In January, Virginia from Haywards Heath chose to read The Aftermath by award-winning author Rhidian Brook. Brook’s 2013 book The Aftermath was adapted into a film of the same name starring Keira Knightley in 2019.
Rating: 4 out of 5
The Aftermath is set just after the Second World War – it starts in 1946 – and the story takes place in Hamburg, Germany, which at the time was in British control. It follows a British soldier, Lewis Morgan, and his wife Rachael and son Edmund, as they are to settle in Hamburg while Lewis is charged with helping to rebuild the bombed and gutted city.
The premise of the book is a really good one as the main family stay in a reclaimed house but, controversially, befriend the existing tenants and allow them to stay on. Rachael struggling with this idea initially. The story touched on a part of war history I discovered I knew very little about, what happened in Germany immediately after the war, and I found it explored people’s feelings and prejudices really well, as well as giving a lot of historical detail which was very interesting. The wretched state of the local German citizens described leaves a lasting image, and I found the book portrayed both German and British characters in a very balanced way, which added to the overall picture that there are no real winners in war, just survivors who have to pick up the pieces.
There is a bit of a love triangle in the story which threads its way through the other character’s stories, joining them up in a way, but if I am honest, for me, I never really warmed to the characters involved enough for it to ever be more than a side story. I found the story interesting and it has made me want to read up a bit more from this period in Germany, but because the characters weren’t as developed as they could have been this book is, for me, a good instead of a great.
A side note also is that the story comes from a genuine situation in the author’s family history, where his relative’s part is played by Lewis, who also requisitioned a house in Hamburg and allowed the German family to remain.
Would you like to give The Aftermath a go? If so, reserve your copy to collect from any West Sussex library by visiting the library catalogue.
What have you been reading recently? Have you got a great book to recommend? If so, get in touch!
The views expressed in this review are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of West Sussex Libraries.
Mid Sussex Reading Challenge 2020 