Released: 6th April 2000
Genre: Drama, Romance
Maggie O’Farrell is a seasoned novelist, but her work wouldn’t be so well known without “After You’d Gone”, a strong, resonating debut that tugged at many reader’s heartstrings.
The story opens with the young Alice Raikes in a coma, her parents Anne and Ben at her bedside; how she reached this unnamed hospital is explained through a series of interconnected threads. We learn everything there is to know about Alice and her family from childhood to adult life around London. It’s all about the loving relationships she builds over time, most notably John Freedman which forms the book’s beating heart. The way they get together is best discovered on your own, but their bond is a rich one.
After You’d Gone takes place from several perspectives while dipping in and out of several time periods. Alice is the main protagonist, but we also witness events from the perspective of her sister, John and Anne on the way through. On occasion, we also take in a first-person view from Alice herself, delving more deeply into her feelings. All of it is relayed so clearly to the reader with a sense of light humour, empathy, and passionate intimacy. At times I was reminded of Sally Rooney’s Normal People when reading.
The swapping between past and present can be inconsistent at times. Some of the family memories do connect with the present, showing how Alice formed her delicate and somewhat eccentric persona. Others feel more like stop-gaps on the way to the next narrative turn, especially those that involve Elspeth. Alice’s grandmother doesn’t play a massive role in her adult life for example. Still, everything else is beautifully written and rendered.
Recommended?
YES: After You’d Gone is a deeply emotional and often heart-wrenching tale, a multi-generational drama that will get you fully invested in the characters and their close bonds. Aside from some flashbacks that don’t maintain as much interest, it hasn’t lost a bit of its power over twenty years on.
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