“We are Water” by Wally Lamb is a sophisticated and encrusted representation of marriage, family, and an inevitable requirement for mutual connection and relationship. The author explores the class issues, the never ending racism, the depth of art, and hopscotches between New York and New England. With a remarkable consideration the author also portrays the contemporary America, and the initial years of the US president, Barrack Obama’s administration. The novel illustrates the flexibility of humans in heart-rending scenarios and the manners in which these situations are deciphered. Lamb has brilliantly exhibited the behaviors of the lead character Annie Oh by depicting her deep rooted casual, predictable, rushing and simple thoughts throughout the book.
Age is not a factor to understand the talent and skills in us, and Annie Oh discovered the art in her middle age. It is cynical to comprehend that Annie Oh, who was married for 27 years, had three kids with her husband Orion, a psychologist, fell in love with Viveca, a wealthy art businesswoman from Manhattan just because she marketed Annie’s art to stardom from her art gallery. Their decision to get married in Oh’s hometown in Connecticut haunts Annie of her childhood secrets when she was abused by her cousin Kent at the age of 6, and her father became an alcoholic due to Annie’s mom and sister’s death.
It is indeed a heart-breaking situation for the husband to dissolve a marriage of 27 years and accept the fact that his wife is in love with a woman. It is evident that Annie has had an unforgettable past that sets the chain of events in the novel. All characters in this book are brought to life instantaneously and sometimes it is difficult to understand the good and the evil characters as they change accordingly to the events. Lamb explores the depth of thoughts by mining into the intricacies of the heart to discover the methods in human’s quest and the significance of love in our lives.
Works Cited
Lamb, Wally. We Are Water LP: A Novel, HarperCollins. (2013). Print.
