Wally Lamb: "The River Is Waiting" | Oprah's Book Club

Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@Oprah?sub_confirmation=1 In this episode of Oprah’s Book Club: Presented by Starbucks, Oprah and bestselling author Wally Lamb discuss his newest book "The River is Waiting"– Publisher’s Weekly says Wally’s “love of storytelling illuminates his prose.” This is the third time Oprah has chosen a Wally Lamb novel for her book club. Oprah’s 115th book club pick is a page turner and emotional journey exploring addiction, forgiveness, grief and ultimately redemption. A tragic accident spurs powerful questions about fatherhood, marriage and friendship. For this conversation, Wally and Oprah are joined by a live audience enjoying an Iced Horchata Oatmilk Shaken Espresso in a Starbucks cafe in Seattle, the city where it all began. Wally talks about character development and his writing process while taking questions from an audience of avid readers. A memorable former Oprah Winfrey Show guest returns after 25 years to recount her harrowing story of grief, healing and love after she accidentally killed three of her children. BUY THE BOOK! https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-River-Is-Waiting/Wally-Lamb/9781668006399 00:00:00 - Welcome Wally Lamb, author of "The River Is Waiting" 00:01:19 - Oprah’s 115th book club selection is "The River Is Waiting," the third Wally Lamb pick! 00:02:18 - How Oprah’s Book Club started 00:05:00 - Wally shares his writing process 00:07:22 - Wally shares how he created his main character, and his storyline 00:08:13 - How Wally’s 20 years as a volunteer at a women’s prison influenced his book 00:10:50 - What Wally learned about himself while writing this book 00:13:42 - What the river represents in the novel 00:15:50 - Wally shares about his son’s time in prison 00:16:58 - Wally talks about his personal struggle with alcoholism 00:18:00 - The theme of forgiveness in the book 00:22:13 - Does the main character deserve empathy? 00:23:11 - What is the Silent Book Club? 00:26:30 - Oprah shares Teresa’s story of the accidental death of her children 00:31:10 - Teresa joins to share how healing is possible 00:33:03 - Teresa’s daughter Julie shares how the accident affected her 00:37:04 - Chezik shares her story of losing her young son to drowning 00:40:31 - Chezik founded Nomoreunder.org 00:43:06 - Does Wally think atonement and forgiveness are possible? 00:44:30 - Oprah shares about the Oprah’s Book Lover’s Journal SUPPORT THE SHOW https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/780304/oprahs-the-life-you-want-book-lovers-journal-by-the-editors-of-oprah-daily/ https://www.silentbook.club https://nomoreunder.org Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social: https://www.instagram.com/oprah/ https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey/ Listen to the full podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0tEVrfNp92a7lbjDe6GMLI https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-oprah-podcast/id1782960381