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Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton


Inver

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'Afterwards' by Rosamund Lupton

 

Well that was a good, intriguing, bit of a page-turner of a read. I know I could/should have read this quicker, but got there in the end. I had read her previous book 'Sister' and loved it.

 

A school sports on a sunny summers day, is darkened by black smoke coming from the school. Grace, one mother there is the one to notice the smoke and runs towards the school desperately seeking her 8yr old son Adam, who she knows has gone inside the school and also her daughter Jenny. Can she save them both? The outcome is devasting for the family and both injured.

 

Afterwards, Grace is determined to find the identity of who started the fire and put herself and her daughter in hospital. Herself in a coma due to head injuries and Jenny with severe burns and unconcious. Will they both survive?

 

The events in the book take place in and around the school and hospital. This is a book of mystery and at times frustrating as the story is told by Grace, who talks and refers to her husband as 'you'. The only other person who can hear her is Jenny. Jenny and Grace are caught between life and death and are overlooking the investigation by her sister in law, Sarah (a policewoman). It took a few chapters to get used to the narration being Grace and Jenny, but that in a way only added to the mystery of the plot and the closeness of mother and daughter grew. Sometimes I was confused as to who was talking though. There were plenty of other characters and twists and turns that keep you guessing who the arsonist was and I hadn't worked it out by the end.

 

There is an emotional ending that I shed a small tear over, but that is all I am saying.

 

4/5

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  • 3 months later...

I agree very much with your review Inver.  I believe that Sister was the better novel of the two.  I was also relieved that it took a while to work out the culprit as opposed to having guessed it within the first few pages.

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Great review Inver.  I've read both of her books and loved them.  I really appreciate the twists and uncertainty she builds, and look forward to more of her books.

Edited by pontalba
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