins Julius and Marcus - as they suffer the ups and downs of family life and move from one country to another as Howard seeks somewhere for his talents to be appreciated, following the age-old family motto of 'Laments travel'.
Right from the start of the novel, with Will's birth, the storyline is engrossing and I found myself really attached to the family in all its trials and tribulations, especially with the elder child, Will, as he has to continually have to settle into new schools and indeed countries, make friends and enemies and fall in love. There is love and happiness but also tragedy and sadness as the family try to find somewhere to call home.
Having finished the book, I don't really know why I have left this book sitting on my shelf for so long! It's possibly down to the pretty uninspired cover image but the story itself was very enjoyable and engrossing - 9/10.
This is the entertaining and often amusing story of the Lament family - Julia and her husband, Howard and their children, Will, and, later, twins Julius and Marcus - as they suffer the ups and downs of family life and move from one country to another as Howard seeks somewhere for his talents to be appreciated, following the age-old family motto of 'Laments travel'.
Right from the start of the novel, with Will's birth, the storyline is engrossing and I found myself really attached to the family in all its trials and tribulations, especially with the elder child, Will, as he has to continually have to settle into new schools and indeed countries, make friends and enemies and fall in love. There is love and happiness but also tragedy and sadness as the family try to find somewhere to call home.
Having finished the book, I don't really know why I have left this book sitting on my shelf for so long! It's possibly down to the pretty uninspired cover image but the story itself was very enjoyable and engrossing - 9/10.
December 6, 2017
Onvan : The Laments - Nevisande : George Hagen - ISBN : 081297218X - ISBN13 : 9780812972184 - Dar 400 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2004
July 7, 2007
For a long time I didn't think I liked this book. It seemed too light, no real substance. I kept waiting for some major, tragic event to occur. (That shows what kind of books I've been reading lately!) Eventually the characters and the story grew on me, especially the main character, Will, who is a quiet, serious boy who was switched at birth and doesn't know it. Throughout the book the Lament family travels, always in search of a fresh start, a better job, and a better life. Each new home brings its own challenges, and the mother is convinced that something is lost every time they move. Eventually I realized that this book wasn't the light, nothing story I had first thought it was (It does have its share of tragedy). By the end I was really enjoying it, and I was sad when it ended. It was a pretty easy read. I'd recommend it as a break between heavier books.
July 30, 2024
A bit of a somber read but def connected to the family always on the move.
March 20, 2021
Will belongs to a family that moves. A lot. It is what the Laments do. They have moved from South Africa to Bahrain to Southern Rhodesia to England and then to New Jersey. His father is talking about moving on to Australia or maybe New Zealand, always looking for that perfect place where he will be able to realize his dreams. But for Will, it means he never feels like he belongs anywhere. And sometimes he wonders if he really belongs in this family, with his wild twin brothers, his permanently distracted father, and his harried mother. He doesn't know what the reader learns very early in the book: he is a Lament in name, but not by birth. What the reader also sees is that Will is the heart and soul of his family. This is a beautiful, sometimes funny, often heartbreaking coming of age story. I read it first when it was newly published, and I relished the re-read.
April 13, 2022
I found the characters hollow with some bursts of personality at odd moments. The author killed off all the natural children of this poor couple, bad author, not cool. The Dad showed more emotion losing his job than losing his twin son's. And what happened to the prototype of the artificial heart??? I thought there would be more to that than just giving it to a guy at a dive bar.
November 28, 2021
This book was lent to me by a friend a few months ago and I finally got around to reading it. I really enjoyed the travels of the Lament family from South Africa to England, Bahrain, Rhodesia and finally the USA. The dysfunctional members of the family actually seem normal and even when tragic events happen they take them in their stride and just get on with life. I loved the simplicity of how events unfold and are dealt with - this is actually clever writing by author Hagen who doesn’t mince words and sees the funny side of each tragedy.
The central character is Will, the oldest son who was illegally adopted by the Laments just after his birth - partly because the Laments' own baby died in a car accident. Seemingly ludicrous this chain of events starts off what becomes the accepted hand of cards dealt to this weird but somehow likeable family. Their flaws and somewhat unconventional lives are detailed in a light-hearted fashion but deeper issues of racism, bigotry, gender roles and even domestic violence are just below the surface. I enjoyed the writing style and the pace of this book and even laughed out loud at some scenes. Recommended reading for its quirkiness.
The central character is Will, the oldest son who was illegally adopted by the Laments just after his birth - partly because the Laments' own baby died in a car accident. Seemingly ludicrous this chain of events starts off what becomes the accepted hand of cards dealt to this weird but somehow likeable family. Their flaws and somewhat unconventional lives are detailed in a light-hearted fashion but deeper issues of racism, bigotry, gender roles and even domestic violence are just below the surface. I enjoyed the writing style and the pace of this book and even laughed out loud at some scenes. Recommended reading for its quirkiness.
October 7, 2019
What a Lamentable family!
August 22, 2016
George Hagen versucht in "The Laments" (oder unter dem eher falsch gewählten Titel "Die Zöglinge des Doktor Underberg") gar nicht, seine Geschichte ernst und realistisch darzulegen. Die Ereignisse im Leben der Familie Lament sind zwar meist tragisch und jeder Umzug in ein neues Land bringt weitere Probleme, der Schreibstil von Hagen bietet aber einen lockeren und warmherzigen Umgang mit diesen komplizierten Situationen.
Das erleichtert dem Leser, diesen Abenteuerroman voller Entdeckergeist und Aufbruchsstimmung als Unterhaltung abzutun - verhindert aber auch, dass das Buch tiefere Ebenen öffnet. Die Geschichte ist zwar interessant und nett, bewirkt am Ende leider aber zu wenig. Vielleicht wäre hier ein sprachlich sachlicher Ansatz wirkungsvoller gewesen.
Das erleichtert dem Leser, diesen Abenteuerroman voller Entdeckergeist und Aufbruchsstimmung als Unterhaltung abzutun - verhindert aber auch, dass das Buch tiefere Ebenen öffnet. Die Geschichte ist zwar interessant und nett, bewirkt am Ende leider aber zu wenig. Vielleicht wäre hier ein sprachlich sachlicher Ansatz wirkungsvoller gewesen.
December 27, 2014
This is an odd sort of book. This story follows the Lament family and their trials and tribulations throughout their life. We first meet Howard and Julia. We find out about their past and what lead them to become married. Soon after Julia is with child and gives birth. However, trouble and tragedy strikes the Laments. This will be the first unfortunate event that will follow Howard and Julia throughout their life time. Soon the years go by, the family moves from country to country, and we get to see the characters grow into their own. This book wasn't too bad and it wasn't great. It kept me mostly interested in the storyline while I crocheted a baby blanket.
February 18, 2016
Pick up this book and you will definitely lament ever second you devote to it. Now I have to figure out how to shake off the lost and adrift feelings I've accrued over the 287 pages I read. I couldn't finish it, it was too tortuous. In fact, the last 187 pages I often just skimmed or even flicked past, particularly the ones that contained the meaningless tales of stupidity from the Laments' nightmare children. I don't care where The Laments go from page 287; my only concern is how to retrieve the brain cells I lost trying to plough through its insufferable drivel.
May 9, 2011
A thoroughly disappointing bargain-bin pick. Hagen's novel reads like a paean to the burgeoning sexuality of his adolescence, with awkward fondlings and couplings every three pages. His politics are trite and his portrait of ex-pat Rhodesians living in the US is shallow and one-dimensional. The ending is a triumph of loose ends being tied up in each other too neatly and too completely -- I finished the book with a sense of irritated disbelief.
November 30, 2015
I expected to enjoy this book a lot as Will is very relatable to me; having lived in three different continents myself and having moved a lot. However this book was hard to concentrate on; I continuously avoided reading it. I don't know what else to say other than that it was a pretty good read but the writing style maybe didn't draw me into the story as well as I would have liked.
August 17, 2021
Weird read about a couple/family who are on the recieving end of a fair amount of bad luck / tragedy and don't quite process much of it until the end. Not quite light or funny enough to be a good summer laugh, not quite deep or meaningful enough to be anything else? Funny in places!
October 1, 2007
dont read it
June 12, 2011
ineffectual writing, with tragic events out of nowhere... just didn't move me at all
January 31, 2013
What a lovely, heartbreaking and funny novel this is! Many thanks to my friend Sharon for reading this book and sharing her review. I loved it.
January 2, 2022
This was amusing and an easy flow, but I finished not really sure why I'd read it and what the point was.
December 10, 2022
Ce n’est pas la première fois que je lis une 4e de couverture en me demandant si la personne a lu le livre dont elle parle. Ce que j’attendais du livre, à la lecture de cette présentation, c’est une famille heureuse, joyeuse, inhabituelle, avec des personnages hauts en couleur. Ce que j’ai eu, pendant 486 pages, c’est le vide et l’ennui.
Passons en revue ce qui m’était promis :
« cette famille passablement excentrique et farouchement globe-trotteuse »
Des blancs d’Afrique qui déménagent en Angleterre puis aux États-Unis, qui rencontrent des expatriés où qu’ils aillent dont ils ne se démarquent en rien, malgré ce qu’ils voudraient croire.
« Howard, le père spécialiste ès tuyauteries, rêve d'irriguer le Sahara et d'emmener toute sa petite famille en Afrique »
Howard, ingénieur incapable de faire un calcul de charges, faux rêveur mais vrai égoïste à l’identité si fragile qu’il sombre dans la dépression quand il lui faut faire face à ses responsabilités, quand sa femme s’affirme non seulement comme un être humain mais également comme la seule des deux qui essaye de maintenir leur famille à flots et la nourriture sur la table.
« Julia, sa femme, rebelle à l'éducation bourgeoise et artiste à ses heures »
Julia, femme au foyer désespérée devenue executive woman, sans avoir développé la moindre personnalité dans l’intervalle. Difficile de la qualifier de rebelle, quant à bourgeoise c’est une information donnée dans les premières pages qui n’a plus le moindre intérêt le reste de l’histoire.
Ce à quoi on ajoute les « trois petits diables » :
Will, le fils aîné, le seul à bénéficier d’une personnalité. Dommage que cette dernière soit plate.
Les jumeaux, Julius et Marcus, moins des personnages que des accessoires pour l’histoire, moins mal élevés que pas élevés du tout.
Ni l’évènement marquant du début du livre ni l’évènement marquant de fin du livre n’a d’intérêt. L’auteur l’a fait parce qu’il pouvait le faire, indépendamment de savoir si ça faisait une bonne histoire ou pas. La réponse est non. Le livre réussit cependant l’exploit d’être long sans développer une vie intérieure à ses personnages, sans leur donner une personnalité propre, sans les rendre attachants.
Passons en revue ce qui m’était promis :
« cette famille passablement excentrique et farouchement globe-trotteuse »
Des blancs d’Afrique qui déménagent en Angleterre puis aux États-Unis, qui rencontrent des expatriés où qu’ils aillent dont ils ne se démarquent en rien, malgré ce qu’ils voudraient croire.
« Howard, le père spécialiste ès tuyauteries, rêve d'irriguer le Sahara et d'emmener toute sa petite famille en Afrique »
Howard, ingénieur incapable de faire un calcul de charges, faux rêveur mais vrai égoïste à l’identité si fragile qu’il sombre dans la dépression quand il lui faut faire face à ses responsabilités, quand sa femme s’affirme non seulement comme un être humain mais également comme la seule des deux qui essaye de maintenir leur famille à flots et la nourriture sur la table.
« Julia, sa femme, rebelle à l'éducation bourgeoise et artiste à ses heures »
Julia, femme au foyer désespérée devenue executive woman, sans avoir développé la moindre personnalité dans l’intervalle. Difficile de la qualifier de rebelle, quant à bourgeoise c’est une information donnée dans les premières pages qui n’a plus le moindre intérêt le reste de l’histoire.
Ce à quoi on ajoute les « trois petits diables » :
Will, le fils aîné, le seul à bénéficier d’une personnalité. Dommage que cette dernière soit plate.
Les jumeaux, Julius et Marcus, moins des personnages que des accessoires pour l’histoire, moins mal élevés que pas élevés du tout.
Ni l’évènement marquant du début du livre ni l’évènement marquant de fin du livre n’a d’intérêt. L’auteur l’a fait parce qu’il pouvait le faire, indépendamment de savoir si ça faisait une bonne histoire ou pas. La réponse est non. Le livre réussit cependant l’exploit d’être long sans développer une vie intérieure à ses personnages, sans leur donner une personnalité propre, sans les rendre attachants.
April 24, 2023
This was a novel I picked up by chance, and after reading the first couple of pages I was hooked in. I've never before read or even heard of George Hagen, but his style of writing exactly suits my taste and I would be keen to read more of his works. This is a lightly humorous social novel packed full of thought-provoking but not heavily set topics, such as adoption and when is it right to discuss this with the adopted child, physically moving away from your issues vs making changes in your current situation to build a more satisfying life, and young love. The focus was on a family, the Laments, and as such the reader experiences the narrative from a range of views from characters of all ages. I found it witty, charming, touching, and in many ways I saw a part of myself in Howard (the Dad) never wanting to settle, or Will (the eldest son) struggling to make true friends at school.
I would recommend this to anyone who wants a light read but appreciates good writing that speaks to every reader. The narrative is immersive, allows readers to build a genuine caring relationship with the characters, and leaves the reader pondering......
I would recommend this to anyone who wants a light read but appreciates good writing that speaks to every reader. The narrative is immersive, allows readers to build a genuine caring relationship with the characters, and leaves the reader pondering......
September 21, 2022
I was gifted this book and wasn't sure what to expect. It surprised me. A gentle story, following a family from Rhodesia to South Africa and several other stops before ending up in USA. All the while a secret is hidden, but the book seems to wander and watch the family age without any real point. It does come to a climax, don't despair. I enjoyed it... similar in feel to Chemistry Lessons, I thought.
June 13, 2025
So grateful that I found this jewel in the bargain bin at the thrift shop. Definitely my favorite book of the year If not one of my favorites of a lifetime. Published in 2005, This novel has to be one of the most underrated family epics of all time, and has everything I require: joy, heartbreak, suspense, and humor. not since John Irving have I ever found such satisfaction in a family's fictional chronicles.
November 3, 2017
This is the story of a family, the Laments. Babies are switched and tragedy happens throughout their search for a place to build a happy life. They settle in cities in various continents, finally ending up in America.
The tone of writing is very "matter-of-fact", which is sometimes comical. Still I didn't like this book so much. It dragged on, and there is this sphere of despair and destruction.
The tone of writing is very "matter-of-fact", which is sometimes comical. Still I didn't like this book so much. It dragged on, and there is this sphere of despair and destruction.
August 28, 2017
exactly my kind of book. Big sweeping epic of a family over many locations and times, with great characters, a bit of absurdity, and a lot of heart. Dickensian in its reach but also feels very real. I loved it!
August 21, 2020
The Laments were a joy to travel with. The one family member who really wasn’t a Lament spends the whole time keeping his family together; watching, worrying, and caring for. The small part about refusing to put up a U.S. flag on Memorial Day was so poignant.
June 17, 2018
Не очень
August 29, 2022
Often funny, more often dark and tragic, this novel asks what real family actually is or does. And, like all good books, it's essentially a out love in the face of never-ending adversity.
June 25, 2023
About family life when moving from country to country.
February 6, 2025
My favourite book ever. I always recommend this book to other readers.
July 19, 2025
The Laments is a book that seems to float in and out of my life consistently. I think I'm on my 30th re-read and the feeling this book encapsulates is that of an immediate classic.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews