Michelle Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 I know this is cheating, but this review at Amazon sums this book up beautifully... Like a pointillist painting, Maggie O'Farrell's fine debut After You'd Gone is, from one perspective, formless--short vignettes, told from multiple points of view and in multiple voices, that are somewhat puzzling on their own and apparently have no connection to each other. Ultimately, however, these elements merge into a coherent and moving portrait of a young woman's journey toward a life-threatening crisis. In London, one cold day in late autumn, Alice Raikes impulsively boards a train home to Scotland. Shortly after joining her two sisters in the Edinburgh train station, she sees something "odd and unexpected and sickening" in the station's restroom that causes her to immediately flee back to London. Later that evening, while walking to the grocers, Alice broods over what she has seen, then abruptly steps into oncoming traffic. As she lies comatose in her hospital bed, a swirl of voices and images gradually reveals her past--her parents, especially her mother, Ann; her beloved grandmother, Elspeth; her two sisters, so unlike her, both physically and temperamentally; and John Friedman, whom she loved and lost--and hints at her precarious future. The unnamed spectacle of the opening washroom scene resurfaces in Alice's semiconscious haze and its eventual elucidation comes as less of a shock than a confirmation of all we have learned about her tumultuous existence. Sharply observed details of everyday life and language, original and telling figures of speech and deftly handled plot twists reach a moving climax, while subtly raising the question of whether the objects of Alice's affection--and the sources of her agony--were worth enduring. --Alex Freeman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inanna Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 LOL I don't call that cheating, posting it and saying its yours is cheating hehehehehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angerball Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 I'm reading this now - it's such a great book. I was just reading the interview with Maggie O'Farrell, and I loved the way she described her books: 'Long, with no respect for chronology.' I'm about 100 pages from the end, so I should finish it soon. The thing I'm finding with her books (though this is only the second one I've read), is that things are revealed in a very subtle, slow way. I just know that something major will be revealed at the end, and I'm dying to find out what it is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 Well said, thanks for sharing Michelle. I am planning to invest in this book. x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angerball Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 I have just finished this book (yeah, I really couldn't put it down since this evening), and it has left me a little weepy to say the least. What a great writer Maggie O'Farrell is! She would now have to be one of my favourite authors. I just loved everything about this book - the story, the way it was written, just everything. The part where John dies and the weeks/months that follow were just heartbreaking. Such a good author. I'm completely blown away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyanddandy Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 I have this on TBR so it will be next - thanks for that recommendation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted December 2, 2007 Author Share Posted December 2, 2007 I'm so glad that other people are enjoying her books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loopyloo100 Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 I've now read this one, but unfortunately I didn't connect with the characters and was a little let down as I really thought I would love it! never mind I should NOT have expectations of a book! Saying that I had expectations of Joe Simpson's Touching the Void and I wasn't let down by that at all! I will still read the other 2 of Maggie O'Farrels that I have in my possession, but I may hold off getting Esme for now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 I have this one on my tbr - I have read Esme Lennox and My Lover's Lover, and really enjoyed both of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icecream Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 Loopyloo, Esme is much much better than After You'd Gone. I haven't read any of her others, but I loved Esme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loopyloo100 Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Loopyloo, Esme is much much better than After You'd Gone. I haven't read any of her others, but I loved Esme. I most definitely think I will read Esme at some point in the future and I certainly didn't hate After You'd Gone, but I did wonder why I didn't connect with the characters! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcow Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 I'll be starting this one when I finish my current book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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