The Hour I First Believed

More about the book

When forty-seven-year-old high school teacher Caelum Quirk and his younger wife, Maureen, move to Littleton, Colorado, they both secure jobs at Columbine High School. In April 1999, Caelum travels back to Three Rivers, Connecticut, to care for his aunt after her stroke, leaving Maureen behind. She finds herself trapped in the school library, hiding from two vengeful students on a premeditated shooting spree. Miraculously, she survives, but the trauma leaves her unable to heal. The couple flees to the Quirk family farm in Three Rivers, seeking safety, but the chaos lingers, leading to further tragedy. As Maureen battles to reclaim her sanity, Caelum uncovers old diaries, letters, and newspaper clippings in his family's home. These documents reveal a rich history spanning five generations of Quirk ancestors, from the Civil War to Caelum's own troubled upbringing. As he pieces together their stories, long-buried emotions of fear, anger, guilt, and grief resurface. Caelum confronts unexpected revelations from the past while striving to build a future from the remnants of tragedy. His quest for meaning and faith transforms into a mythic journey that resonates with contemporary American themes.