I Know This Much Is True

When Thomas and Dominick are 10, their house catches fire when the television bursts into flames. Their mother, Concettina Tempesta Birdsey, is able to save her prized photo album. When the twins are 36, she is diagnosed with breast cancer. Dominick, wishing to give her something meaningful, sets about remodeling her kitchen, but his mother says that she wants only a small gesture of love instead.

Dominick notes that the photo album is filled mostly with photos of him, Thomas, and their grandfather, who immigrated from Sicily. When Thomas and Dominick were born, they garnered media attention because their births—on December 31, 1949, and January 1, 1950—straddled two decades, despite the fact that they had no father.

On the day she turns down the offer of a new kitchen, Dominick’s mother gives him a strongbox containing handwritten pages in Italian—the manuscript of his grandfather’s memoir. She explains that he initially hired an Italian man to type as he dictated, but after several stumbling blocks, he ended up writing the entire document longhand instead. Dominick decides that having the manuscript translated into English will be the perfect gift for his mother.

While the translation is underway, Dominick takes Thomas to visit their mother as she undergoes chemotherapy. On one visit, they argue as Dominick drives home: Thomas bolts from the car after Dominick pulls over onto the shoulder, running across several lanes of traffic. After this incident, Dominick no longer brings Thomas with him on visits to their mother.

One evening, the translator, a PhD student named Nedra Frank, appears at Dominick’s door during a snowstorm. She has copied down his address from his checks. She explains some of the difficulties she is having in completing the translation. The two end up sharing some beers and ordering pizza. Nedra then propositions Dominick for sex but leaves in the middle when Dominick begins to laugh. She drives off in anger after throwing her PhD dissertation at Dominick.

In mid-April, Dominick goes to the university to retrieve his grandfather’s manuscript, only to learn that Nedra has dropped out of the program.

On May 1, Concettina dies. Dominick worries about telling Thomas, but when he does so that night, Thomas responds peacefully.

Back in the present, Thomas is discharged from the hospital but driven immediately by police to the Three Rivers State Hospital for a minimum 15-day stay. He asks Dominick to ride with him in the cruiser. Thomas asks Dominick to read aloud to him from his Bible and then wonders why Ray, the twins’ adoptive father, never visited him in the hospital. Dominick’s ex-wife, Dessa, did visit Thomas. Dominick bumped into her in the hospital parking lot, where they chatted before Dominick attempted to kiss Dessa. That night, while having sex with his girlfriend, Joy, Dominick could only think of Dessa.

When they arrive at the State Hospital, both Dominick and Thomas are alarmed when the police drive them past Settle—the minimum-security building where Thomas typically resides—to Hatch, the maximum-security portion of the hospital.

At Hatch Forensic Institute, Dominick argues with the police, certain that Thomas has been sent there by mistake. He begs them to drive Thomas back to Settle. Thomas is also upset, fearful of repercussions if he is not present at Settle the next morning to conduct his job of running the coffee cart and newsstand.

Once inside the building, Dominick continues to argue with Hatch security guards, insisting that Thomas’s doctor be telephoned to rectify the mistake. When they refuse, Dominick becomes violent, attacking the security officers, who then fight back.

The narrative shifts to 1958; Dominick and Thomas will soon enter third grade. One Saturday, their mother takes them to the movies. During the show, many children yell and throw things at the screen until theater employees threaten to kick them out. After the show, the three walk to the bus stop in front of the Five and Ten store. They browse the store while waiting for the bus; Concettina comes across a gaudy painting of Jesus and decides to buy it.

On the ride home, they are bothered by a man who moves closer and closer to their mother, trying to touch her bare legs. When they depart the bus, the man follows them, and by the time they arrive home, all three are crying. Concettina instructs them not to tell Ray about the man, insisting that Jesus protected them.

In the present, Dominick returns home to find a note from Joy saying that she is at a mixology class with her friend Thad. Dominick is still angry about Thomas being placed in Hatch and physically sore from his encounter with the security guards. He thinks back to meeting Joy at the health club he joined at the urging of his former brother-in-law, Leo. Joy moved in after they had dated for about six months. Joy has a high sex drive, but Dominick cannot stop focusing on her flaws: She is irresponsible with money and a former shoplifter. She has been married and divorced twice.

There is a message on the answering machine from Thomas’s new case worker. Dominick tries to call her back, but since it is late, no one answers.

Sore and bruised when he wakes up the next morning, Dominick is certain that he will not be able to do any of his work as a house painter that day. Henry Rood, his current customer, has left several messages demanding that Dominick finish the job. Dominick plans to go to Hatch to see about getting Thomas released back to Settle. He dreads informing Ray about what has happened.

As Joy gets ready for work, she complains that Dominick always prioritizes Thomas. She wonders why Ray cannot shoulder more of the responsibility. By way of explaining, Dominick tells her about specific instances of Ray’s abuse when they were children. Further, Dominick promised his mother upon her death that he would take care of Thomas.

In 1968, Concettina gifts her sons a typewriter as a high school graduation gift. Determined to keep them out of the military conflict in Vietnam, she convinces Ray to finance the remainder of their college tuitions after their student loans. Dominick hopes to break free of Thomas in college, but Concettina asks Dominick to room with him, citing Thomas’s lack of confidence and preparedness to be on his own.

Thomas nearly fails his first semester and is angered that Dominick is popular and makes friends easily. The other boys in their dorm deem Thomas strange. At the end of the semester, Thomas is placed on academic probation.

Back in the present, Dominick meets with Lisa Sheffer, Thomas’s new case manager at Hatch. Dominick is argumentative, demanding that Thomas be moved. Sheffer explains that new laws have been enacted in Connecticut in the interest of public relations—because Thomas is deemed a potentially violent threat, he must stay at Hatch for 15 days. After this period, it will be decided whether he will be released or will remain at Hatch for one year. Dominick again protests, but Sheffer insists that Thomas will receive good care and that he should improve as he begins taking medication once again.

As Dominick leaves, Sheffer advises him to visit a doctor to obtain documentation of his injuries, hinting that he may need it as bargaining power.

In 1962, the twins take a class trip to Manhattan, where they visit the Statue of Liberty and see an Easter performance at Radio City Music Hall. Dominick avoids his brother on the bus. No one wants to sit with Thomas, and he is stuck sitting with another “strange” boy. Dominick is proud to have been befriended by a wealthy boy from California named Channy Harrington. He and the other boys tease the girls who walk past them on their way to the bathroom.

During the bus ride, Thomas locks himself in the bathroom and cannot figure out how to unlock the door. Though the students and their teacher shout instructions, Thomas begins to panic. Finally, the door releases and Thomas comes out, crying while facing the jeers of the other boys. He is upset for the rest of the day, sticking by Dominick’s side and refusing to climb to the top of the Statue of Liberty.

In the present, Dominick goes to a medical clinic to have his injuries documented by a doctor. He then drives to the Roods’ house, which he is behind on painting. He speaks to Ruth Rood, who is outside sunbathing; he assures her that he will finish the job quickly.

Dominick then stops at his childhood home, where he finds Ray asleep; he leaves Ray a note explaining Thomas’s circumstances. Being in the house reminds him of his mother giving him his grandfather’s memoir, and Dominick grows determined to find Nedra Frank so that he can retrieve the document.