Afterwards

by RachelSeiffert (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $3.24

  To love someone, need you know everything about them? When Alice and Joseph meet, they fall quickly into a tentative but serious relationship. Both are still young and hopeful of each other, but each brings with them an emotional burden. Alice's family is full of absences and Joseph harbours an unspeakable secret from his time in the army in Northern Ireland. When Alice's widowed grandfather begins to tell Joseph about his RAF experiences in 1950s Kenya, something still raw is tapped in Joseph; his reaction to the older man's unburdening of guilt is both unexpected and devastating for them all.

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $4.33

  Serving in the British Army in Northern Ireland, Joseph shot and killed a man. A subsequent inquiry has cleared him of any inappropriate behaviour, yet, now returned to civilian life, he remains haunted by the experience. Working as a painter and decorator in London he meets Alice, and through her, her grandfather David, himself a veteran of the armed forces. In the 50s, David served in the RAF in Kenya, where unbeknown to his grand-daughter, he bombed Mau-Mau jungle hide-outs. In all probability and equally in the course of duty he too has blood on his hands. As soldier and pilot, both Joseph and he are innocent; as men, both perhaps are guilty. In this powerful exploration of guilt, war and the power of mankind's greatest yet all too frequently broken taboo, 'Thou shalt not kill', Rachel Seiffert delivers on the remarkable promise of The Dark Room and Field Study.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2007

  $3.24

  To love someone, need you know everything about them? When Alice and Joseph meet, they fall quickly into a tentative but serious relationship. She is a nurse, he a painter and decorator; both are still young and hopeful of each other, but each brings with them an emotional burden. Alice's father has been a yawning absence all her life, and her beloved grandmother - who helped raise her - has recently died. For his part, Joseph refuses to speak about his army experiences in Northern Ireland and Alice suspects that his general reticence hides an even more deeply troubled past. When her widowed grandfather begins to tell Joseph about his own RAF experiences in l950s Kenya - stories he had shared only with his wife - something still raw is tapped in Joseph; his reaction to the older man's unburdening of guilt is both unexpected and devastating for them all. Morally complex, understated, and powerfully moving, Afterwards confirms Rachel Seiffert's remarkable talent.