She's Come Undone

By Wally Lamb

Meet Dolores Price. She's thirteen, wise-mouthed but wounded. Beached like a whale in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the chocolate, crisps and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally rolls into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly up.

In his extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch an incredible ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years. At once a fragile girl and a hard-edged cynic, so tough to love yet so inimitably loveable, Dolores is as poignantly real as our own imperfections.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Dec 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781471105340

Wally Lamb

Wally Lamb is the author of five New York Times bestselling novels: She’s Come Undone, I Know This Much Is True, The Hour I First Believed, Wishin’ and Hopin’, and We Are Water. His first two works of fiction, She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, were both #1 New York Times bestsellers and selections of Oprah’s Book Club. Lamb edited Couldn’t Keep It to Myself, I’ll Fly Away, and You Don’t Know Me, three 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 two decades. He lives in Connecticut and New York.

Reviews for She's Come Undone

[thursbest · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Delores' character is lovable and annoying at times. She's just like a real human, isn't she? :PBut anyways, really, there were some parts of the book where I'm just like "REALLY????" flabbergasted, and other times I was just like "Yes girl, take the higher road!" and just wanted to be like her in instances. Overall, it's a wonderful book that really gets you thinking about YOU at times because you reflect so much after.

[rillapearlp · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good read.

[ecataldi-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have strong feelings about this book I just don't know what they are. I'm honestly kind of speechless. I think it was great? Hell, what happened? What did I read? How do you describe such a complex and... uncomplicated book? It's a coming of age story, an awakening, an odyssey of emotional and mental health. It's all over the place. It all centers around Dolores Price, a young girl who isn't the most emotionally stable. She starts off as a fragile little thing and balloons up into a fat, depressed cynic, and then spends the rest of her life roller coasting around until she finds some sort of balance. It's a discussion of women's rights, religion, mental health, family dynamics, romantic relationships, and more. She is a complex, intriguing heroine/villain/comedic actress. Honestly I can't describe this book and do it justice. It takes a little to get into, but one you do, buckle up.

[marlene9nl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

on Sunday, June 20, 2004 I wrote:

Well I can tell you I,ve finished I know this much is True some time ago and now reading She's come undone. I am at page 88, something like that and I do like it. It is easier to get into then the other book by Mr lamb. (I loved that book but it took me a long time to really get into it)


Update June 24

Finished the book last night. It was an interesting book. Sometimes so sad and sometimes funny.
What i liked about it was that you never knew what would happen. like you see in most books.
when a girl is fat, she will suddenly by magic loose weight and is beautiful again (which means thin in most books)
I like dark books, and consider this one to be one.

I would give it a 7,5 to a 8 minus cause sometimes to many bad stuff happened, but that will have to be an 8

[kishields · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was not really a big fan of this book. Not sure what the point was…a long story about someone I ended up not really caring about. Sorry, that's the truth.

[isa_lavinia-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This book was all around insulting. Is this Mr Lamb's idea of the way women act, think and feel? Very disappointing.

Assuming that he didn't mean to generalise and that very well may be a woman like the main character somewhere in the world, even then the book crossed a line. It was too much, not only everything that could go wrong to her did go wrong but it all happened in an entirely predictable way.

If you're going to write an unsympathetic main character the story has to make up for it.

[samqua · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sad, depressing, funny and hopeful all in one. Lots of good one liners to live by... ( thought about how love was always the thing that did that- smashed into you, left you raw. The deeper you loved, the deeper it hurt) ....puttin' rain in my eyes tears in my dreams and rocks in my heart-Billie Holiday. (What might make you happy? asked the professor. " Small thighs" "My boyfriend finding my G spot" "Prince Charming" Allyson hooked her bare feet around the chair in front of her. "Prince Charming locating my G spot between my thin thighs" And of course this one " Our day will come If we just wait awhile...

[ei214 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book and just like "I Know This Much Is True" - I couldn't put it down. Wally Lamb's weaves a story with very strong characters; his characters always seem so tragic and in so much pain; I am always rooting for them! As a New Englander, I particularly enjoy that his books take place across an area I know very well and can relate to. There aren't many books that transport me but his books definitely do.

[teenielee · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was one of the first books that came to me "highly recommended" and then I didn't like it. However, I do wish that I would have thought to call myself Kippy on my first day of college.

[carolee888 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Warning! She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb will not let go of you until you finish the book. I have had this book on my shelf for a long time but decided to tackle it recently. My copy is 465 pages and not in big print but with dark ink, thank goodness.I have been reading books lately that have a common theme, obesity and dysfunctional families. Since I have always had a weight problem since I was twelve I am holding onto the main character, Dolores Price's tip to imagining mold on the food that you want to avoid. There is much more to this tornado of a book, starting when Dolores was only five years old when her father deserted his family, through having a mother dealing with mental illness. and only finding love through the consumption of food. If things got really bad, she would eat as fast as she could, trying to numb herself against a life that she could barely survive. She learns to protect herself with bad language and take outrageous revenge to even with people as she gets older. She has periods of understanding why she does things.What really amazes me is how Wally Lamb could write this book full of female problems without being female himself. Also he gets it so right with how people who are obese feel about themselves and also what it is like having a mother who is mentally ill and then also what the depths of depression is like. I had great difficulty in putting this book down and I am very impressed with his convincing writing. At times I wanted to tell Delores, " No, stop and think about this first before you do it but she didn't listen to me!I highly recommend this very emotional coming of age journey to everyone.

[pilgrimjess · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

“If you want your prayers answered, get up off your knees and do something about them.”The central character of this novel is Dolores Price, a 40-year-old woman who recounts her life from an innocent 4 year old in 1956 Connecticut through her painful progress into adulthood to middle age.Dolores, is the sole surviving child of a totally dysfunctional marriage, a younger brother having been strangled by the umbilical cord during birth. Her mother, Bernice, never quite recovers from this loss whilst Dolores's father, Tony, is an occasionally abusive husband and womaniser. As Dolores's childhood progresses, her parents' marriage collapses, her mother has a mental breakdown leading to her being confined to a state hospital, and she is forced move to live with her maternal grandmother, Thelma Holland. Mrs. Holland is a dutiful but generally ineffective guardian who outwardly is unable to offer much comfort to both her daughter and slowly disintegrating granddaughter. When 13 years old Dolores is raped by one of her grandmother's upstairs tenants, then her mother Bernice, is later killed in a freak accident Dolores knows that she can't turn to her grandmother for solace, instead she retreats into binge eating hiding behind a mountain of fat, both of which temporarily protect her from further physical assault.To try to fulfil her dead mother's final wishes Dolores enrols at college. There she becomes the room-mate of Katherine (Kippy) Strednicki, who is only really interested in more superficial concerns. However, Kippy has an apparently saintly boyfriend back home who has rejected her sexual overtures believing that sex before marriage is sinful. When Kippy's boyfriend,Dante Davis, sends Kippy nude photos of himself Dolores intercepts them and keeps them for herself. Dante becomes her obsession.After a failed year at college and following a similarly failed suicide attempt, Dolores spends seven years in a private mental hospital where she recovers both her mental and physical equilibrium. On departure she sets out to find and win Dante. She succeeds in this widely fantastic plan, only to suffer further humiliation at his hands. Throughout everything, Dolores clings to a frail notion of family by writing to her grandmother, lying about her own miserable life whilst expressing affection that are never satisfactorily reciprocated.Throughout the novel I found rooting for Dolores in the hope that she would overcome all her previous adversity and find peace and happiness. In a way she does. In the latter stages of the book the author rather strays into some of the hot social and political topics of the day,namely abortion and infertility, AIDS, Parkinson's and the plight of the whales which is a bit of a shame in what otherwise is an intensely introspective novel. The book's suspense depends more on emotions rather than events, and its hard not sympathize with Dolores. This is a story of survival.Considering that this is Lamb's first novel he writes convincingly in the voice of a female, tracing her life from 4 to 40 (or at least in the opinion of this male reader anyway) and despite the tragic events at times made me smile. Yet somehow it failed to really hit the mark (the dalliance with the the Political issues of the day certainly didn't help) culminating in a relatively low mark. A good effort but no banana.

[pigofhappiness · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Although this is an excellent book, it is not for the faint hearted as some of it is rather graphic. The main character is certainly unhinged, however, in the end, she finds her happiness. Appropriate for college aged and beyond...

[missmea_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An amazing account of one woman's coming-of-age from childhood to adulthood. A strong story of love and loss. Highly recommended for summer reading. I understand now why Oprah chose it for her book club...it is universally engaging and pulls the reader into the characters' lives.

[pipercat519 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I devoured this book in two days and then wished it was longer. I started reading it about nine years ago on a friend's recommendation and just couldn't get into it. I must have changed a lot since then because I just couldn't put it down this time. It's funny how the theme of sexual abuse has become so common. That the author is a man totally blows my mind. Dolores feels so real that I still feel really sorry for her every time I think back to the book. I will definitely check out another of Wally Lamb's books on my next trip to the library.

[andersonden · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very fast read - characters fair; plot, though somewhat predictable, has enough interest to keep you reading. A book about how rape affects a family, but mostly how it affects the victim.

[brainannex · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Ridiculous. Save your time.

[50minutemermaid · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While I liked the narrative voice, part of me was made uncomfortable? felt abandoned? by the decisions the protagonist made and by her almost complete un-self-awareness for the first two-thirds of the book. Maybe it simply reminded me too much of my own adolescence. But I still feel that Lamb gets too much misplaced credit for the emotional inner lives of his characters. While he may understand some of the motivations behind certain behaviors (both rational and irrational) I'm not sure he is as whole-heartedly empathetic as I would want the author writing about these wounded characters to be.

[maggieflo_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is about Dolores Price, from her young years in Rhode Island to adulthood. The story traces her unhappy life as the only child in a dysfunctional family to her adulthood where she finds happiness with Thayer. After suffering the trauma of rape at 13 years of age, she begins her odyssey of self loathing by escaping to her room to eat snack foods and watch Tv and eventually weighs over 250 lbs. After spending years in a psychiatric hospital, she learns to love her new self and she is able to form friendships and relationships with several other characters in the story. Although I found the story compelling at times, I found her hatred and vindictiveness tiresome and still can't understand why she spent over 7 years in care. Does this make sense to you? Her care was paid by her deceased mother's best friend, another nose stretcher. Although it has a happy ending, I don't think I will be reading other titles by Wally Lamb.

[michellech_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Still thinking about my star rating....

[busymom51 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A truly amazing book. Dolores Price is a child of the fifties, betrayed by her philandering father, abandoned to her grandmother when her mother has a nervous breakdown. Another betrayal by her grandmother's tenant, Jack Speight, leaves her raped and emotionally wasted. Dolores retreats to her room and eats her way to almost 300 pounds. Her size protects her from being hurt further but, at the same time, sets her up for more pain when she is rejected and ridiculed by classmates, neighbors and strangers. Her mother, who has returned to live with her and her zealously religious grandmother, convinces her to apply to college, hoping to get her out of her self-destructive patterns. When her mother is suddenly killed by a truck at the toll booth where she works, Dolores decides to try college. It is a disaster. She deludes her "preppy" roommate with letters before school starts, arrives a week early and is befriended by an obese lesbian janitor who tries desperately to seduce Dolores. She is profoundly lonely and ends up running away to Cape Cod, landing eventually in a mental hospital. With the help of a therapist she loses weight and finally deals with the rape emotionally. She sets her sights on her old roommate's boyfriend, Dante, tracking him down to Vermont and seducing him. She gets pregnant but he convinces her to have an abortion, due to his own ego and selfishness, a continual obstacle to their intimacy. Dolores finds out he is being unfaithful and leaves him. Her grandmother dies and she moves back to her house to confront her ghosts, eventually finding happiness with Thayer, a large self-employed construction worker with a heart of gold who has fallen hard for Dolores. So many rich characters: Roberta, the polka-queen tattoo artist, the hippie wallpaper hanger and his wife and baby. I LOVED this book!

[whimsyblue · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Quite moving, you become so involved with this character, her hurt, and pain and development.

[nickelini · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Some people find the protagonist quirky and hilarious. I find her frustrating and annoying. This book fits the typical Oprah book club selection frame: a woman has a lousy life, a bunch of lousy things happen to her, the ending is sort of lousy. Pretty blue cover, though.

[phyllisd_5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have actually read this book twice. The first time was about 10 years ago. I enjoyed it immensely both times and would strongly recommend. The one thing I have never understood is why some label it a comedy.

[geejaye_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found this book to be very readable and enjoyable. I particularly liked the middle - you could absolutely hear and feel their marriage. I am giving this only 4 stars, though, because I felt that Lamb treated the reasons and feelings for being overweight rather stereotypically; and for the ending, which went a bit too much into fairy-tale land.

[pumpernickleme · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Depressing. Not nearly as good as all the hype. Definitely liked "I Know This Much is True" better. Not sure why this one was picked for the book club even. Then again, its my first (and most likely, last) Oprah's Pick. Maybe Oprah just has mediocre taste?

[magadri-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book. A lot of the scenarios are a little over the top, but then again, I like that sort of thing which is why I prefer fiction books over non-fiction. I did like Lamb's other novel better though-- I Know This Much is True.

[litelady4ajh · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's been a long time since I have read this one; but I could read it over & over. Great story, I wish Wally Lamb would write more!

[terosauras · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A favorite book by my favorite author. Not for the weak of heart.

[kellyoliva_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A dark novel written by Wally Lamb. This is the first Oprah's book club novel that I ever read, and it was truly dynamic. The character has many obstacles to overcome in this novel to ultimately accept herself and be able to allow a man to love her. In different parts of the story, the protagonist experiences abuse, seeks the aide of a psycic, and weaves an intricate web of lies in order to secure a relationship with a man over whom she obsesses.

[miserablelibrarian · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Story of a young woman who becomes obese throughout an abusive childhood. Her wit and tenacity pull her through sexual traumas, rejection by family and school mates, and a morbid sense of her own doom. Dolores is a wonderful character, more likable than pitiful, and makes a strong statement for the power of love and will over circumstances and fate