After mom has gone missing, her husband says to himself, your wife, whom youd forgotten about for fifty years, was present in your heart p. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that. After you jojo moyes, 2015 penguin publishing 368 pp. Johns father, one of the few characters whose point of view isnt represented, comes across as a generic religious monomaniac and could have done with a section of his own. Please note that sometimes book club events are canceled or rescheduled due to unforeseen circumstances. After youd gone, maggie ofarrell girl with her head in a. Its been quite a while since i read the book, but i thought alice lived. If youre ready to start a book club, heres 40 of the best book club questions, for fiction. She must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. When alice raikess lover john insists that she must never cut her long hair, we know instantly that things will end badly.
Anyone as selfish and determined as you are is never helpless. After youd gone by maggie ofarrell published by hachette uk on november 12th 2009 genres. A fascinating story of families in which painful, buried truths finally come to the surface, after youd gone is also a warning of sorts to those who hold secrets. In after im gone, one man leaves many questions the.
New book club bookmarks novels ideas 26 of the best book club questions for sparking discussion. The rest of the book goes circling and swooping around what happened and why and what it meant to alice, exploring her past and her mothers. A riveting story that skips through time and interweaves multiple points of view, after youd gone is a novel of stunning psychological depth and marks the debut of a major literary talent. She thought i was a bit pessimistic for even doubting that she survived. A distraught young woman, alice raikes, boards a train at kings cross to return to her family in scotland.
The chorus adheres to a standard abac pattern but is only 20 measures long. With searing honesty and depth, maggie ofarrell combines a tragic love story with tensionfilled moments of suspense cleverly mixed with the ingredients of coincidence and chance. Perhapsi want the old days back again and theyll never come back, and i am haunted by the memory of them and of the world falling about my ears. Maggie ofarrell has been prominent since her debut after youd gone, 20 years ago, and her books have won acclaim from then up to her 2017 memoir i am, i am, i am. In one of my past book clubs, we literally only read books that included discussion questions at the end of the book because we wanted to be certain wed have a meaningful discussion. Ive been in a lot of book clubs, and i know its not always easy to get a conversation going on a book.
The reader knows that something bad has happened in her life, that she has witnessed something difficult. A wordofmouth sensation, this novel is guaranteed to keep you on your toesand have you talking about it to your friends. Alice raikes takes a train from london to scotland to visit her f. Maggie ofarrell audio books, best sellers, author bio. Alice was never accepted by johns father when john was alive, so i took his presence by her hospital bedside to signify his forgiveness and. Below is a selection of the many reading groups and book discussions. Discuss the pain and regret moms family feels, including in the context of the books epigraph from franz liszt, o love, as long as you can love. The story focuses on alice, who begins the book by getting hit by a car and falling into a coma. After youd gone ebook by maggie ofarrell 9780755372232. A thrilling debut novel about how far well go to protect. The story is mesmerizing, alice is a completely believable and sympathetic heroine, the writing is impressive, and ofarrells storytelling instincts are so pinpoint perfect, i was filled with awe and not a little envy. Im not a fan of family dramas and here we have not one, not two, but three generations of familial bickering. My current book club group is much more casual, but perhaps too much so.
It is a love story which is also a story of absence we discover that alices lover, john, has been dead for a year by the time the book starts and of parental legacies. A love story that is also a story of absence, and of how our choices can reverberate through the generations, it slowly draws us closer to. After youd gone by maggie ofarrell bookannelid book. But wherever i go, people want to talk to me about the infighting and the politics. After youd gone by maggie ofarrell her debut novel. After 42 years of meeting inperson, ferndale book club goes virtual in pandemic the coronavirus pandemic may have separated us, but thanks to technology, it hasnt isolated us. Maggie ofarrells debut novel, after youd gone, won a betty trask award and earned her a spot on the 21 great talents for the 21st century list compiled by the orange prize for fiction panel. The main character, alice is in a coma after being in road accident, which may or may not have been a suicide attempt. Recommend this book set in edinburgh, after youve gone is a moving story about a woman torn between her husband and another man in 1920s society. A love story that is also a story of absence, and of how our choices can reverberate through the generations, it slowly draws us closer to a dark secret at a familys heart. After youd gone by maggie ofarrell, 9780747268161, available at book.
After youd gone was maggie ofarrells first novel and in many. If gone girl whetted your appetite for unpredictable plotlines, dark and twisted characters or jawdropping finales, here are a few suggestions on. It was recorded by marion harris on july 22, 1918, and released by victor records. One member may push for john updike, while everyone else is. After youd gone by maggie ofarrell, paperback barnes. Alices complex and heartbreaking life story is gradually.
I made a huge mistake in choosing to read after youd gone, by maggie ofarrell. After the transformative six months spent with will traynor, she is struggling without him. The 26 best gone with the wind quotes kids book club. I was initially intrigued by the book description where alice, the youngest of the generations, witnesses something so shocking that she insists on.
I found this book hard to get into and understand at first also, but after the story developed it was hard to put down and well worth the read. The characters in laura lippmans after im gone are so well drawn that its easy to forget why they happen to be connected. Readers of our december issue know that weve dubbed gillian flynns gone girl the breakout book of 2012. Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
It is a stunning, bestselling novel of wrenching love and grief a distraught young woman boards a train at kings cross to return to her family in scotland. After youd gone is the groundbreaking debut novel from the costaaward winning maggie ofarrell, author of this must be the place and i am, i am, i am. Please check the calendar to make sure an event is scheduled on the date you wish to attend. After youd gone has its share of flaws notably its tendency, at times, to veer off into melodrama. Of course amy can cook french cuisine and speak fluent spanish and garden and knit and run marathons and daytrade stocks and fly a plane and look like a runway model doing it. The disrupted, disjointed nature of the narrative structure was something many commented on taking a while to adjust to and for the reader to get their bearings. I have read this book twice and i rarely reread books. Six hours later, she catches sight of something so terrible in a. Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter camille preaker faces a troubling assignment. After youd gone was ofarrells debut novel, published in 2002. After 42 years of meeting inperson, ferndale book club.
There are four 4bar phrases, followed by a 4 measure tag. After youd gone is northern irish author maggie ofarrells debut novel. Willa is a polite and respectable young woman, trying to cope with the tedium of her life whilst her husband is. After youd gone follows alices mental journey into how she came to be this way, as she twists together threads of memory in a plot that grips from the outset. Ive found that the best book club discussion questions are ones that are openended and that get people to share their personal opinions. He wants to edge along its byways and curves in the dark and wake up in its strands. I met maggie ofarrell at a book readingsigning for the vanishing act of esme lennox brilliant too and had a chat about the ending of after youd gone. This post contains affiliate links which you can use to purchase the book. Just send us an email and well put the best up on the site.
Her debut novel, after youd gone 2000 won a betty trask award and was followed by my lovers lover 2002. She lives with her husband and three children in essex, england. Louisa clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After youve gone is a 1918 popular song composed by turner layton with lyrics by henry creamer. If you buy the book using that link, i will receive a small commission from the sale. The dc public library offers a variety of book clubs for residents to gather and discuss their love of books. Like a pointillist painting, this fine debut is, from one perspective, formlessshort vignettes, told from multiple points of view and in multiple voices, that are. Please look after mom by kyungsook shin reading guide. After youd gone follows alices mental journey through her own past, after a traffic accident has left her in a coma. Book club trouble often has little to do with books the. The first time he met her, she was standing in the doorway of his office with a book in her hand, and her hair swung at her waist so cleanly that he fancied it almost made a belllike note. I cant wait for my sister to read the book so we can discuss it.
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