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After You

by Julie Buxbaum (Goodreads Author)

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 · rating details · 1,448 ratings · 238 reviews

The complexities of a friendship. The unexplored doubts of a marriage. And the redemptive power of literature...Julie Buxbaum, the acclaimed author of The Opposite of Love, delivers a haunting, gloriously written novel about love, family, and the secrets we hide from each other—and ourselves.

It happened on a tree-lined street in Notting Hill to a woman who seemed to have t...more

Hardcover, 352 pages

Published August 25th 2009 by The Dial Press

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Aug 03, 2010 Jessica rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: novels

I read this in an evening when I wasn't feeling well and DH took over boy duty. It was fine for that but not a great novel. Ellie's best friend, Lucy, is murdered and Ellie moves to London to help care for her 8-year-old, Sophie. The author dodges a few cliches but manages to incorporate quite a few obvious plot points. The characters never seemed quite real to me. She excels in a few passages that describe the emotional punch of losing a loved one, but overall the book felt thin to me.

My star r...more

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Nov 25, 2012 Shonna Froebel rated it 3 of 5 stars

This novel tells the story of a summer from the point of view of a mid-thirties American woman, Ellie Lerner. Ellie has flown to London from Boston suddenly when her best friend Lucy has been murdered. Worse, Lucy's 8-year-old daughter Sophie witnessed the attack. Lucy's husband Greg is struggling to deal with it, and Ellie steps in where she is needed, abandoning her own life.
Ellie has left her job and her husband Phillip to be there, and Phillip is not understanding her need to be there for So...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2012

Ellie and Lucy have been friends nearly their entire lives, having grown up near one another in Boston. After college, the women's paths take slightly different directions when Lucy, a journalist, moves to England to marry a man she'd fallen in love with. In spite of the distance, the women remain close, and Ellie is even asked to be godmother to Lucy's daughter, Sophie. Ellie marries, suffers a crippling loss, and finds her marriage falling through her fingers. One day, she receives a call that...more

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May 22, 2012 Winna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: chicklits, general-fiction, mellow-books

After reading the Opposite of Love, I expected After You to be just as amazing. And it's not bad or anything, it's just that maybe I've expected too much.

We get sucked into Ellie's world immediately, the chaos and loss of a best friend, a husband, a life. But then, I'm not sucked into Ellie as a person. At first I don't understand her, I don't really know why she's making the choices she's making. It's only after half the book that I begin to relate to her, and like her as a character.

The book i...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Nikole rated it 3 of 5 stars

The only negative thing about reading a really amazing book, is that for at least a few weeks, any other book read will seem mediocre as best.

Unfortunately, I choose to read Julie Buxbaum's second novel immediately after finishing The Namesake. I had been looking forward to reading After You since it's publish date, especially as I had already read and enjoyed Bauxbaum's debut novel, The Opposite of Love.

Now, there was quite a bit about After You that I did enjoy, to start I enjoyed the plot. I...more

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Feb 26, 2010 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2009

I asked for this book for Christmas and am so glad I did! I thought of this book as a sort of coming of mid-life-age story. It's not so much the typical mid-life crisis though. The book starts off when Ellie has left her husband and home near Boston, to attend to her goddaughter, Sophie, in Notting Hill. Sophie's mother, Lucy, was Ellie's best friend and was murdered in front of Sophie one morning while walking her to school. Ellie takes her role as godmother seriously and immediately takes over...more

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Dec 16, 2009 Colleen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

Though others have categorized this book as chick-lit, I think that underplays the emotional truths laid out in the narrative. When Ellie's friend Lucy is killed, Ellie knows she has to rush to London to help care for Sophie; what she doesn't seem to realize is how much her actions are driven by a desire to escape the life she is currently living. Ellie uses that classic tale The Secret Garden to reach out to Sophie because her mother used it years before to reach out to Ellie in a time of grief...more

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Nov 04, 2009 Rhonda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2009

One thing my girlfriend and I have always been amazed at is that ONE PHONE CALL in ONE MOMENT can change your life forever. Just like that, things will never be the same again...an accident, a disease, a death, whatever the news, one moment things can be just fine and the next moment your life is turned upside down.

That's what happens in this book, Ellie learns that her best friend, who is currently living in Europe, was killed in a street robbery...in front of her 8-year-old daughter, Ellie's...more

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Oct 23, 2009 gautami rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-books

Let's pretend things are different. That in the last couple of days, I haven't become the kind of person who resorts to wishing on eyelashes, first tears of the night, and the ridiculous 11:11, both a.m. and p.m., in earnest and with my eyes closed.

When Ellie's best friend Lucy is murdered in London, Ellie rushes there from Boston, to be with Lucy's eight-year-old daughter, Sophie. After greeting Ellie, Sophie stops speaking. Meanwhile, Lucy's husband has withdrawn into himself and the charge of...more Let's pretend things are different. That in the last couple of days, I haven't become the kind of person who resorts to wishing on eyelashes, first tears of the night, and the ridiculous 11:11, both a.m. and p.m., in earnest and with my eyes closed.

When Ellie's best friend Lucy is murdered in London, Ellie rushes there from Boston, to be with Lucy's eight-year-old daughter, Sophie. After greeting Ellie, Sophie stops speaking. Meanwhile, Lucy's husband has withdrawn into himself and the charge of taking take of Sophie falls on Ellie. Sophie had seen her mother mugged and killed while they were going to school. Ellie loves Sophie and will go to any length to get her back on track.

Sophie, like Ellie is a book lover. Ellie thinks she has the right book to share with Sophie and that can help both deal with their feelings. Hence, both starts on the journey of reading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. In the process of sharing the secret of that beautiful book, the healing process for both starts in the right direction.

Ellie too has certain issues to deal with in her personal life. Even though her marriage is disintegrating and she doesn't want to go back to her home and husband Phillip, leaving behind Sophie. For a while now, their relationship has gone down the hill. Ellie doesn't know how to deal with it. Sophie and Ellie deal with their griefs in the company of each other. Sophie has nightmares, misses her mother yet loves Ellie and can't think of letting her go. Ellie too can't leave the child even though she knows her marriage will disintegrate. Greg and Ellie become friends, what with Lucy and Sophie being the common bond. When Ellie discovers some secrets about Lucy, she is deeply shocked, about the secret and also about the fac that Lucy didn't trust her enough to share those with her. Lucy knew Ellie would disapprove.

Ellie is the narrator of the story and she understands the value of friendship, and being there at their times of need. She also knows her own deficiencies, although she doesn't know how to deal with it. The sadness is balanced out by the funny, witty moments. The sardonic manner of the narrator is not repelling as that is directed towards herself. And when she away from home, she understands the real value of home and belonging.

The colourful characters of Ellie's parents too take us in, along with her very straight brother. Her husband Phillip, too comes across well. A novel, which totally grips us, the sadness, the funny quirky moments, Gregs' idiosyncrasies, Sophie's childishness, the death of Lucy hanging in the background. And most important of all, The Secret Garden can and does heal Sophie. As it helps Ellie find home finally.
After You A Novel (less)

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Aug 28, 2009 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lucy, Ellie Lerner's best friend of 30 years, is stabbed to death while walking her eight year old daughter Sophie to school. Ellie is so devastated that she leaves her job and her husband in Boston, and travels to Notting Hill, England to help Sophie and her Greg through this difficult time.

Greg deals with his grief by escaping to local pubs, and little Sophie is so traumatized by witnessing her mother's stabbing, has stopped speaking. Ellie desperate to help Sophie, turns to the book, The Secr...more

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Aug 03, 2009 Amy Meyer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Title: After You
Author: Julie Buxbaum
ISBN: 978-0-385-34124-0
Pages: 337
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Publisher: Dial Press
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Wonderful, emotionally-charged, character driven story about loss, love and the power of the human spirit to adapt and change. You won't want to put it down.

Publisher: On a cobblestone street in Notting Hill, Ellie Lerner's life-long best friend, Lucy, is stabbed to death in front of her eight-year-old daughter. Ellie, of course, d...more Title: After You
Author: Julie Buxbaum
ISBN: 978-0-385-34124-0
Pages: 337
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Publisher: Dial Press
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Wonderful, emotionally-charged, character driven story about loss, love and the power of the human spirit to adapt and change. You won't want to put it down.

Publisher: On a cobblestone street in Notting Hill, Ellie Lerner's life-long best friend, Lucy, is stabbed to death in front of her eight-year-old daughter. Ellie, of course, drops everything - her job, her marriage, her life in the Boston suburbs - and travels to London to pick up the pieces of the life Lucy has left behind. While Lucy's husband, Greg copes with his grief by retreating to the pub, eight-year-old Sophie has simply stopped speaking.
Desperate to help Sophie, Ellie turns to a book that gave her comfort as a child, The Secret Garden. As the two spend hours exploring the novel, its story of hurt, magic and healing blooms around them. But so, too, do the secrets Lucy kept hidden, even from her best friend. As Ellie peels back the layers of her friend's life, she's forced to confront her own as well - the marriage she left behind, the loss she'd hoped to escape, and the elusiveness of the place we choose to call home.
A novel that will resonate in the heart of anyone who's had a best friend, a love lost, or a past full of regrets, AFTER YOU proves once again the unique and compelling talent of Julie Buxbaum.

I thought this book was going to be fluff, finished quickly with no lingering attachments. I was wrong. This is an emotionally charged story filled with myriads of life-altering, painful events sure to test even the most stoic of individuals. Eight year-old Sophie's reaction to her mother's murder is an example of the emotionally taught, touching and relatable writing by Ms. Buxbaum. As Ellie supports and comforts Sophie and Greg, Lucy's husband, she struggles to cope with her own pain at losing her best friend. Ellie's grief forces her to confront her own actions, both recent and in her past. When nightmares ensue and secrets are revealed, relationships are questioned as well as what it is to feel secure and happy. The reader discovers that Ms. Buxbaum has written a complex and ultimately satisfying tale about loss, love, forgiveness and new beginnings.

Ms. Buxbaum excels at creating some rich, complex, three-dimensional characters readers from all walks of life will find familiar. I was able to feel their pain, anger and their aggravations as well as relate to their times of joy. Several times I wanted to wrap my arms around Sophie and protect her, even read to her. I wanted to sit with Ellie over a cup of tea and commiserate while she tried to figure out her life and there were times I wanted to shake her! Ms. Buxbaum's characters dealt with real-life situations in realistic ways and the dialogue rang true, peppered with wry, sarcastic humor that offered welcome breaks from the tension in the story.

I thought this book was going to be fluff, finished quickly with no lingering attachments. I was wrong. This is an emotionally charged story filled with myriads of life-altering, painful events sure to test even the most stoic of individuals. Eight year-old Sophie's reaction to her mother's murder is an example of the emotionally taught, touching and relatable writing by Ms. Buxbaum. As Ellie supports and comforts Sophie and Greg, Lucy's husband, she struggles to cope with her own pain at losing her best friend. Ellie's grief forces her to confront her own actions, both recent and in her past. When nightmares ensue and secrets are revealed, relationships are questioned as well as what it is to feel secure and happy. The reader discovers that Ms. Buxbaum has written a complex and ultimately satisfying tale about loss, love, forgiveness and new beginnings.

Ms. Buxbaum excels at creating some rich, complex, three-dimensional characters readers from all walks of life will find familiar. I was able to feel their pain, anger and their aggravations as well as relate to their times of joy. Several times I wanted to wrap my arms around Sophie and protect her, even read to her. I wanted to sit with Ellie over a cup of tea and commiserate while she tried to figure out her life and there were times I wanted to shake her! Ms. Buxbaum's characters dealt with real-life situations in realistic ways and the dialogue rang true, peppered with wry, sarcastic humor that offered welcome breaks from the tension in the story.

(less)

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Apr 15, 2012 Den rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, chick-lit

This is a brilliant book which explores grief through a variety of characters. Ellie's friend since childhood, Lucy, is murdered and she rushes to London to help care for her child, Sophie. She reads 'The Secret Garden' to her and it helps them, a little, to cope with their loss, just as her mum had used on with her when her gran had died (though later she finds out her mum didn't do for her but rather for her dad!) - she then discovers that Lucy envied her and her life and was about to walk out...more

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Sep 06, 2010 Cara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2010

Ellie drops everything & jumps on a plane after receiving the devastating news that her best friend has been murdered. She travels across the Atlantic to London to be with her God daughter Sophie. A little girl who witnessed the 'accident' with her mother and has become mute. Ellie can't turn her back on this little girl and leaves behind her life in America to be there for Sophie. They share the children's book The Secret Garden to work through Sophie's trauma. Ellie also has a need to come...more

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Nov 10, 2009 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

I am not much of a chick lit reader, but “After You,” was a fantastic read for those who embrace the chick lit and those who do not.

Ellie’s best friend, Lucy, is brutally murdered in front of her daughter and Ellie comes to stay with her daughter to help comfort her during this time of loss. Ellie arrives in Notting Hill to find her husband who is drinking and working to comfort himself while Sophie has decided to stop speaking after witnessing the death of her mother.

Ellie remembers that when...more

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Aug 05, 2010 Jenni rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After enjoying my first book I was really looking forward to seeing what the next of my books from Transworld's Summer Reading Challenge was going to hold. "After You" appears to be marketed towards the Jodi Picoult reading market, it comes complete with a quote from her on the front cover. I've read most of Jodi Picoult books so thought I'd probably enjoy this one too. I actually found it to be a more straightforward read than most Jodi Picoult, it was less focussed on issues and moral debates....more

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Jul 05, 2010 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 16, 2009 Cindy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009-read

"Last Thursday, when Lucy stopped breathing, there is no doubt that a part of me died too. The history of who I am-the accumulation of a million memories from a thirty-one-year friendship, the knowledge that at least one person in the world could see me, that at least one person in the world would always know me-has been washed empty. I picture her blood trickling between the cobblestones, and one of the most important voices in my head, certainly the most constant, goes with it."

Wow....what a t...more

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Jul 06, 2009 Julie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Julie by: Won a copy from First Reads!

Shelves: first-reads

Ellie and Lucy have been best friends since they were four years old. Their lives have diverged – Lucy has always been the glamorous one, and she lives an upscale life with her husband and daughter in London, while Ellie has stayed close to home in a Boston suburb, where she is an adjunct professor – but they have remained extremely close. When Lucy is murdered, Ellie leaves her husband and job behind to take care of Lucy’s 8-year-old daughter, Sophie. Ellie finds out secrets about Lucy’s life,...more

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Apr 13, 2011 Lauren Fidler rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: abusive-relationships, books-i-can-read-in-under-3-hours, close-your-eyes-do-it-for-england, dysfunctional-family-drama, love-like-a-bad-mixtape, mindrot, sappy-tacky-sentimental-pap, unplanned-pregnancy

could someone please explain how i have managed to pick the saddest chick lit books this week? seriously! i cried no less than five times (residual pregnancy hormones, i swear)reading this one. another precocious little girl who reminds me of fiona, i fear.

the premise: ellie, a sharon-ite, moves to london (why is it always london, btw???) when her best friend becomes the victim of a senselessly brutal murder that her 8-yr-old daughter witnesses. her marriage is falling apart, partly because of t...more

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Jan 30, 2012 Aly rated it 4 of 5 stars

From the very first sentence I was immediately in love with this book. I enjoyed it the whole way through, but my first impression was slightly better than my last, unfortunately. It's Ellie's story of learning to live without her best friend Lucy- a part of her own identity- whom she didn't know as well as she believed. It's her story of loving Lucy's precious daughter, and letting that love open her heart back up to her estranged husband to rekindle their relationship as well. It is beautifull...more

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Aug 02, 2011 Ronya Misleh rated it 3 of 5 stars

Because, by the end, I had such strong distaste for the main character, I'm not sure whether I liked or loathed this book. I was going through it quite happily, thinking I liked it, until I realized just how selfish the main character was. Seriously, horribly selfish (and, really, the realization didn't come until the last 50 or so pages and I had had time to really dissect Ellie's behaviors and motives). Even her seemingly kind gestures (staying abroad to care for her deceased best friend's you...more

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Jan 28, 2010 Ameena rated it 4 of 5 stars

There is a fine line between chick lit and meaningful chick lit. While I have nothing against the light, airy nature of chick lit, I often find myself looking for something with a bit more substance. You know how it is, there is a time and a place for different genres, depending on your mood, your time, and your attention span. Well I was in the mood for something serious but relatable as well and I found exactly that in this engrossing novel.

Ellie Lerner's best friend (Lucy) was murdered, leav...more There is a fine line between chick lit and meaningful chick lit. While I have nothing against the light, airy nature of chick lit, I often find myself looking for something with a bit more substance. You know how it is, there is a time and a place for different genres, depending on your mood, your time, and your attention span. Well I was in the mood for something serious but relatable as well and I found exactly that in this engrossing novel.

Ellie Lerner's best friend (Lucy) was murdered, leaving behind a devastated husband (Greg) and eight-year-old daughter (Sophie). Ellie quickly leaves her crumbling marriage in Boston to fly to London and take care of Sophie and Greg. She stays on after the funeral to address her own demons - her inability to move past a stillborn child, her parent's marriage woes, her own seemingly insurmountable insecurities.

I was very interested in the unique premise of this novel. Sophie won my heart over immediately as a very likeable and sympathetic semi-orphan. As a mother, I couldn't imagine how traumatized a child would be after seeing her mother killed. The author does an excellent job of fleshing out Sophie's adult-like character.

Initially I did not take a liking to Ellie. Her character wore on my nerves with her indifference to her husband and job and responsibilities back home. I guess I am the kind of person who moves on from negativity pretty quickly and the fact that Ellie couldn't get past a tragedy she AND her husband shared really bothered me. I wasn't fond of her needy nature. As the novel progressed, however, Ellie became a lot more likable. As an impatient mother I appreciated the seemingly endless attention she showered on Sophie...from taking her to counseling to reading The Secret Garden (one of my favorite novels of all time) together. I don't want to give anything away so I will say this - with a few unexpected turns in Ellie's life and surprising information regarding Lucy, the novel quickly became a page turner.

This book left me thinking of all the different messages the author conveyed through the novel: how to move past a tragedy, how to value the people in your life, and how to remember what is truly important in the grand scheme of things. I highly recommend this novel, if not for just a temporary escape into someone else's problems, than for the sole reason of reminding us what really matters in life.

Ameena Din
Freelance Reviewer
http://www.fancythatfancythis.com (less)

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Jul 10, 2011 Abby Lyn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Without a second thought, Ellie Lerner flies to Notting Hill when she gets a shocking phone call that her beautiful best friend Lucy has been murdered by a stranger. Lucy's husband Greg is inconsolable from shock, leaving Ellie to console Lucy's eight year old daughter, Sophie, who not only lost her mother suddenly, but also witnessed the attack. While spending her summer in London helping what is left of Lucy's family cope with their sudden loss, Ellie must come to terms with startling revelati...more

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Jul 10, 2009 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, books-i-own, 2009, beach-reads

I won this book on a FirstReads Giveaway and I'm very glad I did.

At first, I had mixed feelings. The beginning seemed so very basic and tidy -- a rich lady goes to Notting Hill to help out her best friend's rich family after she has been brutally stabbed in front of her 8-year old daughter on their way to school. The events were nothing out of the ordinary; the daughter, Sophie, didn't speak for a long time, and her father was equally distraught. There were some chick-lit cliches and I was worri...more I won this book on a FirstReads Giveaway and I'm very glad I did.

At first, I had mixed feelings. The beginning seemed so very basic and tidy -- a rich lady goes to Notting Hill to help out her best friend's rich family after she has been brutally stabbed in front of her 8-year old daughter on their way to school. The events were nothing out of the ordinary; the daughter, Sophie, didn't speak for a long time, and her father was equally distraught. There were some chick-lit cliches and I was worried I wouldn't like the rest.

And then Buxbaum turned the novel on its head. There was more to their happy little marriage in a quaint European town, and there was more to the main character's life as well. There were secrets and nightmares and revelations and tragedy and all the things people don't think about when they picture a happy family in Notting Hill. The book wasn't about a murder at all, but rather, it was about the relationships we have in our lives and what they tell us about ourselves.

I consider myself somewhat of a bibliophile and I appreciated the tie-in with The Secret Garden and how the transformation of Mary (and again, her relationships) helps her through a difficult period. And also the image of certain events in our lives being tied to the books we were reading at the time; that is often how I think of it. The plots and sub-plots worked well together. I felt like I got a full view of their lives that summer instead of a disjointed array of unrelated events like some other novels.

There were moments in the book I could really relate to Ellie, especially when she grasped at straws for answers. She felt stuck and alone and wasn't sure how to move on, but at the same time, she put one foot in front of the other and managed to ease Sophie's pain as well as some of her own along the way. And then suddenly, she used that to understand her marriage in a different way. How often does something happen that we least expect that affects another part of our lives more than we could ever imagine? The dialogue is not nearly as great as Buxbaum's descriptions of Ellie's thoughts and emotions as she works through her pain. I love when I can read a book and see something I've thought a thousand times described in a new way.

The ending surprised me in a good way. I was expecting a generalized wrap-up with a carriage into the sunset, and instead, it was true and real and raw.

And without spoiling too much, I am struck by how many different meanings the title has. The You in After You could be a handful of people and I drink up when a novel makes me ponder the author's meaning. One stands out slightly to me, but it makes me wonder who Julie Buxbaum meant it to be.

Four stars to Julie Buxbaum. I plan to read The Opposite of Love because of After You.(less)

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Aug 29, 2010 Carole rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ellie, an American, goes to London to look after her best friend Lucy's daughter, Sophie who is 8, leaving behind her husband, Phillip, in Boston. Lucy has been tragically murdered and her husband, Greg, and Sophie (who has stopped talking) are devastated.

While Ellie and Sophie grow closer, Ellie and Phillip gradually grow apart. She tells Phillip that she's staying indefinitely, she believes she's doing the right thing looking after Sophie and they both find comfort in reading Ellie's favourite...more

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Jul 27, 2009 Charlene rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Book Clubs

Recommended to Charlene by: A Good Reads winner

I won this book from the Good reads site. The story follows Ellie, who is trying to recover from a still born and the slow destruction of her marriage. Ellie's childhood friend, Lucy, is murdered in an upscale part of London while walking her 8 year old daughter, Sophie, to school. Ellie flies to London to attend to the arrangements and deal with Sophie, who now refuses to speak. Dealing with the loss of her stillborn child, marriage, and now lifelong best friend, Ellie attempts to deal with the...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Debbie rated it 4 of 5 stars

First book I've ready by this author but will definitely look for more by her.

This novel deals with friendships, marriage, murder, secrets and things that people want to change in their lives but may not have admitted it to themselves until faced with tough decisions.

Ellie's best friend Lucy was murdered in broad daylight in front of her 8 year old daughter, Sophie Ellie drops everything in her life in Boston to go to London to help out with her godchild during this sad time. She draws upon "The...more

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Aug 20, 2010 Helen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-copies

Eight-year-old Sophie has been left traumatised after witnessing the murder of her mother, Lucy, in the street near their London home. Sophie's reaction to the tragedy is simply to stop speaking. Lucy's best friend, Ellie Lerner, has travelled from America to London to try to help her goddaughter and she becomes determined to break through Sophie's self-imposed silence. Knowing how much Sophie loves reading books, Ellie decides to introduce her to one of her own childhood favourites - The Secret...more Eight-year-old Sophie has been left traumatised after witnessing the murder of her mother, Lucy, in the street near their London home. Sophie's reaction to the tragedy is simply to stop speaking. Lucy's best friend, Ellie Lerner, has travelled from America to London to try to help her goddaughter and she becomes determined to break through Sophie's self-imposed silence. Knowing how much Sophie loves reading books, Ellie decides to introduce her to one of her own childhood favourites - The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

I was very unsure about this book at first; it looked very 'chick lit' and I'm not usually a fan of chick lit. So why did I want to read it, you might ask? Well, the plot sounded interesting and the Secret Garden connection piqued my curiosity (The Secret Garden was one of my favourite books when I was a child). It's nice to think that sharing a special book with someone can help them through a difficult time. I also learned a few interesting facts about the book - I never knew Frances Hodgson Burnett was inspired by the walled garden at Great Maytham Hall, for example.

The author has given Sophie a well-developed personality of her own, making her a believable and endearing eight-year-old. She's a girl who prefers reading to playing games and as a result isn't very popular with other children her age; Ellie's own love of books helps her to form a bond with Sophie and watching their friendship develop was one of the highlights of the story.

This book is not just about Sophie though. I was kept guessing how Ellie's own problems and relationships were going to resolve themselves, as it wasn't immediately obvious what was going to happen. As the main character and narrator, I didn't always agree with Ellie's actions but as the book progresses it becomes obvious that she is grieving too - and not just for Lucy - and is trying to work out what she wants from life. Another aspect of the book I found interesting was the way Ellie, as an American woman from Boston, had to adapt to the British culture and life in London.

So, although this was not a book I would usually have chosen to read, I did enjoy it. It was a much more complex and emotional story than I had been expecting with some important messages about love, loss, relationships and family. (less)

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Apr 18, 2010 Greenfairylv rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit

A moving story about dealing with loss and moving forward. When Ellie gets the news her best friend Lucy has been murdered she uproots from the life she shares with her husband in America to go and be with Lucy's daughter Sophie and husband Greg in Notting Hill.
Ellie's refusal to come back home creates tension in her own marriage. She decides its more important to devote herself to helping Lucy's eight year old daughter heal.
"I wish I were really young, like you. Eight is, like the best age."
"R...more

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Aug 25, 2010 Leah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: for-review, books-read-2010, favorites

When Ellie learns of the murder of her best friend Lucy, she does what any friend would do, and drops everything and heads to London to look after Lucy’s daughter, Sophie, and to pick up the pieces. Sophie, as expected, is struggling with her mum’s death and has stopped talking. Desperate to get the little girl to open up again, Ellie decides that the best course of action is to read a book with her. Ellie chooses The Secret Garden, a book that helped her get through childhood, and hopes it will...more When Ellie learns of the murder of her best friend Lucy, she does what any friend would do, and drops everything and heads to London to look after Lucy’s daughter, Sophie, and to pick up the pieces. Sophie, as expected, is struggling with her mum’s death and has stopped talking. Desperate to get the little girl to open up again, Ellie decides that the best course of action is to read a book with her. Ellie chooses The Secret Garden, a book that helped her get through childhood, and hopes it will do the same for Sophie. As Sophie and Greg get used to Ellie being around, and begin to piece their lives back together, Ellie is in danger of losing her life in America and her husband. Making her decision harder still is the things she finds out about Lucy, things she would never have expected of her best friend and make Ellie look at her in a whole new light. As secrets come out, will Ellie ever be able to let go of Sophie and will she end up ruining her marriage in the process?

After finally – finally – picking up Julie Buxbaum’s debut novel The Opposite of Love, I was stunned by how much I enjoyed it. It was well-written, it was different to most chick lit I read, and it made me cry. I know that’s probably not the most auspicious of reasons to love a book, but only the good ones are able to reduce me to tears. So I was so pleased to read Julie had a new book due to be released called After You and I was even happier when I received a copy. I had a quick look over the book and eagerly started it, thinking it would take me a couple of days to finish, but I actually managed it in about 5/6 hours, as it was literally unputdownable.

Whereas Julie’s first novel The Opposite of Love begins with a rather shocking opener where the main protagonist Emily dreams she cut her boyfriend up into hundreds of little pieces before eating him, the opener for After You is far tamer, but is still thought-provoking; “Let’s pretend things are different. That in the last couple of days, I haven’t become the kind of person who resorts to wishing on eyelashes, first stars of the night and 11:11, am and pm, in earnest and with my eyes closed.” It’s poignant, and sets the scene for us to dive right into the book. And we are, we’re plunged right into the situation Ellie is facing: a dead best friend, murdered no less, a mute god-daughter, a distraught husband and Ellie thousands of miles away from home. There’s no pre-empt, we don’t know anything that happened beforehand, just what happens in the aftermath of Lucy’s death.

While Ellie uses the outward excuse that the only reason she’s staying in London is because of Sophie, there’s also something bubbling under the surface that tells us that while that may be true, Sophie does need Ellie, Ellie also appears to need that break away from her husband, Phillip, and away from the US. It’s not easily apparent why, we learn that a bit later on, but it is apparent that something has made Ellie want to get away from it all and Sophie and Greg are the perfect excuse, despite the circumstances within which it happens. It’s definitely a multi-layered plot and it had a lot of depth to it. With everything Ellie has to deal with, the death of her best friend, her best friend’s distraught family and being away from home, Ellie also learns a lot about Lucy, things she never would have expected to learn and certainly not things she expected her best friend to keep from her, plunging their friendship into doubt. What really makes the book, though, is the relationship Ellie and Sophie forge together. Their bond becomes stronger and stronger and was a huge reason why I loved the book so much.

While in The Opposite of Love it took me a while to warm to Emily, I found it the complete opposite in After You when it came to Ellie. In fact, I loved Ellie right from the off. Not many people would sacrifice their own lives to head to London to help her dead best friend’s family. Yes, there was ulterior motives there, but still, it’s quite something for her to do. Ellie has her faults, don’t get me wrong, but on the whole she’s an easily likeable character and I could understand her reasonings for doing what she does. I also must admit as this juncture that I also felt complete sympathy for Phillip, Ellie’s husband, because it was clear to see his side of the story as well, missing his wife, having her thousands of miles away, and I could also understand everything he did. My absolute favourite character, though, was Sophie, Lucy’s daughter and Ellie’s god-daughter. She is without a doubt my favourite child character in any novel. She was so switched on for a 8-year-old and her observations were spot on most of the time. But despite all that, she still had her moments where it was clear to see that losing her mum hurt like hell and Buxbaum portrayed Sophie beautifully with the right mix of sadness but resilience. We also learn a lot about Lucy, as I’ve mentioned, but I find it hard to truly judge her because the fact of the matter is she couldn’t defend herself because she was dead so I hold my judgement of her. I also couldn’t really get a handle on Greg, Lucy’s husband, he just didn’t click with me.

Like The Opposite of Love, After You was written incredibly well. It was told entirely from Ellie’s point of view which worked brilliantly and Julie’s writing just blows me away. There is absolutely no way her books can be classed as Chick Lit, certainly not the light and airy Chick Lit you can get, this is grittier and it deals with some pretty serious issues. There’s no real happiness in the book – how can it be a happy book when an important person in the lives of our characters has died? But it doesn’t get bogged down with sadness, not at all, and although the book didn’t make me cry, I absolutely loved it. With both of Julie’s books I’ve never been sure of how they would end. There’s no optimism that it will all turn out OK, just real, proper, grown up relationships and I truly wasn’t sure what would happen to Sophie and Greg or Ellie and Phillip. After You blew me away, it really did, and I lapped up every single word of it. Julie Buxbaum is hugely talented and I eagerly await a third book.(less)

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About Julie Buxbaum

Please check out my two novels, THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE and AFTER YOU, both now out in paperback.

Please check out my website www.juliebuxbaum.com for more information about both books.

Or to follow my recent shenanigans, please check out my blog, JULIE HAS WRITER'S BLOG, at www.juliebuxbaum.com/blog/

One of my favorite things about being a novelist is the opportunity to talk to reading groups. If you...more

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Quotes from After You

“Five years ago, I said vows. And I believe in vows. I meant them, and not just when I said them out loud for an audience to hear but as a motto and a life choice. For as long as we both shall live. I hadn't anticipated the sandy flow of feeling, the yin-yang of love and dread, or the residual buildup of grievances and the slow draining of the benefit of doubt. In good times and in bad. Yes, sure, but in my naivete, I interpreted this as external; we would support each other when the world imposed and intruded. No one tells you that it's the internal that's the real challenge: those moments of decisiveness equal to taking a vow, when you feel the clawing grip of your pormises.” — 7 people liked it

“I wish I were really young, like you. Eight is, like, the best age."
"Really?"
"I don't know. To be honest, I don't remember being eight."
"That's good."
"Why?"
"I don't want to remember being eight either.” — 5 people liked it

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After You

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