Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The #1 New York Times bestselling novel about a twin who must take care of his schizophrenic brother while facing his own demons in his quest for forgiveness
The wily Eleanor of Aquitaine, the former queen of both France and England, sends her former ward, Alais, the sister of the King of France, to retrieve a cache of letters hidden in Canterbury Cathedral. Letters that, in the wrong hands, could bring down the English king. In return, Eleanor promises to reveal to Alais a long-held and dangerous secret involving Alais--a bargain she is powerless to resist. But before Alais can complete her mission, she is abducted, an auspicious event that will set troubling events in motion. It will require all of Alais's considerable strengths and help from the very intriguing head of the Knights Templar to unravel dark secrets, unmask evil villains, and escape with her life.
An exciting, vividly rendered historical novel filled with mystery and intrigue and peopled with compelling legendary figures, The Lost Letters of Aquitaine is a remarkable work from a brilliant new writer.
Synopsis
#1 New York Times Bestseller and Oprah Book Club selection
"Thoughtful . . . heart-wrenching . . . . An exercise in soul-baring storytelling--with the soul belonging to 20th-century America itself. It's hard to read and to stop reading, and impossible to forget." -- USA Today
Dominick Birdsey, a forty-year-old housepainter living in Three Rivers, Connecticut, finds his subdued life greatly disturbed when his identical twin brother Thomas, a paranoid schizophrenic, commits a shocking act of self-mutilation. Dominick is forced to care for his brother as well as confront dark secrets and pain he has buried deep within himself--a journey of the soul that takes him beyond his blue-collar New England town to Sicily's Mount Etna, the birthplace of his grandfather and namesake. Coming to terms with his life and lineage, Dominick struggles to find forgiveness and finally rebuild himself beyond the haunted shadow of his troubled twin.
I Know This Much Is True is a masterfully told story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal--an unforgettable masterpiece.
About the Author
Wally Lamb is the author of four previous novels, including the New York Times and national bestseller The Hour I First Believed and Wishin' and Hopin', a bestselling novella. His first two works of fiction, She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, were both number one New York Times bestsellers and selections of Oprah's Book Club. Lamb 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 has been a volunteer facilitator for fifteen years. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Christine. The Lambs are the parents of three sons.