Wally Lamb is a relatively local author to me, he lives about an hour and a half away. I actually really love his books, though he writes contemporary fiction, which normally is NOT my thing at all. As a matter of fact, he's the only author I'll read in that genre!

This was actually a reread for me, which I enjoyed almost-but-not-quite as much as I did the first time, which was when the book first came out.

It's a coming of age story about a gal who grows up in a household with a distant father, a grandmother who cares but doesn't know how to show it, and a mother who battles her own mental illnesses and demons. Of course she can't help but to grow up to be a mess, too.

As I said, it's definitely not my usual read, but I enjoyed it all the same. You can't help but share Dolores pain, and you can't help but compare what she goes through with issues in your own life (which is why I don't like contemporary fiction; it can sometimes be too close to home, and I read to "forget" my life).