After the War

by Frederic Raphael

In post World War II Europe, Michael Jordan and Joe Hirsch share a friendship marked by combativeness, a common Jewish heritage, and their ties to Michael's sister, Rachel

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Southern, Historical Fiction

544 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Writer, critic and broadcaster, Frederic Raphael was educated at Charterhouse School and at St John's College, Cambridge. He has written several screenplays and fifteen novels. His The Glittering Prizes was one of the major British and American television successes of the 1970s.

Reviews

[Ann]

After the War introduced me to Cynthia Baird "an actively unfaithful Navy wife", her husband Captain Harry Baird, their daughter Abigail and assorted friends and neighbours. World War II is winding down and the Bairds are transplanted Yankees now located in the southern town of Pinehill.

The character-driven story pulled me into their world while also touching on the changing times. The convalescence of Abigail's "colored" friend raises eyebrows in the neighbourhood as does her choice of Jewish boyfriend. Her friend Melanctha, who is self conscious of her big bosom, is frightened away from her college experience. Melanctha's father meets his maker under suspicious circumstances sparking a storm of gossip.

I felt like I was experiencing a time and place I had never entered before and am richer for the experience. I plan to read more of Alice Adams, especially her short stories.

[Wendy]

It read like a typical soap opera.

[Diane]

I loved reading anything by Alice Adams back when I was in college and grad school. She seemed to really understand the changing sexual climate AND she wrote beautifully. I felt she really understood ME and what my life was like circa 1980. This novel was published after her death and somehow I never got around to reading it. It is set in the late 1940's in the south and covers the plight of women, racism, anti Semitism and the fear of Communism. Somehow it feels dated and a little preachy. The writing is still terrific and the characters were a joy to read but it was a little heavy-handed.

[Patrick Barry]

This novel is interesting in its social commentary. It is about Connecticut Yankees living in the segregationist South during World War II. It is also telling commentary how a war seems to create flexible morality. Although the writing is good, the book suffers from the lack of a compelling plot. It was the author's last work, published posthumously. I will look into an earlier work to see if I like it better.

[Laura]

I almost did not read this book after seeing the low Goodreads rating so I checked professional reviewers thoughts and saw positive ratings. Glad I did read it as I enjoyed it! A basic story, nothing too intricate. My only complaint is often I didn’t feel as though this was a 1940s era book (especially when she mentioned pointed toe shoes on women - that was not the style during WWII).

[H.L. Gibson]

Read my full review at www.hlgibsonauthor.com

[Tasha]

I did not like this book. All tell, no show, and everyone was weirdly obsessed with one of the characters' large breasts.

[Laura Gatland]

Actually 3.5 stars.

[Dean]

Good read through WWII and post war white southern society. This is THE Alice Adams to read.

[Kelly Chester]

What a great book

[Cynthia]

Very typical Alice Adams . . . crystal-clear writing, women with complicated lives. Cynthia, who is from the North, lives in a Southern town while her husband is away fighting in the second world war. Cynthia has affairs with a couple of trouble-causing men, and applies to law school. Cynthia's daughter and a neighbor's daughters meet Jewish and Black men in college up north, and try to decide what to do with their lives . . .the McCarthy era starts. Predictably satisfying. Satisfying, I mean, if you like Alice Adams-type novels.

[Bentley]

There were many potentially interesting characters in this book. Too bad they weren't developed. I started out liking this book but there were too many possible storylines, and none of them really gained momentum or depth. Oh well.

[Susan Schefflein]

Alice Adams is a sensitive writer who creates characters who are alive, vulnerable and believable. I was thoroughly immersed in the story of the Baird family and their life in the South during and after WWII. It is a readable and enjoyable book.

[Diann]

I wanted to like this book....have loved other things by Adams and expected to with this. Just couldn't latch onto it--abandoned it before the first 50 pages.

[Torimac]

I guess people love it as a character study. Ehhhhh.... I liked the historical relevance of it.