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With his stunning debut novel, She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb won the adulation of critics and readers with his mesmerizing tale of one woman's painful yet triumphant journey of self-discovery. Now, this brilliantly talented writer returns with I Know This Much Is True, a heartbreaking and poignant multigenerational saga of the reproductive bonds of destruction and the powerful force of forgiveness. A masterpiece that breathtakingly tells a story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal--this novel is a contemporary retelling of an ancient Hindu myth. A proud king must confront his demons to achieve salvation. Change yourself, the myth instructs, and you will inhabit a renovated world.

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Tony award-winning Ken Howard (1776, Child's Play) reads I Know This Much Is True with the conviction of a used car salesman and the charm of a seasoned politico. Reminiscent of a former football coach recalling his glory days, Howard's booming, rich voice is a beefy compliment to Lamb's powerful prose. Never to be mistaken as a ventriloquist, Howard makes little distinction when moving in and out of character--his voice barely cracks an octave for dainty female personalities. However, this understatement (so to speak) lends to smooth transitions and believable, down-to-earth narration. (Running time: six hours, four cassettes) --Rebekah Warren

From Library Journal
After reading the book twice and listening to 32 hours of this recording, I still can't express what it is that one is missing if they have not experienced this saga from the author of She's Come Undone. Maybe the plot is so all-encompassing as to be like "real" life; maybe the characters are so engrossing that you can relate to them as "real" people; and maybe the knowledge that you come away with about the human condition and nature vs. nurture makes you more sympathetic, therefore, a better person. George Guidall, an extremely accomplished reader, gives a performance worthy of "Best Audio of the Year." His fully voiced range of characters complements the text perfectly. Very highly recommended.AKristin M. Jacobi, Eastern Connecticut State Univ., Willimantic
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Lalita Tademys New York Times bestseller and Oprah Book Club pick, the compelling saga based on the lives of four generations of African American women, is now in paperback.Lalita Tademy was a corporate vice president at a Fortune 500 company when she decided to give notice and embark upon an odyssey to uncover her familys past. Through her exhaustive research, she would find herself transported back to the early 1800s, to an isolated, close-knit rural community on Louisianas Cane River. Here, Tademy takes historical fact and mingles it with fiction to weave a vividaccount of what life was like for the four remarkable women who came before her. The result is a family saga that sweeps from the early days of slavery into a pre-Civil Rights Southa unique and moving slice of Americas past that will resonate with readers for generations to come.
Editorial Reviews
Download Description
Lalita Tademy was a successful vice president at Sun Microsystems when she began what became an obsessive two-year search to uncover the story of her family's roots. It was a personal odyssey that took her back to the early l800s and a small rural community on Louisiana's Cane River. There, digging through official records, conducting interviews, and relying on the expertise of professional genealogists, Tademy was able to bring to vivid life four remarkable women--her great, great, great, great grandmother Elisabeth; her great, great, great grandmother Suzette; her great, great grandmother Philomene; and her great-grandmother Emily. Beginning in slavery, sweeping through the Civil War, and bringing us into the pre-Civil Rights South, we follow the struggles of these four women through extraordinary hardships as they learn to empower themselves and, despite overwhelming pressures, get their due and preserve their heritage. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, this woman's Roots presents a slice of American history never before seen in such piercing and personal detail.

Amazon.com
Lalita Tademy's riveting family saga chronicles four generations of women born into slavery along the Cane River in Louisiana. It is also a tale about the blurring of racial boundaries: great-grandmother Elisabeth notices an unmistakable "bleaching of the line" as first her daughter Suzette, then her granddaughter Philomene, and finally her great-granddaughter Emily choose (or are forcibly persuaded) to bear the illegitimate offspring of the area's white French planters. In many cases these