I Know This Much Is True - Wally Lamb

Years ago, I read Lamb's first novel, She's Come Undone, and was struck by his ability to write an incredibly believable story from the viewpoint of a woman. Since then, I've been meaning to read this follow-up novel, but honestly, the length of it has always kind of intimidated me (901 pages). Then the other day, I picked it off my shelf and became engrossed right away. The story is told from the perspective of Dominick Birdsey, a middle-aged divorced house-painter whose schizophrenic twin brother, Thomas, just cut off his own hand in public to protest the war. As Thomas is shipped off to a mental institution, Dominick finds himself in the familiar position of trying to protect his brother at the expense of his own career and love life. The story flips back and forth between present day and the past - with Dominik exploring his childhood with an abusive step-father, an unknown father, and a mother who seems to prefer Thomas and is wholly unable to protect herself and her children. At one point, Dominick discovers and begins to read an autobiography written by his maternal grandfather. The autobiography is presented as written (as opposed to simply through Dominik's retelling). While the stories within the autobiography present important issues with respect to mental health within families, and provide Dominick with a lens through which to view his upbringing, I found the chapters of the book itself to be unnecessary and distracting - not to mention LONG. But, despite this, this book is an amazing exploration of the impact mental illness can have on a family. At times, like many books that deal with these difficult issues, there was a little too much going on - in addition to the mental illness and physical abuse, there is child pornography, a hint of incest, racial tension, HIV/AIDS, institutional violence, and numerous other random life tragedies strewn throughout the narrative. But, in the end, Dominick is a likeable character and a wonderful narrator. The ending is a little too Hollywood feel-good, but I'll admit, I really don't mind ending on a happy note. I Know This Much Is True is an ambitious undertaking - for Lamb and for his readers, but certainly one well worth the effort.