She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb

Our book club recently read Wally Lamb's Wishin' and Hopin' which according to reviews I read, was quite a departure from other of his novels. Certainly at 465 pages it was much longer. The themes were more intense and the plot spanned a great deal more time in the life of the main character---ages 4 to mid-30's for Delores in this novel as opposed to a few months in the life of Felix in Wishin' and Hopin'. It seemed that Felix had a rather lovely family life contrasted to the unfortunate life of Delores. Both novels could be categorized "coming of age" but with the process for Delores being much more painful.

Delores suffers a trauma at age 13 that leaves her literally "coming undone". I found her reactions believable and though she could be quite harsh to those around her, literally taking out her anger on them and on herself,  I found myself rooting for her to put herself back together! I thought it was interesting how whales kept figuring into this story; they seemed to symbolize more than one aspect of the plot.

Though it was not as much fun to read as Wishin and Hopin, I did find She's Come Undone to be a "page turner." I would rate it a 4 and will definitely read other novels by this author. I found both of these novels by Lamb to be nostalgia trips as they take place in the 50's to 70's mostly, with mentions of Woodstock, the first moon landing, Watergate, etc. Also both novels take their titles from popular songs of a similar span of time, in the case of this one "Undun" by The Guess Who, lyrics that could have been written by the fictional Delores herself, they describe her so well! The words go like this:

She's come undone
She didn't know what she was headed for
And when I found what she was headed for
It was too late
She's come undone
She found a mountain that was far too high
And when she found out she couldn't fly
It was too late
It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost the sun
She's come undone
She wanted truth
But all she got was lies
Came the time to realize
And it was too late
She's come undone
She didn't know what she was headed for
And when I found what she was headed for
Mama, it was too late
It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost the sun
She's come undone
Too many mountains, and not enough stairs to climb
Too many churches and not enough truth
Too many people and not enough eyes to see
Too many lives to lead and not enough time

She's Come Undone was Wally Lamb's first novel and was chosen as an Oprah Book Club selection in 1992. It was also a New York Times Bestseller. One intriguing review states: "As you read She's Come Undone your entire life will flash before your eyes...It's a little bit like strolling down memory lane with Dick Clark on one arm, Jean-Paul Sartre on the other. It's scary, but Lord, it's wonderful!" (Cathie Pelletier, author of A Marriage Made at Woodstock)