We Are The Light

Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster (November 2022)

LIFE IS FULL OF GUARDIAN ANGELS.

Lucas Goodgame lives in Majestic, Pennsylvania, a quaint suburb that has been torn apart by a recent tragedy. Everyone in Majestic sees Lucas as a hero—everyone, that is, except Lucas himself. Insisting that his deceased wife, Darcy, visits him every night in the form of an angel, Lucas spends his time writing letters to his former Jungian analyst, Karl. It is only when Eli, an eighteen-year-old young man whom the community has ostracized, begins camping out in Lucas’s backyard that an unlikely alliance takes shape and the two embark on a journey to heal their neighbors and, most important, themselves.

From Matthew Quick, the New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook—made into the Academy Award–winning movie starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper—We Are the Light is an unforgettable novel about the quicksand of grief and the daily miracle of love. The humorous, soul-baring story of Lucas Goodgame offers an antidote to toxic masculinity and celebrates the healing power of art. In this tale that will stay with you long after the final page is turned, Quick reminds us that guardian angels are all around us—sometimes in the forms we least expect.

Reviews

“When you read Quick, you don’t feel guilty if your tears are mixed with laughter. . . . His skill at crafting an engaging narrative around trauma is as strong as ever. . . . We Are the Light is a reminder that grief is complex and that we shouldn’t be afraid to grasp the hands stretched out to help us. As the title points out, even in the dark, there can be light.” —Karin Tanabe, The Washington Post

“This remarkable novel explores themes of community, forgiveness, kindness, and yes, the dark violence that seems to be inherent in the American Experience. But it eschews politics in favor of humanity, ignores easy answers in favor of hard-won redemption. . . . feels like a warm hand on your shoulder. This is the novel so many of us have been searching for in these troubled times. I promise you it will affect you like no other book you’ve read in a long time.” —Nickolas Butler, Book of the Month Club Pick

“Matthew Quick scores a perfect 10 in this deeply stirring, gorgeously hopeful novel that shines a brilliant beam on the path out of grief and toward healing. May we all learn the way to be such lights from this remarkable guide.” —Beth Stroh, Viewpoint Books, Columbus, IN – #1 Indie Next Pick for November 2022

We Are the Light is a testament to the broken and the rebuilt. . . . Quick’s deeply moving epistolary novel is a balm.” —⁠Stephanie Turza, Booklist *STARRED REVIEW*

“A timely, lovely, and sometimes heartbreaking novel of grief and hope, beautifully told through a series of letters that shine light on our capacity to heal, even after tragedy.” —Mitch Albom, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Stranger in the Lifeboat

“Matthew Quick pens a moving story about an unlikely duo helping one another heal through a tragedy and the heartbreaking strength of a community looking for a way forward. We Are the Light is a powerful tale of resilience.” —Sabienna Bowman, POPSUGAR

“Matthew Quick’s We Are the Light is a treasure of a novel—wise, humane, and deeply moving. Whoever you are, whatever trials you’ve faced in life, read it and be healed.” —Justin Cronin, New York Times bestselling author of the Passage Trilogy

We Are the Light is the book America needs right now. A novel that embraces our national heartbreak and division with love and compassion. Matthew Quick is the patron saint of the damaged and outcast and no one writes with more heart and empathy. You’ll love this book.” 
—⁠Nickolas Butler, bestselling author of Shotgun Lovesongs and Godspeed

“An emotional, beautifully written story of loss, grief, love, and healing, We Are the Light is an easy choice for most popular of the year.” —Off the Shelf

We Are the Light is a beautifully written and emotion-packed novel with a huge heart. Matthew Quick takes us on a searing and unforgettable journey through grief and empathy and how even the most broken of us can be repaired.” —Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Win

“Matthew Quick has always been a brilliant chronicler of the ways in which we get broken, and the spectacular ways our lives can fall apart, and yet his greatest gift is the way he tries to find, within every story, an opportunity to put some of those pieces back together. In We Are the Light, where unexpected connections offer a way forward, Quick writes with such honesty and openhearted understanding of the pain and joy of being alive.” —Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to See Here

“Filled with everyday guardian angels, this bittersweet, redemptive meditation on rebuilding after the unthinkable reminds readers that beauty can be found even among shattered pieces. We Are the Light is a perfect read for anyone in need of an insightful, optimistic view of humanity’s capacity for compassion and growth.” —Jaclyn Fulwood, Shelf Awareness: Maximum Shelf

“Matthew Quick is one of the few fiction writers who, inspired by Jungian insights, makes a solid contribution to the impact of analysis. His creative audacity will introduce you to the secrets of psyche and the resilience required to transform excruciating pain into wisdom. Like all significant works of art that reflect truths we might have known, had we not lost our way, We Are the Light is subtle and intimate, compellingly strange and hauntingly familiar, an initiation into the depths of suffering and love. It will not only break your heart—it will break it free.” —Joseph R. Lee, Jungian analyst and cohost of This Jungian Life podcast

“Novels that convey with depth, sophistication, and creativity a distinctly Jungian vision of the psyche are rare indeed. We Are the Light by Matthew Quick is certainly one of them.” —Dylan Hoffman, PhD, Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies

“An illuminating epistolary novel … A crackling narrative builds to an excruciatingly honest disclosure. The author’s fans will love this.” —⁠Publishers Weekly

“A story of unexpected twists and turns on the road to recovery after a shattering tragedy. . . . When it comes to facing tragedy and trauma, Quick’s novel shows us that it definitely takes a village to heal and move on.” —Kirkus Reviews

“An empathetic dive into the human psyche and the process of healing through art … Quick is no stranger to unpacking difficult emotions and relaying them beautifully in text. … unique prose, impressive character portrayals, and honest human fallibility … The kind of story Quick presents serves an integral role in helping to heal not just the fictional wounds of the characters, but the very real wounds in shared communities around the world.” —The Harvard Crimson

“I have never rooted for characters the way I did for the ones in this book. … This is the book not to miss this year or in your lifetime. It will restore your faith in humanity in one fell swoop.” —Summer Says (BAM! Books-A-Million)

Accolades

— Book of the Month Club Pick for November 2022
#1 Indie Next Pick for November 2022
Amazon Best literature and fiction of 2022
— Amazon Editors’ pick / Best Literature & Fiction
Shelf Awareness 2022 Best Books of the Year
— Indigo Staff Pick of the Month: Fiction (Chapters, Canada)
**STARRED** review from Booklist
One of The Washington Post‘s Best feel-good books of 2022
One of POPSUGAR‘s Best New Books of 2022 to Add to Your Reading List
One of BuzzFeed’s Best Books of November
Off the Shelf’s Best of 2022: Our 15 Most Popular Books of the Year
One of Off the Shelf’s 10 Insightful Novels to Heal the Soul
— Translated into Korean, Russian, Portuguese (Brazil), and published in Canada by Simon & Schuster Canada