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Afterwards

by Rosamund Lupton (Goodreads Author)

3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 · rating details · 5,194 ratings · 981 reviews

Fans of SISTER, read Rosamund Lupton's next novel, AFTERWARDS.

There is a fire and they are in there. They are in there...

Black smoke stains a summer blue sky. A school is on fire. And one mother, Grace, sees the smoke and rush. She knows her teenage daughter Jenny is inside. She runs into the burning building to rescue her.

Afterwards Grace must find the identity of the ar...more

Hardcover, 386 pages

Published April 24th 2012 by Crown (first published June 9th 2011)

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Apr 26, 2012 ☆Jessie☆ (Ageless Pages Reviews) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-and-literary-fiction, arc, contemporary-fiction, netgalley-arc, mystery, emotional-whiplash, 2012-reads, 2012-reviews, reviewed, curious-and-curiouser

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3.25 out of 5

Afterwards was a lot of things for me: frustrating, alienating, weird, intriguing, and eventually, quite moving. There's a lot of hype built around this newish author, largely due to the wild success and continued love for her first novel, Sister. With that in mind, I went into this sophomore effort with high hopes that were never quite met. There's a lot of potential in this novel about mothers and daughters, love, and independence but i...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Hannah Webster rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: disappointing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book was a good story, on the face of it, as long as you don't look too closely. Lupton is really good at getting across emotions, especially love, and the book is really touching as a result.

But as I said, you can't look too closely. Too many characters are under-developed and when you find out who the arsonist is you are supposed to just accept that she is a totally different person to the one originally portrayed, without any convincing explanation. This made me feel cheated, in a simila...more This book was a good story, on the face of it, as long as you don't look too closely. Lupton is really good at getting across emotions, especially love, and the book is really touching as a result.

But as I said, you can't look too closely. Too many characters are under-developed and when you find out who the arsonist is you are supposed to just accept that she is a totally different person to the one originally portrayed, without any convincing explanation. This made me feel cheated, in a similar way to when I finished Lupton's first novel "Sister", which was a superior effort (but things were also incorrect in that as well).

I could deal with the "out of body" experience in itself, but there was no detail explaining why or how it was happening. Like: Why can't they see other spirits of comatose people? It is a hospital after all. How do they get inside cars? No one's holding the door open so do they pass through objects? If so why do they need to wait for lifts? Why does it hurt so much when they go outside?

On top of these things was the totally obvious lack of research which really infuriated me. So many things were just plain wrong in this novel, which would have been apparent to Lupton had she done a bit of research or even a few Google searches.

For example:

1) The age of criminal responsibility is 10. Therefore and eight-year-old can't be cautioned for arson. The police talking about deciding not to press charges because Adam had "suffered enough" is just a nonsense. The school also "decides" not to press charges, which makes no sense.
2) A local newspaper hints than Mr Hyman pushed a kid out a window, and the same newspaper implies he started the fire at the school. He had nothing to do with either event and a local paper simply would not imply such things without getting sued for libel, they are incredibly cautious because they can't afford not to be. National tabloids may be more risque but not to this extent, it's total nonsense.
3) Tara is apparently a local reporter, but she also decides where things go in the newspaper, what the headlines are and deals with a police officer who comes to the office to ask questions. She is therefore also the paper's editor, sub-editor and news editor.

There are so many more things that continued to rile me throughout that just showed Lupton could not be bothered to look into what she was writing about. She decided instead to work off stereotypes of police officers, journalists, teenagers etc.

She has obvious talent as a writer but these factual errors kept punching me in the face throughout and it just wound me up that she didn't put a bit of effort into making the story at least seem authentic.(less)

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May 14, 2013 Sónia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, emprestados

Quem me emprestou este livro disse logo que talvez eu não fosse gostar. E confesso que, mesmo tendo-o terminado de ler há pouco, as sensações que me despertou são ambíguas.

Reconheço que está muito bem pensado/estruturado, tem uma estória comovente e bastante emocional mas igualmente maçadora. Penso que se tivesse menos 150 páginas valorizava-o (ainda) mais. Isto sem falar na componente paranormal/mística/”o que lhe queiram chamar”. Para mim não há hiatos entre a Vida e a Morte e, mesmo a Alma s...more

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Dec 16, 2011 Simon Lipson added it · review of another edition

As abysmal as Sister was readable. For a start, the protagonists are bloody angels or spirits or something, telling the story (too dull to precis here, but it's about who was responsible for burning a public school down - good riddance to it, I say) whilst their corporeal selves lie comatose in hospital having been injured in the blaze. I thought this madness would resolve itself in something satisfyingly realistic, but no, it appears Ms Lupton is happy for her 'spirits' to communicate with each...more

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Dec 16, 2011 Linda rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm afraid i was really disappointed with this, Sister was fantastic but this certainly wasn't. The mother-and-daughter-as-disembodied-spirits just didn't work for me, Grace talking to her hubby was really irritating and sometimes i wasn't even sure WHO she was meant to be addressing! There was far too much gushing sentimentality, very corny lines and why so much overuse of italics?? I didn't care about any of the characters either and all these things combined made this a bit of a slog. Maybe i...more

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May 09, 2012 Brian added it · review of another edition

Warning: I shouldn't have read this. It's not my kind of novel and this is by no means an unpartial review.

I hugely disliked the central character and she is pretty much what this book is all about. What I found so objectionable was her outlook on life. It's summed up neatly in this extract in which she talks about how she felt when she first met her husband.

'In that prim little tea shop you told me that you were desperate to be away from the confines of university and out there doing 'stuff'....more Warning: I shouldn't have read this. It's not my kind of novel and this is by no means an unpartial review.

I hugely disliked the central character and she is pretty much what this book is all about. What I found so objectionable was her outlook on life. It's summed up neatly in this extract in which she talks about how she felt when she first met her husband.

'In that prim little tea shop you told me that you were desperate to be away from the confines of university and out there doing 'stuff'. I didn't know anyone who used the word 'stuff'. I'd done a year of Art History and then a term of an English degree and had never once used the word. My friends were black-clothed, earnest arts students with a thesaurus for a vocabulary.

'I liked the word 'stuff'. And I liked it that you weren't pale with cheekbones studying Kant but were muscular and robust and wanted to be mountaineering and canoeing and white-water rafting and abseiling and bivouacking the world rather than reading and philosophising about it'
(End of quote)

So she's clever and she's arty, but she likes her men hunky and not too bright. Isn't that a bit odd? Perhaps that really is how lots of women are. I hope not. All I know is that she would hate me for my bookishness, not to mention my lack of enthusiasm for mountaineering, and that knowledge entirely alienates me from her character. Yet the whole drive of the book is about empathising with this character and the suffering she endures.

I can't empathise because nothing she says rings true to me. Take those 'black-clothed, earnest arts students with thesauruses for vocabularies' for example - what planet do they come from? I certainly never encountered anyone like them at university.

I also suspect that the author deliberately positioned this book as the story of a middle-class wife who is overtaken by tragedy, a tragedy she doesn't deserve. But the character is so very smug that I didn't feel any sense of unfairness.

I should admit that I didn't finish reading this book. Maybe the central character learns a lot and becomes a nicer person. I just wasn't able to get through enough of the story to find out. Consequently, this review is absolutely worthless except perhaps as an object lesson in how to irritate a certain kind of male reader.(less)

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Jan 15, 2013 Nikki rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am seriously loving this author at the moment! I really enjoyed Sister; such a captivating tale of two sisters love. As a girl who only has one sister I found the whole story incredibly moving and what an amazingly shocking ending.
Now Lupton has released her second novel Afterwards and it's another heart wrenching story! This time focused around a mother's love and the million different emotions that includes. Somehow through this storyline she has woven a crime novel into it as well, with t...more

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Apr 20, 2012 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Just finished this book, had enjoyed Sister so though i would try this. Its quite strange at times but actually i did enjoy it a lot. I literally could not put this book down, just had to know what happened next.

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Dec 09, 2011 Len rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've enjoyed this book. Another great literary work by Rosamund Lupton.

The POV is a wonderful idea coming from a person the other characters can't see. I don't want to include spoilers here. I loved Sister by Rosamund Lupton and this one is as impressive and as powerful as her first novel.

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Oct 09, 2012 Rebecca rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I can't even finish this book. Sister was really good. This is awful. I skipped to the end to see what happens (something I've done many times) but the ends didn't seem to justify the turgid writing I would need to endure to get there. OK, it wasn't turgid, but just so difficult to read! A floating spirit wife talking to "you", her husband whilst trying to uncover a mystery that is just plain nasty? It was hard to maintain just who was being discussed at any time. It's left a bad taste in my mou...more

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May 09, 2013 Elizabeth Ducie rated it 4 of 5 stars

The concept of a story being narrated by a spirit is not a new one, but Afterwards is different to other such stories in that the narrator is not dead. Grace Covey and her teenage daughter Jenny are seriously injured in a fire. While their physical bodies are fighting for their lives, the two share an extended and wide-ranging ‘out of body’ experience and Grace narrates the whole thing, interspersed with flashbacks, as a message to her husband Mike.

The novel is essentially a mystery story. Who s...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Sasha rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended by acquaintance and it let me wondering at first, as it is definitely a novel I would have chosen myself - 'does he really think I would enjoy this kind of book?" - not knowing a better description, I would call this a "domestic thriller" as its written by woman about a women and obviously targeted for a female audience. This means it shows author's perspective as really focused on home, children, furniture, school and circle of friends - in short, a bit limited perspective. It doesn...more Recommended by acquaintance and it let me wondering at first, as it is definitely a novel I would have chosen myself - 'does he really think I would enjoy this kind of book?" - not knowing a better description, I would call this a "domestic thriller" as its written by woman about a women and obviously targeted for a female audience. This means it shows author's perspective as really focused on home, children, furniture, school and circle of friends - in short, a bit limited perspective. It doesn't really go into description of a washing machine but I felt it behind my neck. After initial doubt, however, I kept on reading because there was a interesting story somewhere deep inside - Lupton might have been deep into mundane everyday reality of raising a family but she did knot those characters into quite a gripping thriller that kept me guessing and reading deep in the night.

A plot's main twist is that it is followed by two characters who are not here - after disastrous fire,both mother and a teenage daughter are burned and badly hurt in a hospital from where their spirits follow "afterwards" of the story and how the family,friends,relatives and suspects try to unravel what actually happened. They can only hoover above "real" people but this also gives us opportunity to follow the story with almost movie-camera presence everywhere since "spirits" can float anywhere without limits. It might sound original but alas it is not - years ago I read "Lovely bones" by Alice Sebold and she was the first writer to use this kind of plot twist.

Lupton had knotted enough of main and supporting characters into the story to make it into fairly interesting thriller (I could not guess the main baddie until the very end) but the most surprising part was occasional unexpected tenderness she expresses towards main character's family - unexpected as this is crime story after all - there are some really strong and emotional pages that even got me choked a little bit,specially parts about a little boy (who turns out to be a main suspect) and few others. Quite a surprise I would probably not noticed by myself.(less)

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Jan 11, 2013 Estibaliz79 rated it 5 of 5 stars

((¿4 1/2?))

Para hacerse una idea de lo que uno se encontrará esta novela, tómese en cuenta esta pequeña equivalencia: JODY PICOULT + 'DESDE MI CIELO' = 'DESPUÉS' de ROSAMUND LUPTON.

Una novela que combina el intimismo con lo criminal, y en la que para poder disfrutar de lo bueno hay que aportar una pequeña dosis de paciencia al inicio, para hacerse con el ritmo de la narración y su peculiar tono. Después de todo, la narradora es, por ponerle un nombre, un espíritu a medio camino entre ambos mundo...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Rebecca by: Kindle Daily Deal

A mother runs into a burning school to save her daughter. Mother & daughter are rescued and while their bodies fight for life, they, outside of their bodies, work to solve the mystery of who started the fire and why. I have no problem suspending reality and reading a fantastical mystery. Why not? But, oh, this turned into so much more than a simple mystery. The first person narrative and short, choppy sentences, scenes, and descriptions really lent an immediacy, an urgency to the story that...more

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Dec 22, 2012 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was reading this when the tragedy in New Town occurred which, I think, lent this book a greater sense of poignancy. This book will tug your emotions every which way, especially if you have children
no matter what their age.

Anyway, a school is on fire and your child is inside. The mother runs inside and this book tells about what happens afterwards. It is
a " who done it" as the fire may not have been an accident. It's written through the voice of the mother ( and I mean that literally).
Grace (...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Nate Irvin rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is an extremely engaging story. The last half especially I could not put it down.

One of the things that really struck me about this story is the utter reality of the characters. Each person is a very real, well-rounded person, and their reactions to things flow so naturally. The narrator's voice is so authentic, you can hear yourself saying those things personally. The story is in some ways a murder mystery, and I found it very realistic and fascinating how the author redraws the narrator's...more

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Dec 13, 2012 Kris Irvin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, favorites

Holy. Crap.

This book just skyrocketed to the top of my favorites list. Have I ever read a book so intense and moving as Afterwards? No. No I have not. I kid you not my friends, this book - the last page, I cried. I have never actually sobbed during a book before. This one killed me. It broke my heart.

And it was a beautiful agony.

Now for the bad parts - it's very, very British, which I happen to adore, but I know some Americans can't translate to our cousins across the Pond. If you don't have a...more

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Nov 27, 2012 Donna Brown rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley

It’s going to be difficult to review Afterwards without giving too much away, so excuse me if I’m deliberately vague. Afterwards is one of those stories that evolves bit by bit and if you rush it, you run the risk of spoiling the whole thing. There is a fire and a mother, Grace, tries to rescue her daughter. Having saved her daughter from death (for now at least) she wants desperately to uncover who started the fire that nearly deprived her of a child.

Thus begins an incredibly compelling mystery...more

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Nov 15, 2012 TwoDrinks rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: from-doz, read-in-2012

Yeah, I enjoyed this even though I was a bit disappointed when it had the ending it needed to have which makes absolutely no sense at all. It's well set out in that it's written in the style of a whodunit so this did spur you on at the end of each chapter. I'm guessing that if you're a mother, the plot has more resonance than if you're not.

I find it quite charming that she uses her experience of being an English Lit. graduate as character background for her two books even though the literature...more

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Oct 26, 2012 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook

Lupton's earlier book, Sister, was an enjoyable mystery. Her current book, Afterwards, also a mystery, has a good plot, but the story is told by one of the victims and is very, very confusing. Grace, the mom, and Jenny, the daughter both suffer grave injuries in a school fire. Both Grace and Jenny are able to "leave" their injured bodies within the hospital, visiting one another in their hospital rooms, as well as other locations both inside and outside the hospital. Grace is the narrator, and s...more

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Oct 19, 2012 Giota Papadimakopoulou rated it 4 of 5 stars

Αν κάτι λάτρεψα στην Rosamund Lupton, είναι η ικανότητά της να πλάθει αστυνομικές ιστορίες οι οποίες δεν μοιάζουν με καμία άλλη απ' όσες κατά καιρούς διαβάζουμε. Ο λόγος; Ότι σε πρώτο επίπεδο καταπιάνεται με το αστυνομικό μυθιστόρημα, στήνοντας την πλοκή και την δράση της ιστορίας της πάνω σε αυτήν την φιλοσοφία, εμπλουτίζοντάς το σε δεύτερο επίπεδο με την δύναμη και την σημασία που έχουν οι βαθύτεροι, οικογενειακοί δεσμοί. Και αν στο "Στα Ίχνη Σου..." αξιοποίησε την ιδέα της αληθινής αδελφικής...more Αν κάτι λάτρεψα στην Rosamund Lupton, είναι η ικανότητά της να πλάθει αστυνομικές ιστορίες οι οποίες δεν μοιάζουν με καμία άλλη απ' όσες κατά καιρούς διαβάζουμε. Ο λόγος; Ότι σε πρώτο επίπεδο καταπιάνεται με το αστυνομικό μυθιστόρημα, στήνοντας την πλοκή και την δράση της ιστορίας της πάνω σε αυτήν την φιλοσοφία, εμπλουτίζοντάς το σε δεύτερο επίπεδο με την δύναμη και την σημασία που έχουν οι βαθύτεροι, οικογενειακοί δεσμοί. Και αν στο "Στα Ίχνη Σου..." αξιοποίησε την ιδέα της αληθινής αδελφικής αγάπης, στο "Στις Στάχτες" βασίζεται σε έναν ακόμα πιο ισχυρό δεσμό, αυτόν μεταξύ μάνας και κόρης, χωρίς όμως να μένει αποκλειστικά σε αυτόν, περιλαμβάνοντας το σύνολο των προεκτάσεων των συναισθημάτων μέσα σε μια δεμένη οικογένεια και τις συνέπειες που μπορεί να είχε η κατάρρευση της εύθραυστης ευτυχίας της.

Κατά την διάρκεια των αθλητικών εκδηλώσεων ενός ιδιωτικού σχολείου, μια μεγάλη πυρκαγιά ξεσπά στο σχολικό κτίριο. Η Γκρέις, μια 39χρονη μητέρα ενός 8χρονου αγοριού, του Άνταμ, και μιας έφηβης κόρης, της Τζένι, μπαίνει μέσα στο φλεγόμενο κτίριο συνειδητοποιώντας πως η δεύτερη βρίσκεται ακόμα μέσα σε αυτό, πιθανόν παγιδευμένη, αδυνατώντας να βγει έξω. Η προσπάθειά της να σώσει την κόρη της αποδεικνύεται ανέλπιδη καθώς, μάνα και κόρη μεταφέρονται σοβαρά τραυματισμένες στο νοσοκομείο, με την πρώτη να βρίσκεται σε κώμα χωρίς να δείχνει ίχνη εγκεφαλικής λειτουργίας και η δεύτερη, φέροντας εγκαύματα αλλά και θανάσιμους τραυματισμούς στα εσωτερικά της όργανα, με την καρδιά της να απαιτεί μεταμόσχευση αν θέλει να κρατηθεί στη ζωή. Μάνα και κόρη, περιφέρονται ως πνεύματα στο νοσοκομείο παρακολουθώντας τους οικείους τους αλλά και την αστυνομική έρευνα που οδηγεί στο συμπέρασμα πως η φωτιά δεν ήταν αποτέλεσμα ατυχήματος αλλά εμπρησμού. Οι πιθανοί δράστες πολλοί, και η Τζένι ίσως να είναι η μοναδική που έχει την απάντηση στο τι έχει συμβεί πραγματικά χωρίς ωστόσο να μπορεί να ξεκλειδώσει στο μυαλό της την πόρτα που θα την οδηγήσει στα γεγονότα. Κάτι που πρέπει να κάνει σύντομα αν θέλουν να βρεθεί ο πραγματικός ένοχος και η αλήθεια να βγει στο φως.

Το πιο έξυπνο στοιχείο στην αφήγηση της συγγραφέως δεν είναι το γεγονός ότι το πνεύμα της Γκρέις αφηγείται την ιστορία στον άντρα της, άσχετα από ότι δεν μπορεί να την ακούσει αλλά, το ότι καθώς τα γεγονότα που ακολουθούν το ατύχημα τρέχουν, με τα κομμάτια του παζλ να ενώνονται σταδιακά όσο οι λεπτομέρειες γύρω από την φύση της φωτιάς αποκαλύπτονται, εκείνη κάνει αναδρομές στην κοινή τους οικογενειακή πορεία, ανασύροντας από το βάθος του μυαλό τους αναμνήσεις, άλλοτε μικρές και άλλοτε μεγάλες, άλλοτε σημαντικές και άλλοτε όχι τόσο πολύ. Αυτό έχει ως αποτέλεσμα ακόμα και ο πιο μέσος αναγνώστης να δέχεται συναισθηματικά με τους ήρωες και να υιοθετεί την επιτακτική τους ανάγκη να βρεθεί ο ένοχος, σαν να πρόκειται για δικιά του υπόθεση. Φυσικά το γεγονός ότι τόσο η Γκρέις όσο και η Τζένι ζουν μια εξωσωματική εμπειρία δεν μπορεί να περάσει απαρατήρητο, πηγαίνοντας την ιστορία ένα βήμα παραπέρα, ακροβατώντας ανάμεσα στο ρεαλιστικό και το μεταφυσικό με έναν τρόπο που κανείς μας δεν μπορεί να αποδείξει αν ισχύει ή όχι αλλά που την ίδια στιγμή, ελπίζουμε και ευχόμαστε.

Όπως ίσως αντιλαμβάνεστε διαβάζοντας όλα τα παραπάνω, η αστυνομική πλοκή μπαίνει σε δεύτερη μοίρα, με τους δεσμούς της οικογένειας να έχουν πρωταρχικό ρόλο, παρ' όλα ταύτα, είναι πάντα εκεί. Με σταθερό ρυθμό, έρχονται στο φως στοιχεία που οδηγούν σταδιακά στην αποκάλυψη της αλήθειας, όχι μόνο όσον αφορά την υπόθεση του εμπρησμού που έχει οδηγήσει ένα μόλις βήμα πριν τον θάνατο δύο ανθρώπους αλλά, και άλλως υποθέσεων που με τον έναν ή τον άλλον τρόπο, αποδεικνύεται πως σχετίζονται μεταξύ τους αλλά και με την καλά κρυμμένη αλήθεια πίσω από το πρόσωπο κάθε ευτυχισμένης και υποθετικά πάντα, χωρίς προβλήματα οικογένειας. Οι ισορροπίες είναι εξαιρετικά λεπτές θυμίζοντάς μας πως, ότι λάμπει δεν είναι χρυσός και πως πίσω από τα πιο μικρά πράγματα, μπορεί να βρίσκονται καλά κρυμμένες οι μεγαλύτερες και οι πιο τρομακτικές αλήθειες που περιμένουν να γίνει εκείνο, το ανεπαίσθητο λάθος που μπορεί να γκρεμίσει κάθε τείχος προστασίας, όσο καλά χτισμένο κι αν είναι.

Η γραφή της Rosamund Lupton είναι απλά συγκλονιστική, για ακόμα μια φορά, αποδεικνύοντας περίτρανα πως ακόμα και το πιο κλισέ λογοτεχνικό είδος μπορεί να γίνει ξεχωριστό και ανατρεπτικό, απλά και μόνο κάνοντάς το δικό μας. Μια αστυνομική ιστορία με δράση, μυστήριο και ανατροπές, που οδηγεί σε μια συγκλονιστική ανακάλυψη, όχι μόνο για τον εμπρησμό και τα θύματά του αλλά, και για την ενδοοικογενειακή βία που μπορεί να γίνει πολύ πιο περίπλοκη απ' όσο ίσως πιστεύουμε. Και πάνω απ' όλα, η ιστορία μιας ευτυχισμένης οικογένειας που βρίσκεται εν μέσω του κυκλώνα μιας τραγωδίας, χωρίς ωστόσο να καταφεύγει σε φτηνούς μεγαλοδραματισμούς, τονίζοντας πως η δύναμη της αγάπης μέσα στην οικογένεια, πολύ περισσότερο της μητρικής απέναντι στα παιδιά της, είναι ότι πιο όμορφο, δυνατό, ειλικρινές και ανιδιοτελές μπορεί να υπάρξει και πως ότι κι αν συμβεί, δεν σβήνει, δεν χάνεται. Είναι πάντα εκεί, ακόμα και ως θύμηση, ως σκέψη, ως φάντασμα για να κρατάει ζωντανά τα αρώματα και τα χρώματα, τις μνήμες και τα αγγίγματα, προστατεύοντάς την με όποιο κόστος που ποτέ δεν είναι μεγάλο, ποτέ δεν είναι αρκετό.(less)

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Aug 24, 2012 Erin Webb rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, mystery, mature

There are so many things I loved about this book! A crazy mystery written from a really cool perspective -- the mother's "soul" having an out-of-body experience while her body is in a coma trying to recover after she runs into her childrens' burning school to rescue her daughter. I can't clearly describe it but it was totally interesting and a clever idea of how to tell the story and "solve" what happened to her, her daughter Jenny, and her son, Adam. Grace, the main character, was awesome -- th...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Doreen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: public-library

I picked up this book because a review in Maclean’s described it as a “literary crime novel” and I’m glad I did. It is not flawless but is eminently readable.

There is a fire at a private elementary school. A parent, Grace Covey, rushes in to check on Jenny, her 17-year-old daughter who is assisting at the school’s sports day. The two are critically injured. Caught between life and death, the two are able to follow family members and investigators who quickly determine that the fire was arson and...more I picked up this book because a review in Maclean’s described it as a “literary crime novel” and I’m glad I did. It is not flawless but is eminently readable.

There is a fire at a private elementary school. A parent, Grace Covey, rushes in to check on Jenny, her 17-year-old daughter who is assisting at the school’s sports day. The two are critically injured. Caught between life and death, the two are able to follow family members and investigators who quickly determine that the fire was arson and Jenny a target. There are two major questions in the remainder of the book: Who was trying to kill Jenny? Will Grace and Jenny survive?

The narration may present problems to some readers. First of all, some suspension of disbelief is required since Grace, the narrator, exists on some quasi-spiritual plane where she (and Jenny) could best be described as having a protracted out-of-body experience. Unfortunately, the parameters of their state are never clearly delineated. For instance, Grace describes physical pain when she leaves the confines of the hospital; she refers to her skin being scalded by warm air and gravel cutting into her unprotected feet (130, 197) although she quickly (too conveniently?) develops a tolerance for the pain. Spiritual beings have physical sensations? The point of view is second person, the “you” being Grace’s husband. Coupled with the use of present tense, the narration is sometimes awkward.

There is sufficient suspense created by the requisite twists and red herrings, although the use of a bungling police officer, Detective Inspector Baker, seems contrived. Fortunately for the investigation, Detective Sergeant Sarah McBride, Grace’s sister-in-law, takes unofficial charge. Unfortunately, she is sometimes just too perfect, making not a single misstep, so that a romantic indiscretion seems thrown in to humanize her. Point of view is used well to create suspense; Grace and Jenny occasionally have information unknown to the others but they have no way of communicating to assist with the investigation.

The ending is foreshadowed very early on so it is not a shock. Grace comments that in life, “There is no happy ever after” (383), but the ending is nonetheless satisfying and strangely uplifting.

The novel is more than a mystery in that it focuses considerable attention to developing character and theme. Grace, for instance, is a dynamic character. She acknowledges some of her negative traits, particularly a tendency towards envy, and gradually realizes that she has misjudged people, especially her sister-in-law, and that she doesn’t really know her teenaged daughter. If there is a weakness in this element it is that Grace seems to have been very unperceptive and a very poor judge of character.

The theme of family love – the love that exists between spouses, between parents and children, and between siblings – is thoroughly developed. Grace summarizes it well: “Other people can write the great book, paint the wonderful painting, because I don’t need a work of art to speak for me . . . my family will do that” (375). In the novel, there is actually more than one family that speaks about love.

Despite its weaknesses, this book is an enjoyable read; time will pass quickly as its pages are turned.
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Jul 20, 2012 Elva Kenley rated it 1 of 5 stars

Although this was a very readable book, in terms of being a page turner with an intriguing whodunnit mystery...I found myself quite irritated most of the time.

Overall I found the whole plot too contrived, the twists and turns were not particularly believable - not because the situations were outrageous or because of the lovely bones-style conceit - but because they didn't seem true to characters. The characterisation seemed to twist out of shape to fit plot contrivances. When the villain is fina...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Laraemilie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

‘What is there afterwards?’ an existential question Rosamund Lupton has obviously thought about when she chose the title of her new book. Grace is at sports day on a bright and warm summer day. Suddenly, the lovely afternoon turns into a nightmare: the school is on fire, and she knows that her daughter is inside. She runs to rescue her. The police soon find out that it is arson. Who committed that terrible crime? The culprit must be arrested as soon as possible, because Grace’s family is in dang...more ‘What is there afterwards?’ an existential question Rosamund Lupton has obviously thought about when she chose the title of her new book. Grace is at sports day on a bright and warm summer day. Suddenly, the lovely afternoon turns into a nightmare: the school is on fire, and she knows that her daughter is inside. She runs to rescue her. The police soon find out that it is arson. Who committed that terrible crime? The culprit must be arrested as soon as possible, because Grace’s family is in danger.
The book starts with a flashback explaining the moment the fire started. The readers who have read Rosamund Lupton’s first novel will recognise her style straightaway: simple, nearly oral, and as if she were addressing the reader personally. In Sister, Beatrice describes the events to her sister Tess, using alternatively the first and second person narrative. In Afterwards, it is Grace who tells the story to her husband Mike. We can draw the comparison even further: Tess will never read Beatrice’s story because she died, and Mike might not either, because Grace has become a spirit – hence the title… unless…
This point of view is unique and it was quite a risky decision. Having a spirit as the main character is unusual and is definitely not what you would expect in a crime book. When I first understood that, I must admit I was quite disappointed. I do not mind ghosts or spirits – for example I enjoyed the Lovely Bones – but I just felt it did not fit in the story that well. Fortunately, I soon realised that I was wrong and I hope the readers who are not convinced by this supernatural aspect will manage to suspend their disbelief, because the book is actually worth reading. This point of view gives the author many opportunities and, in my opinion, it adds to the depth of the story. It would be alright to follow the investigation through Mike’s, Sarah’s or the police’s eyes, but it is even better to have Grace and Jenny’s opinions as well, because they have actually experienced the fire. Moreover, we know more about their characters and feelings than if they had just been present in the background, injured at hospital.
I found the beginning rather slow. The contrast between the lovely afternoon at sports day and the ‘afterwards’ – Grace’s and Jenny’s bad injuries, the hospital, the discovery that the fire was started by an arsonist, the constant threat on the family, the stubborn police officers who do not follow the right leads – is very successful. However, it takes a long time until something really significant is discovered and the passages where Grace and Jenny follow the various characters in order to find out the truth are quite repetitive at times. There are also several flashbacks and I must admit I was quite frustrated not to see the investigation move forwards. However, now that I have finished the book, I understand that these sequences were necessary and added to the depth of the story. They help us know more about the character’s past and their feelings and so they are portrayed with many details that are important later in the book.
The twists and turns are amazing and so is the suspense. Rosamund Lupton sends us on a number of leads, but every time we think we have discovered the culprit, another event occurs and changes things completely… and we are mislead until the very last pages, with an amazing coup de théâtre. However, Afterwards is not only about a crime and an investigation. It deals with much more serious themes which are beautifully developed: family love – between brother and sister; between parents and children; between partners – and death for example. We also see how the image we have from someone can be totally biased and inaccurate and how it can be changed when something important happens. The crescendo of the plot is amazing – although I would have preferred a better balance for the pace of the plot between the – slow – beginning and the – quick – end, and the end poignant.
Afterwards is not only a gripping crime with countless twists and turns, but it also encourages reflection on several important themes, making it a rather emotional novel. Be careful, because once you open it, you will surely not be able to put it down until you have finished it.
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Jul 17, 2012 Kimmy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read and loved Rosamund Lupton’s novel Sister last year, so I was very much looking forward to this one. Here is an excerpt of the Kobo store’s summary:

The school is on fire. Her children are inside. Grace runs toward the burning building, desperate to reach them. In the aftermath of the devastating fire which tears her family apart, Grace embarks on a mission to find the person responsible and protect her children from further harm. This fire was not an accident, and her daughter Jenny may st...more I read and loved Rosamund Lupton’s novel Sister last year, so I was very much looking forward to this one. Here is an excerpt of the Kobo store’s summary:

The school is on fire. Her children are inside. Grace runs toward the burning building, desperate to reach them. In the aftermath of the devastating fire which tears her family apart, Grace embarks on a mission to find the person responsible and protect her children from further harm. This fire was not an accident, and her daughter Jenny may still be in grave danger. Grace is the only one who can discover the culprit, and she will do whatever it takes to save her family and find out who committed the crime that rocked their lives. While unearthing truths about her life that may help her find answers, Grace learns more about everyone around her – and finds she has courage she never knew she possessed.

I really liked this book, perhaps even better than I liked Sister. The story is narrated by Grace, and it all starts with a fire at her son Adam’s school on Sports Day. Jenny, working at the school as a teaching assistant, is in the building at the nurse station. When Grace realizes this, she runs into the school to rescue her daughter.

And then…things went in what I thought was an unexpected direction, and as it isn’t mentioned in the summary above, I certainly won’t mention it here in my review!

I loved the characters in this book. Through Grace’s eyes, we see Jenny, Adam, Mike (her husband), and secondary characters such as Mike’s sister, who is a police officer, Grace’s mother, her friend, and various school personnel, among others. I really liked Grace. She was so full of love for her family, which made her overprotective on occasion, but her flaws were part of what made her feel real. When she admitted to feeling a certain way about some of the choices in her life and then showed how that’s influenced her as a wife and mother, it made me feel as though I understood her. She felt like a real person, and I cared about her.

I also loved her eight year old son, Adam. He’s shy, bookish, does well in school, anxious, and gentle. My heart went out to him constantly throughout the story. Jenny, in many ways, is the opposite of Adam. She’s brash, popular, outgoing, and more interested than being out in the world than she is in academics or worrying too much about her future. I loved the contrast between the siblings, and seeing how much they love each other despite any differences.

I was also touched by Grace and Mike’s relationship. They’ve been married for something like 19 years, and I always love to read about two people who are still in love. There were disagreements, but who wants to read about a couple that agrees on everything, never argues or disagrees? It isn’t believeable. I’d rather read about a marriage that seems happy and real. No matter what was going on, I never doubted that Mike and Grace were in love.

As for the plot, I loved the way it unfolded, and had me constantly guessing as to the identity of the culprit. I was satisfied with the resolution, and found myself reading as fast as I could to figure out what happened.

I definitely recommend this book! It’s not as twisty as, say, Gone Girl, but I think it has more heart to it, which makes for a great balance. (From http://www.pingwings.ca/afterwords-a-...)(less)

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Jul 07, 2012 Kristine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

Be forewarned. This one -- with its deftly twisty-turny plot in (I predict) a not-easily-forgotten literary crime novel-- was hard to put down, so if you are reading late at night, be prepared to keep reading longer than you intend.

What's great: The plot is not easy to unravel in advance and it makes a decent beach read.

What's not so great: The reading experience at times was marred for me by a quite awkward and unusual second person writing style. Grace, the fiercely loving mother narrator...more

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Jul 01, 2012 Yvann S rated it 4 of 5 stars

"I put nine years of experience, the NHS and John Lewis' nursery department between my baby and the dangerous wilds of the Serengeti"

In Lupton's latest (I loved Sister but had issues with the resolution), Grace Covey wakes up in hospital disassociated from her body. As she revisits her memories of how she got there, teaming up with her similarly badly injured and disassociated daughter, the criminal behind a terrible deed is slowly revealed.

I found the start fairly slow going, because I struggle...more

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Jun 30, 2012 Kandice rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2012, fiction, suspense

Don't start reading this book until you can read it all the way through to the end. A combination of suspense, mystery, and family drama, this book will stay with you long after it's finished. While I enjoyed Lupton's first novel, I found I couldn't remember much of it later. I sincerely doubt I will forget this story for a long time to come.

Narrated by a mother who rescued her daughter from a burning building, the story weaves in and out as Grace tries to discover who would set fire to a school...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Kathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-june-2012

The premise of this book is a little shaky, but the story is interesting enough to keep you reading just to find out what's going to happen next.

Our heroine is Grace, a married mother of two, who rushed into a burning school building to rescue her teenage daughter, Jenny, and wakes up in the hospital outside her body. It appears she is in a deep coma, and the doctors are afraid she will never regain consciousness. Jenny is in the hospital, too, badly burned, also in a coma, and also existing ou...more

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About Rosamund Lupton

Rosamund Lupton started writing when she could first hold a pencil. She studied English literature at Cambridge University. Following her BA degree, she was a freelance copywriter and reviewer, including writing reviews for the Literary Review. She won a TV play competition and became a full time screenwriter, working for the BBC and independent film companies. When her youngest child started scho...more

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Quotes from Afterwards

“I'm a sliver-thin light, diamond sharp, that can slip through gaps in the world we know. I will come into your dreams and speak soft words when you think of me. There is no happy ever after - but there is an afterwards.
This isn't our ending.” — 9 people liked it

“It's not the fledgling birds that are thrown out of the nest by their parents and made to fly; it's the parents who are made to get the hell out of cozy family nest by their teenage offspring. It's we who are made to be independent of them, crash-landing if we don't manage it.” — 4 people liked it

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