Helpful Score: 1
Review first published on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com/2012/06/afterwards.html
The story of Afterwards is narrated by a woman in a coma. Yes, a woman on the brink of death, in a coma. It is not flashbacks. It is narrated in present time by her soul or essence or being or whatever you want to call it as it floats outside her body. Sounds a little bizarre, right? Except that it turns out to be a pretty good story.
Grace has run into a burning building to save her daughter Jenny. Now, they both are in the hospital fighting for their lives. And their souls or essence or being or whatever you want to call it are together outside of their bodies. They both watch the story unfold - the reactions of those around them and the story of how that fire actually happened. They follow people, listen in on conversations, and learn things about themselves and others. Yet, they can't influence any of it. They cannot pass of the information they learn.
The story of the fire and the book comes to a somewhat predictable close but with interesting twists and turns and interesting character studies along the way. Periodically while reading this book, I stopped to think that it was odd listening to the narration from a person outside of herself. However, mostly, Grace and Jenny each became two distinct characters - their bodies that lay in a coma and the reality of who they were as they floated through this story.
The story became one of parenting and love - what would you do to protect those you love? How far would you go? What risks would you take? What choices would you make? What priorities would you set? So, a somewhat different narration but a really good story.
The story of Afterwards is narrated by a woman in a coma. Yes, a woman on the brink of death, in a coma. It is not flashbacks. It is narrated in present time by her soul or essence or being or whatever you want to call it as it floats outside her body. Sounds a little bizarre, right? Except that it turns out to be a pretty good story.
Grace has run into a burning building to save her daughter Jenny. Now, they both are in the hospital fighting for their lives. And their souls or essence or being or whatever you want to call it are together outside of their bodies. They both watch the story unfold - the reactions of those around them and the story of how that fire actually happened. They follow people, listen in on conversations, and learn things about themselves and others. Yet, they can't influence any of it. They cannot pass of the information they learn.
The story of the fire and the book comes to a somewhat predictable close but with interesting twists and turns and interesting character studies along the way. Periodically while reading this book, I stopped to think that it was odd listening to the narration from a person outside of herself. However, mostly, Grace and Jenny each became two distinct characters - their bodies that lay in a coma and the reality of who they were as they floated through this story.
The story became one of parenting and love - what would you do to protect those you love? How far would you go? What risks would you take? What choices would you make? What priorities would you set? So, a somewhat different narration but a really good story.
First Line: I couldn't move, not even a little finger or a flicker of an eye.
It's Sports Day at Sidley House School. Grace Covey's eight-year-old son, Adam, has gone inside the school to bring out the birthday cake that he's sharing with his classmates while Jennifer, her seventeen-year-old daughter, is up on the third floor filling in for the school nurse. Grace has simply come to pick her children up at school, an ordinary, everyday task. But what began as a simple task turns into a nightmare when Grace looks up at the school and sees black smoke billowing out of the windows.
Sidley House School is on fire, and her children are inside.
"And then [Grace] was running at the velocity of a scream." As she comes to the school entrance, she sees that her son is outside and safe, but Jenny is still inside. Jenny needs her. And so Grace fights the heat and the smoke and the fear and the panic and the pain until she finds Jenny... but Grace doesn't have the strength to get them outside to safety. They are both rushed to the hospital. Grace has suffered severe head trauma, and Jenny has suffered bad burns and intense smoke inhalation.
This story is told by Grace as if she's talking to her husband, and she has quite the story to tell. You see, she and Jenny both have out-of-body experiences. They leave their battered bodies and follow their friends and loved ones. They hear what's being said, and although they can talk with each other, no one else can see or hear them. A lot is being said because what was originally a tragic fire is really arson, and it also seems as though someone wants to make sure that Jenny dies. Did she see the person who started the fire?
Grace's sister-in-law, Detective Sergeant Sarah MacBride, in many ways is the hero of this book. Her family has been dealt a devastating blow. Sarah wants to make sure that her family survives, and she goes about it the only way she knows how: by doing her job. Sarah proves to be tireless at tracking down witnesses, at searching for clues, at reading interview transcripts and teasing out tiny inconsistencies and peculiar word choices. She simply will not give up.
Although the ultimate ending of the book really comes as no surprise, I enjoyed Lupton's meticulous plotting of the investigation. This is the sort of case which relies on listening to how people say things as well as listening to what they don't say. It is a case of nuance and shadow. Taken simply as a mystery, this is an excellent read. But Grace Covey takes this book beyond mystery and whodunit. As she watches her husband and son, as she talks with Jenny, and as she follows Sarah, she learns what extraordinary people her family members are. She learns about herself. And she learns that "the last of the senses to go is love."
This is an extraordinary read that kept me mesmerized from first page to last-- often with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. If you have someone in your life whom you love more than life itself, you will also be deeply affected by this book. In her depth of characterization and psychological nuance, Rosamund Lupton reminds me of Louise Penny. Like Penny, Lupton can take subject matter that's profoundly sad and create something very beautiful and life-affirming. I was impressed by Lupton's first book, Sister. I am blown away by Afterwards.
It's Sports Day at Sidley House School. Grace Covey's eight-year-old son, Adam, has gone inside the school to bring out the birthday cake that he's sharing with his classmates while Jennifer, her seventeen-year-old daughter, is up on the third floor filling in for the school nurse. Grace has simply come to pick her children up at school, an ordinary, everyday task. But what began as a simple task turns into a nightmare when Grace looks up at the school and sees black smoke billowing out of the windows.
Sidley House School is on fire, and her children are inside.
"And then [Grace] was running at the velocity of a scream." As she comes to the school entrance, she sees that her son is outside and safe, but Jenny is still inside. Jenny needs her. And so Grace fights the heat and the smoke and the fear and the panic and the pain until she finds Jenny... but Grace doesn't have the strength to get them outside to safety. They are both rushed to the hospital. Grace has suffered severe head trauma, and Jenny has suffered bad burns and intense smoke inhalation.
This story is told by Grace as if she's talking to her husband, and she has quite the story to tell. You see, she and Jenny both have out-of-body experiences. They leave their battered bodies and follow their friends and loved ones. They hear what's being said, and although they can talk with each other, no one else can see or hear them. A lot is being said because what was originally a tragic fire is really arson, and it also seems as though someone wants to make sure that Jenny dies. Did she see the person who started the fire?
Grace's sister-in-law, Detective Sergeant Sarah MacBride, in many ways is the hero of this book. Her family has been dealt a devastating blow. Sarah wants to make sure that her family survives, and she goes about it the only way she knows how: by doing her job. Sarah proves to be tireless at tracking down witnesses, at searching for clues, at reading interview transcripts and teasing out tiny inconsistencies and peculiar word choices. She simply will not give up.
Although the ultimate ending of the book really comes as no surprise, I enjoyed Lupton's meticulous plotting of the investigation. This is the sort of case which relies on listening to how people say things as well as listening to what they don't say. It is a case of nuance and shadow. Taken simply as a mystery, this is an excellent read. But Grace Covey takes this book beyond mystery and whodunit. As she watches her husband and son, as she talks with Jenny, and as she follows Sarah, she learns what extraordinary people her family members are. She learns about herself. And she learns that "the last of the senses to go is love."
This is an extraordinary read that kept me mesmerized from first page to last-- often with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. If you have someone in your life whom you love more than life itself, you will also be deeply affected by this book. In her depth of characterization and psychological nuance, Rosamund Lupton reminds me of Louise Penny. Like Penny, Lupton can take subject matter that's profoundly sad and create something very beautiful and life-affirming. I was impressed by Lupton's first book, Sister. I am blown away by Afterwards.
I picked up this book because I liked the author's previous book SISTER. If I had known it was narrated by a mother whose spirit is living outside her body while she is in a coma, I might not have chosen it. It is not evident from the book flap that that is the case. Once I decided to carry on, I was glad I did. Interesting who done it. Relationships, families, teachers, and school communities hold lots of secrets.
