"First published in the United States of America by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2018"--Title page verso.

With his stunning debut novel, She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb won the adulation of critics and readers with his mesmerizing tale of one woman's painful yet triumphant journey of self-discovery. Now, this brilliantly talented writer returns with I Know This Much Is True, a heartbreaking and poignant multigenerational saga of the reproductive bonds of destruction and the powerful force of forgiveness. A masterpiece that breathtakingly tells a story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal--this novel is a contemporary retelling of an ancient Hindu myth. A proud king must confront his demons to achieve salvation. Change yourself, the myth instructs, and you will inhabit a renovated world. When you're the same brother of a schizophrenic identical twin, the tricky thing about saving yourself is the blood it leaves on your bands--the little inconvenience of the look-alike corpse at your feet. And if you're into both survival of the fittest and being your brother's keeper--if you've promised your dying mother--then say so long to sleep and hello to the middle of the night. Grab a book or a beer. Get used to Letterman's gap-toothed smile of the absurd, or the view of the bedroom ceiling, or the influence of random selection. Take it from a godless insomniac. Take it from the uncrazy twin--the guy who beat the biochemical rap. Dominick Birdsey's entire life has been compromised and constricted by anger and fear, by the paranoid schizophrenic twin brother he both deeply loves and resents, and by the past they shared with their adoptive father, Ray, a spit-and-polish ex-Navy man (the five-foot-six-inch sleeping giant who snoozed upstairs weekdays in the spare room and built submarines at night), and their long-suffering mother, Concettina, a timid woman with a harelip that made her shy and self-conscious: She holds a loose fist to her face to cover her defective mouth--her perpetual apology to the world for a birth defect over which she'd had no control. Born in the waning moments of 1949 and the opening minutes of 1950, the twins are physical mirror images who grow into separate yet connected entities: the seemingly strong and protective yet fearful Dominick, his mother's watchful "monkey"; and the seemingly weak and sweet yet noble Thomas, his mother's gentle "bunny." From childhood, Dominick fights for both separation and wholeness--and ultimately self-protection--in a house of fear dominated by Ray, a bully who abuses his power over these stepsons whose biological father is a mystery. I was still afraid of his anger but saw how he punished weakness--pounced on it. Out of self-preservation I hid my fear, Dominick confesses. As for Thomas, he just never knew how to play defense. He just didn't get it. But Dominick's talent for survival comes at an enormous cost, including the breakup of his marriage to the warm, beautiful Dessa, whom he still loves. And it will be put to the ultimate test when Thomas, a Bible-spouting zealot, commits an unthinkable act that threatens the tenuous balance of both his and Dominick's lives. To save himself, Dominick must confront not only the pain of his past but the dark secrets he has locked deep within himself, and the sins of his ancestors--a quest that will lead him beyond the confines of his blue-collar New England town to the volcanic foothills of Sicily 's Mount Etna, where his ambitious and vengefully proud grandfather and a namesake Domenico Tempesta, the sostegno del famiglia, was born. Each of the stories Ma told us about Papa reinforced the message that he was the boss, that he ruled the roost, that what he said went. Searching for answers, Dominick turns to the whispers of the dead, to the pages of his grandfather's handwritten memoir, The History of Domenico Onofrio Tempesta, a Great Man from Humble Beginnings. Rendered with touches of magic realism, Domenico's fablelike tale--in which monkeys enchant and religious statues weep--becomes the old man's confession--an unwitting legacy of contrition that reveals the truth's of Domenico's life, Dominick learns that power, wrongly used, defeats the oppressor as well as the oppressed, and now, picking through the humble shards of his deconstructed life, he will search for the courage and love to forgive, to expiate his and his ancestors' transgressions, and finally to rebuild himself beyond the haunted shadow of his twin. Set against the vivid panoply of twentieth-century America and filled with richly drawn, memorable characters, this deeply moving and thoroughly satisfying novel brings to light humanity's deepest needs and fears, our aloneness, our desire for love and acceptance, our struggle to survive at all costs. Joyous, mystical, and exquisitely written, I Know This Much Is True is an extraordinary reading experience that will leave no reader untouched.

'It is my attempt to fit the lives of citizens here, into the context of The Great War as a world-historical event. I think it's important to remember that we all make history, and are all made by history.'- Dean Ulland

For Jonathon, the Home Wood that borders his grandfather's farm has always been a source of mystery and dread. Strange half-heard rumours passed among aunts, uncles and cousins never quite add up. More than twenty years ago, his father-when he was Jonathon's age-was swallowed up by the Home Wood for more than a day and came back badly injured. That was when his grandfather forbade any family member from venturing back there. And so when, from his bedroom window one morning, Jonathon sees his father once again cross into the Home Wood, he knows something is very wrong. Deceiving his grandfather, Jonathon sets out after his father and makes his way, for the first time in his life, into the woods. What he finds there is beyond even his wildest imagination.

Something is amiss in Alder Cove. Some say that it has all happened before and that it was bound to happen again. But these are only rumors. Some say that wandering by yourself at night, especially in the surrounding hills that border the town, is suicide: there are things out there that will eat you. But, again, these are only rumors. They say the river is haunted and that swimming there, in that deep, dark, cold water is treacherous. The current is strong, true, but worse, something lives there, and she, yes, she, will grab you and pull you under, swallowing you in one, painful gulp. And so it is here, near this river, near these hills, among these rumors, that Zeke and his family has just moved; it is here that Zeke will discover that this seemingly quiet seaside settlement holds a deadly secret. In his desire to discover the truth of the rumors that the small town holds Zeke discovers that an ancient curse has returned to Alder Cove expecting payment for the prosperity it has enjoyed over the last 30 years. Arriving in his new home, Zeke finds that the deteriorating town has left hidden clues that he must locate in order to protect the town, the people, and most importantly, Zeke's own family from further destruction and death. Zeke and his two friends, along with Zeke's own father who shares in some of the secrets the town holds, brave a night of terror and possible death as they fight to rid the town of its curse. With the help of prophetic dreams, ancient manuscripts and Runes, the battle with the mythical Korrigan becomes an unforgettable climactic moment of good versus evil. Brad Cameron is a High School English teacher who has been inspired to write Young Adult fiction through his countless hours of teaching and reading to young adults. With his wife Laurie, also an educator, Brad makes his home in the Pacific Northwest. Zeke Proper and the Sacrifice at Alder Cove is his first novel. The Sequel, Zeke Proper and the Serpent's Ship, is underway and soon to be completed. Brad has included the art work of his son Corey in both the cover design and the interior illustrations.

Si, avec vos amis, vous enfouissez sous terre des secrets dans une boîte en fer. Si vous prononcez là-dessus un pacte sacré. Assurez-vous bien que personne ne viendra trahir la promesse. Personne.