After You'd Gone: A Novel

Love the way she gives us a little bit of the story at one time, going backwards and forwards

This beautiful and assured debut novel by Maggie O'Farrell completely stole my heart making me smile and cry and keeping me gripped to the very last page. The book's prologue is a day in the life of Alice Raikes described in the opening sentence as "the day she would try to kill herself". Alice travels by train from London to Edinburgh to meet with her two sisters only to witness something so shocking that she turns straight around and comes back on the next train. She then steps into oncoming traffic and is so severely injured that for the rest of the book she is in a coma. The book then explores why Alice would behave in such a seemingly bizarre way. Written as a series if vignettes that change perspective between Alice and her family and move backwards and forwards in time the book slowly pieces together the strands that run through Alice's life. These flashbacks could be confusing in the hands of a less skillful writer but O'Farrell keeps the narrative moving forward seamlessly whilst revealing long buried family secrets. On the one hand this is a love story and my heart was touched by the relationship between Alice and John. On the other hand it is a tale of three generations of women in the Raikes family and explores their relationships and their secrets. Mostly though it is about Alice, a heroine who I loved and who stayed with me. O'Farrell has created a character of such spirit and passion that I missed her when the novel ended. Beautiful poetic writing, recognizable and fully drawn characters and an interesting structure that skillfully weaves together a great story make for a beautifully written book and a fabulous read.

I read this because I'd admired the author's novel, HAMNET. This book was confusing because of the shifting points of view and time jumps. I was not convinced by the characterization, couldn't relate their actions and feelings to real humans. Normally I pass books on to fellow readers, but this one I put into the recycling box.

i like the fact that a twenty year old copyright book was available in paperback. It was delivered within a few days. Good service, good book!

It's almost impossible to believe that this is a debut novel. The writing is so good, the characters so developed and the plot so well-conceived that it appears to be the book of a mature writer. The story goes back and forth in time and, from different viewpoints, tells the story of Alice's suicide attempt and what led to it. Alice Raikes is the only dark-haired child in a family of blonds. She is inquisitive, impulsive, environmentally-minded and has moved to London from her home in Edinburgh. She is working for an environmental agency when she meets John, a newspaper reporter with whom she falls in love. Theirs is a deep love, one that is rare and precious. Alice's mother Ann is a difficult woman who married Ben without really loving him. For many years she has carried on an affair with another man and has just assumed that Ben knew nothing about it. One day, Alice decides to visit Edinburgh from London and she is there scarcely ten minutes when she sees something that freaks her out. She turns around and hops on a train back to London. Once she arrives in London, she steps into traffic intentionally and is hit by a car. As she lies in a hospital ward in a coma, her story is told in both the present and the past, including her family members, their history, and the roles they played in Alice's being who she is. The story is phenomenal. I could hardly bare to put it down. O'Farrell's grasp of human nature is right on and her descriptions often brought me to tears. This is a book for anyone loving literary fiction and drama.