Stack of Spines

I finished After You and it was not what I expected.  Though I would still classify it somewhat as chick-lit or a beach read or whatever you call it (I don’t fancy my husband will pick this one up anytime soon) it had more depth than the usual by a female about a female for a female story.

There were so many good quotations and I wish I could highlight just one or two here, but upon reading my review and seeing the manuscript cover, my coworker snatched it from me (OK – eagerly grabbed) and said she’d return it without any dog-eared pages.  I guess I can’t argue with that; books are meant to be read.

Below is my official review.  I am particularly interested in a discussion on the title if (I hope I can write WHEN here) anyone reads After You.

I won this book on a FirstReads Giveaway and I’m very glad I did.

At first, I had mixed feelings. The beginning seemed so very basic and tidy — a rich lady goes to Notting Hill to help out her best friend’s rich family after she has been brutally stabbed in front of her 8-year old daughter on their way to school. The events were nothing out of the ordinary; the daughter, Sophie, didn’t speak for a long time, and her father was equally distraught. There were some chick-lit cliches and I was worried I wouldn’t like the rest.

And then Buxbaum turned the novel on its head. There was more to their happy little marriage in a quaint European town, and there was more to the main character’s life as well. There were secrets and nightmares and revelations and tragedy and all the things people don’t think about when they picture a happy family in Notting Hill. The book wasn’t about a murder at all, but rather, it was about the relationships we have in our lives and what they tell us about ourselves.

I consider myself somewhat of a bibliophile and I appreciated the tie-in with The Secret Garden and how the transformation of Mary (and again, her relationships) helps her through a difficult period. And also the image of certain events in our lives being tied to the books we were reading at the time; that is often how I think of it. The plots and sub-plots worked well together. I felt like I got a full view of their lives that summer instead of a disjointed array of unrelated events like some other novels.

There were moments in the book I could really relate to Ellie, especially when she grasped at straws for answers. She felt stuck and alone and wasn’t sure how to move on, but at the same time, she put one foot in front of the other and managed to ease Sophie’s pain as well as some of her own along the way. And then suddenly, she used that to understand her marriage in a different way. How often does something happen that we least expect that affects another part of our lives more than we could ever imagine? The dialogue is not nearly as great as Buxbaum’s descriptions of Ellie’s thoughts and emotions as she works through her pain. I love when I can read a book and see something I’ve thought a thousand times described in a new way.

The ending surprised me in a good way. I was expecting a generalized wrap-up with a carriage into the sunset, and instead, it was true and real and raw.

And without spoiling too much, I am struck by how many different meanings the title has. The You in After You could be a handful of people and I drink up when a novel makes me ponder the author’s meaning. One stands out slightly to me, but it makes me wonder who Julie Buxbaum meant it to be.

Four stars to Julie Buxbaum. I plan to read The Opposite of Love because of After You.

Special thanks to Julie Buxbaum and GoodReads for allowing me to review.