Overview

A masterly work of divorce and its consequences, Aftermath is a ruthless, rigorous record of the largely unwritten journey back to order from the chaos of separation. In the winter of 2009, Rachel Cusk's marriage of ten years came to an end. Candid and revelatory, Aftermath chronicles the perilous journey as the author redefines herself and creates a new version of family life for her daughters. She discovers previously unknown strengths and freedoms but also finds herself suddenly vulnerable to outsiders, unwelcome advice, social displacement, and the absence of a clear authority. The pressure to reconstruct a normal life for her daughters competes with the sense that nothing feels normal at all. Aftermath is a classic: a masterly work in which the author, at her most ruthless and rigorous, charts the largely unwritten journey back to order from the chaos that is left when a family breaks apart.

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Reviews

Beautiful...Compelling...[Cusk is] an extraordinary writer of the female experience. -- Financial Times Bold, gripping, original and occasionally darkly funny. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Brilliant...As slim and revealing as a microscope slide...Over eight echo-laden chapters, Cusk moves through her period of aftermath, from agitation to recrimination, to numbness, to new stirrings. -- Elle Compelling...Strikingly beautiful...Meticulously crafted...[Cusk] is a keen, even brilliant, observer of her own behavior. -- Christian Science Monitor Cusk can nail a simile like Gabby Douglas can execute a backflip. [She] is not afraid to take herself seriously--which is a tendency that George Eliot, among others, understood the value of. -- New Yorker Engaging [and] full of feeling...Cusk is a great observer of the roles people--and especially women--play, studying not only the garbs they put on for tradition and ideology, but also how this action affects their understanding of themselves. -- Washington Post Interspersed within the narrative are stories within stories, vivid scenes, and piercing observations. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) This book is a solace to anybody who has dwelt in post-familial wastes. -- San Francisco Chronicle Thrilling...There are riches buried like gold in the bitter picture Cusk describes...An enormously talented writer. -- Boston Globe

Author Information

Rachel Cusk is the author of Second Place; the trilogy Outline, Transit, Kudos; the essay collection Coventry; the memoirs A Life's Work, The Last Supper, and Aftermath; and several other novels: Saving Agnes (winner of the Whitbread Award), The Temporary, The Country Life (winner of the Somerset Maugham Award), The Lucky Ones, In the Fold, Arlington Park, and The Bradshaw Variations. Antonia Beamish is a voice-over artist and AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator. She is also a professional actress best known for performances in films such as The Last Horror Movie, Dead Creatures, and Chemical Wedding.

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