She’s Come Undone

Wally Lamb’s first novel is narrated by Dolores Price, whom we meet as a bright, wounded girl and follow into a heavy, unhappy adulthood. Told over four decades, her story moves through family breakdown, assault, and a long, uneven climb toward stability. What holds it together is her voice, sharp and funny even at its lowest, and Lamb’s refusal to let her be only a victim. It was an early Oprah’s Book Club pick.