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filaret526's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mayflowergirl74's review against another edition
4.0
So many of the books I read take place during The Great War or WW2, but I think The Aftermath might be the first I've read that takes place right after. The setting is a ruined Hamburg, Germany, and Colonel Lewis Morgan has been stationed here to help in the rebuilding efforts. He is a kind man, unwilling to damn an entire people for their part in starting the war, defending and offering help to those who have now been reduced to beggars. It's in this spirit that when he, his wife and young son are offered a grand house to live in, he doesn't turn out the owner of the house or his daughter but instead invites them to stay and live on the third floor.
The owner, Stefan Lubert, is a widower and is grateful for Lewis' kindness while his daughter is not so easily won over. I loved the relationship that developed between these people, especially that of Morgan's wife, Rachel, and Stefan, who she at first tried to keep at arm's length, not as forgiving of the Germans as her husband, still mourning the death of their older son caused by a German bomb a few years earlier. Over time, she sees Stefan as less of the German enemy and more of him as a man and a friend. All the while, Rachel feels so distant from her own husband--they having been separated for so long, and he is seemingly unable to tap into her grief or to fully understand it, perhaps himself so focused on rebuilding Hamburg that he can't properly grieve or see what his wife truly needs from him.
I loved how the son, Edmund, was written, so realistic, so on point as a boy on the verge of becoming a young man, on the verge of understanding and taking the world in differently. I will admit that when I first picked this book up, I thought he would be older and perhaps there would be some kind of romance between he and Freda, Stefan's daughter, but I'm so glad the author didn't do that and chose to write Edmund at eleven, which led to his interactions with some of the "feral" German boys his own age, all of them connecting to one of the tragic moments in the book.
There is some sadness in this book, but the author didn't throw anything in for shock value and left us with a great deal of hope for these characters. I do have one complaint, the reason I gave this book four stars instead of five, and I will offer this in spoiler tags:
I think this will be enough for most people, but I'm greedy, and I wanted more. I wanted to see them as part of the epilogue, as we saw the Luberts. I wanted to see them and Edmund in the near future. I wanted to know they were okay. I was also curious if Lewis ever had an affair with his interpreter. I think he sent her to London to keep that from happening, but I can't be sure.
There is also a part of me that wanted Rachel and Stefan to end up together. It was rather convenient that Claudia was still alive and not a total shock. It allowed Stefan to be happy again and allowed Rachel to return to her husband without having to feel sorrow for the man she'd grown so close to. But, as detached as Lewis was, he was a good man, and he deserved to have his wife. I'm glad it ended that way, but, as mentioned above, I wanted to see more of them in the end!
A very enjoyable read.
The owner, Stefan Lubert, is a widower and is grateful for Lewis' kindness while his daughter is not so easily won over. I loved the relationship that developed between these people, especially that of Morgan's wife, Rachel, and Stefan, who she at first tried to keep at arm's length, not as forgiving of the Germans as her husband, still mourning the death of their older son caused by a German bomb a few years earlier. Over time, she sees Stefan as less of the German enemy and more of him as a man and a friend. All the while, Rachel feels so distant from her own husband--they having been separated for so long, and he is seemingly unable to tap into her grief or to fully understand it, perhaps himself so focused on rebuilding Hamburg that he can't properly grieve or see what his wife truly needs from him.
I loved how the son, Edmund, was written, so realistic, so on point as a boy on the verge of becoming a young man, on the verge of understanding and taking the world in differently. I will admit that when I first picked this book up, I thought he would be older and perhaps there would be some kind of romance between he and Freda, Stefan's daughter, but I'm so glad the author didn't do that and chose to write Edmund at eleven, which led to his interactions with some of the "feral" German boys his own age, all of them connecting to one of the tragic moments in the book.
There is some sadness in this book, but the author didn't throw anything in for shock value and left us with a great deal of hope for these characters. I do have one complaint, the reason I gave this book four stars instead of five, and I will offer this in spoiler tags:
Spoiler
What bothered me was that Rachel's affair with Stefan was never discussed between Lewis and Rachel, at least not for the benefit of us, the readers. I think the author felt it unnecessary to go down that path, somewhat alluding to Lewis knowing but not spelling it out. There is a moment of tenderness at the piano when Rachel tells Lewis she loves him, something she doesn't say lightly, and then Lewis cries, finally mourning for his son, Michael. I think this is meant to be the "epilogue" of their story, to say that Rachel's love for her husband has been reignited, that she never really wanted to leave him, and that Lewis is changing too, finally grieving for the son they lost, perhaps now able to connect to his wife again in a way he'd not been able to before.I think this will be enough for most people, but I'm greedy, and I wanted more. I wanted to see them as part of the epilogue, as we saw the Luberts. I wanted to see them and Edmund in the near future. I wanted to know they were okay. I was also curious if Lewis ever had an affair with his interpreter. I think he sent her to London to keep that from happening, but I can't be sure.
There is also a part of me that wanted Rachel and Stefan to end up together. It was rather convenient that Claudia was still alive and not a total shock. It allowed Stefan to be happy again and allowed Rachel to return to her husband without having to feel sorrow for the man she'd grown so close to. But, as detached as Lewis was, he was a good man, and he deserved to have his wife. I'm glad it ended that way, but, as mentioned above, I wanted to see more of them in the end!
A very enjoyable read.
peaknit's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting British perspective of post war in Germany. I wanted to read this before seeing the movie.😊
katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
Review of a Goodreads First Reads copy.
This sounded promising - a huge bidding war, already actioned to be made into a major film.
And it gripped. It really did. Telling the story of post-war Germany, a piece of history I realised I hadn't thought much about (not the concentration camp victims, not the bombed Londoners, but the starving, decimated German people), we follow Colonel Lewis Morgan who has been given a house in 1946 for his family. He offers to continue to share it with the previous German owners, Herr Lubert and his teenage daughter. His estranged wife and (one remaining) son Edmund join him, his wife Rachael still grieving her dead older son. We see the aftermath of the second world war on the ordinary citizens of Germany, many of whom are desperately trying to prove they had no Nazi affiliation to be able to work and move about. Children scavenge and trade in cigarettes. It's a shocking portrait of life on the other side.
The story moves along rapidly, it wraps you up, as Lewis and his wife struggle to connect, Edmund acclimatises but faces resistance from nationalist Freda (his host's daughter), the underground (Nazi) resistance plots retaliations, and Rachael and Herr Lubert form an attachment after initial hostilities.
A lot happens in the 300 pages, and it feels like a very well-rounded and realistic portrait of how life would have been at this point in time.
Hugely enjoyable, rewarding, shocking and even educational.
Very cinematic all the way through. It will make an excellent post-war thriller.
This sounded promising - a huge bidding war, already actioned to be made into a major film.
And it gripped. It really did. Telling the story of post-war Germany, a piece of history I realised I hadn't thought much about (not the concentration camp victims, not the bombed Londoners, but the starving, decimated German people), we follow Colonel Lewis Morgan who has been given a house in 1946 for his family. He offers to continue to share it with the previous German owners, Herr Lubert and his teenage daughter. His estranged wife and (one remaining) son Edmund join him, his wife Rachael still grieving her dead older son. We see the aftermath of the second world war on the ordinary citizens of Germany, many of whom are desperately trying to prove they had no Nazi affiliation to be able to work and move about. Children scavenge and trade in cigarettes. It's a shocking portrait of life on the other side.
The story moves along rapidly, it wraps you up, as Lewis and his wife struggle to connect, Edmund acclimatises but faces resistance from nationalist Freda (his host's daughter), the underground (Nazi) resistance plots retaliations, and Rachael and Herr Lubert form an attachment after initial hostilities.
A lot happens in the 300 pages, and it feels like a very well-rounded and realistic portrait of how life would have been at this point in time.
Hugely enjoyable, rewarding, shocking and even educational.
Very cinematic all the way through. It will make an excellent post-war thriller.
rlshnhn's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
judyapneeb's review against another edition
I got up to about page 120 and lost the ability to care about these characters. Everyone felt wooden. I might see the film adaptation but this was a miss to me.
megs_k's review against another edition
5.0
The mind remembers what the soul can bear. ~ Rhidian Brook
missy_evanko's review against another edition
3.0
A different perspective of WWII. This is set entirely after the war, when the Allies came into Germany to dismantle any remaining resistance and put things back together. A British commander, his wife and son share a house with a German widower and his daughter as the commander tries to get the military to see that not every German is a Nazi, which is the opposite view of his wife who is still grieving a loss from the war. Dealing with German resistance and interaction with the family they live with changes both their perspectives.
The tone is quiet and solemn, and while there's more adult relationships in this book, I kept thinking a lot about The Book Thief while reading.
I liked the movie better, which is odd because you can normally get inside the heads of characters better in a book, but I thought the characters' motivations were more clear in the film.
The tone is quiet and solemn, and while there's more adult relationships in this book, I kept thinking a lot about The Book Thief while reading.
I liked the movie better, which is odd because you can normally get inside the heads of characters better in a book, but I thought the characters' motivations were more clear in the film.
willowcat's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyed this book but it felt was a bit superficial perhaps because of its origins as a screenplay. Although it did a good job of presenting the complexity of post war Germany and the difficulty of defining people as good or bad under the kind of conditions that the war imposed on them, I kept thinking that I wanted more details of the thoughts and feelings of the main characters. Overall a 3.5 star read for me.