She's Come Undone
Wally Lamb's debut novel follows Dolores Price across several decades, from childhood in the 1950s and 1960s into adulthood. After her parents' marriage falls apart and she suffers abuse and trauma, Dolores retreats into food, television, and isolation, growing to nearly 300 pounds by her late teens. The book follows her through a breakdown, time in a psychiatric hospital, a difficult marriage, and the long work of putting her life back together. Lamb writes in Dolores's wry, wounded first person voice, balancing dark material with humor and resilience. The novel became a major bestseller after Oprah Winfrey selected it for her book club, drawing praise for a male author's convincing portrait of a woman's inner life and for its honesty about pain and survival.
What you might want to know about She's Come Undone
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A coming of age novel follows Dolores Price from a troubled childhood through trauma, illness, and a slow path toward recovery.
Yes. Oprah Winfrey chose it for her book club, which made it a huge bestseller.
It deals with rape, abuse, and mental illness, so it can be heavy, though many readers find Dolores's voice and recovery moving.
She's Come Undone was written by Wally Lamb, published in 1992 by Pocket Books.
She's Come Undone is 465 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, She's Come Undone takes most readers 7 to 10 hours to finish.
She's Come Undone is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.