Afterwards

Editor's Pick for June 26, 2007

Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal -- Library Journal, 06/27/2007

Seiffert, Rachel. Afterwards. Pantheon. Jul. 2007. c.336p. ISBN 978-0-375-42260-7. $24.95. F

Seiffert's enigmatic new work opens with two terse memories, swiftly recounted and just as swiftly left behind until the reader finally discovers how they fit into the story. Raised by a single mother in her grandparents' home in England, Alice meets Joseph at a friend's birthday celebration, and they quickly become involved. Joseph even volunteers to do some construction work for David, Alice's crusty and taciturn grandfather, now widowed, who met and married his wife while doing army service in Kenya. As the reader slowly learns, Joseph himself has served in Northern Ireland, and he remains resolutely haunted by events that took place there. But Alice isn't privy to these secrets, and Joseph's reluctance to unfurl his past drives them apart, even as David seems ready to unburden himself of his own sorry tale. The award-winning Seiffert (The Dark Room) allows this story to unfold in brief, bright, elliptical stabs of narrative that effectively drive the story forward. At first, one chafes for events to bound ahead and allow the veterans to pour out their secrets; eventually, it's refreshing to discover that Seiffert doesn't fall for easy catharsis, reminding us that sometimes sorrow can never be resolved. For all literary collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/07.]