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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
It's refreshing to see a war novel with this subject matter. There's too much focus on the events before victory.
The beginning is a bit awkward but it shakes out well. It didn't end the way I thought it would.
The beginning is a bit awkward but it shakes out well. It didn't end the way I thought it would.
Review of a Goodreads First Reads copy.
4.5 Stars
The Aftermath started out a little slow for me, first 30 or so pages taking almost a week to read but after that I was sucked in and finished the rest in just a couple of days. This is not a period I would normally be particularly interested in but the story definitely kept me intrigued. I could really feel for each character both British and German. In fact I felt anger at times at the treatment of the Germans during the occupation. The books ending did leave me wanting for more. I highly recommend this book!
4.5 Stars
The Aftermath started out a little slow for me, first 30 or so pages taking almost a week to read but after that I was sucked in and finished the rest in just a couple of days. This is not a period I would normally be particularly interested in but the story definitely kept me intrigued. I could really feel for each character both British and German. In fact I felt anger at times at the treatment of the Germans during the occupation. The books ending did leave me wanting for more. I highly recommend this book!
Made it about half way, forcing myself to read and then it was making me feel like reading was too much of a chore so I've decided to give up!
The Aftermath is about a British officer and his family living alongside their German counterparts in the latter’s Hamburg home, which has been requisitioned by the allies. It shows the struggles of the characters trying to live and rebuild Germany after the war and the experience and heartbreaks behind this.
I was lucky to win this as part of a giveaway by Penguin. I enjoyed this book from start to finish, especially the way in which we saw life in Germany at the end of the war from both the allied and the German view point. The characters were well developed through out and the writing style led the reader through the characters minds and their own stories in a brilliant way, their hopes fears and emotional baggage. The way in which poverty and luxury can be seen side by side is also well presented by the author. The writing is truly great and wonderful. He brings alive the post war Germany in the readers mind. This is not usually my chosen type of book to read, but this book captured my imagination. Well done Rhidian Brook !
I was lucky to win this as part of a giveaway by Penguin. I enjoyed this book from start to finish, especially the way in which we saw life in Germany at the end of the war from both the allied and the German view point. The characters were well developed through out and the writing style led the reader through the characters minds and their own stories in a brilliant way, their hopes fears and emotional baggage. The way in which poverty and luxury can be seen side by side is also well presented by the author. The writing is truly great and wonderful. He brings alive the post war Germany in the readers mind. This is not usually my chosen type of book to read, but this book captured my imagination. Well done Rhidian Brook !
The Aftermath is a story that takes place in Germany after the second World War. The story follows Colonel Morgan, his wife and his only surviving son Edmund. The British family move into a manor that is owned and occupied by a German father and his teenage daughter. During, the requisition and renewal of Germany the Morgan family have been moved into this manor with the intent that they would make the German family leave, but the Morgan's decided to let them stay and live in unison despite the many new laws that disagree with this benevolence.
This book was listed in my journal ages ago and for what reason I don't recall. Aftermath was a book that I both enjoyed and kind of couldn't wait to get it over with. Part of the reason why I enjoyed it is because it takes place in or around World War II, which a theme in some of my favorite books revolves around historical time periods such as the deep south during slavery and World War II era. The characters were well developed except I felt that there was a part of the book that I felt wasn't necessary and would of been easier to just cut out a whole chunk of characters. It is one of those funny stories though that has a fun tie of characters that occurs towards the end but I also felt this could of been developed a little bit better. Really, I think the ending kind of just lacked anything interesting. It was a "ah, let's just end this real quick" kind of ending. It was even a bit predictable, although some small details were surprising, and others were just annoying.
Now to talk about some of the details that made this book a four star and not a five star book for me. The romance in this story kind of annoyed me, it was scandalous and sweet and then it ended abruptly only a few chapters later like nothing happened. The guy went on his way happy as though nothing occurred and then you never really got to hear the girls side of what she felt after the ending of it, if she could continue with how things were before. Like why go through all of the trouble in the first place if you can break off so easily? Perhaps that is the point. Another thing is the ending with Freda, Stefan Lubert's daughter. This seemed unnecessary but not surprising. Then of course considering what happens to the other parties involved just makes it seems so textbook for an ending.
Maybe I am just really picky and I thought that there would be more exciting things to this book but really once you got past the military stuff you get into the domestic relations and the social politics of a crumbled nation, which was probably the interesting part, and finally ending with the essential tying of loose ends. Ugh, it just seemed like the author got tired of his own story and in an effort not to make the readers wonder what happened or wish for a second book he cut off all the people who could possibly lead to an interesting second book.
If anyone would like to discuss and rant about actual details, please let me know because there's a whole lot more I feel like I could say about it but not without some spoilers.
Follow my blog at https://thecatsreadingjournal.blogspot.com/
This book was listed in my journal ages ago and for what reason I don't recall. Aftermath was a book that I both enjoyed and kind of couldn't wait to get it over with. Part of the reason why I enjoyed it is because it takes place in or around World War II, which a theme in some of my favorite books revolves around historical time periods such as the deep south during slavery and World War II era. The characters were well developed except I felt that there was a part of the book that I felt wasn't necessary and would of been easier to just cut out a whole chunk of characters. It is one of those funny stories though that has a fun tie of characters that occurs towards the end but I also felt this could of been developed a little bit better. Really, I think the ending kind of just lacked anything interesting. It was a "ah, let's just end this real quick" kind of ending. It was even a bit predictable, although some small details were surprising, and others were just annoying.
Now to talk about some of the details that made this book a four star and not a five star book for me. The romance in this story kind of annoyed me, it was scandalous and sweet and then it ended abruptly only a few chapters later like nothing happened. The guy went on his way happy as though nothing occurred and then you never really got to hear the girls side of what she felt after the ending of it, if she could continue with how things were before. Like why go through all of the trouble in the first place if you can break off so easily? Perhaps that is the point. Another thing is the ending with Freda, Stefan Lubert's daughter. This seemed unnecessary but not surprising. Then of course considering what happens to the other parties involved just makes it seems so textbook for an ending.
Maybe I am just really picky and I thought that there would be more exciting things to this book but really once you got past the military stuff you get into the domestic relations and the social politics of a crumbled nation, which was probably the interesting part, and finally ending with the essential tying of loose ends. Ugh, it just seemed like the author got tired of his own story and in an effort not to make the readers wonder what happened or wish for a second book he cut off all the people who could possibly lead to an interesting second book.
If anyone would like to discuss and rant about actual details, please let me know because there's a whole lot more I feel like I could say about it but not without some spoilers.
Follow my blog at https://thecatsreadingjournal.blogspot.com/
I’m not quite sure what made this book a better coaster than read for me. It was the first time I’d read a after World War II book from this perspective (English attempting to de-Nazify Germany and hunt down the remaining SS that are hiding in plain sight). I will also admit, I have never learned much about the aftermath in Germany, or given much thought to it. These were the main reasons I picked this book up to begin with, but it honestly wasn’t enough to hold my concentration or desire to finish it quickly.
The characters were believable enough, but not really likable. Actions between characters didn’t always seem to function the way the author had intended. Plot was interesting, just not strong enough for me to finish in a week. Not a book I will be keeping or rereading again.
The characters were believable enough, but not really likable. Actions between characters didn’t always seem to function the way the author had intended. Plot was interesting, just not strong enough for me to finish in a week. Not a book I will be keeping or rereading again.
A delicately told story about two families; one British, the other German, and how their lives intersect in the days of constructing a new Germany after WWII.
At first I really did not think I could write a review. The topic of this book just hit too close to home. And even now, after the silver lining at the end, there is a certain heaviness on my chest.
This book is about a British Colonel, his wife and son who go to live in Hamburg, Germany, because the Colonel is in charge of rebuilding the city after WWII.
Colonel Lewis Morgan is a kind man. Not really good at expressing his emotions (which nearly drove me up the walls) but he believes in humanity and forgiveness. That, of course, does not sit well with other officers, his superiors and even his wife.
Rachel has not been herself ever since the night her son Michael was killed in front of her in a night bombing.
Edmund, the youngest son, is alive but definitely neglected by both parents, and tries to navigate an alien world.
In addition to that, Colonal Morgan has offered the German family in whose house the Morgans are scheduled to live to stay with them (the house is a villa so there is more than enough room). Again, noble, but not very well thought through.
The owner of the house, Herr Luber, has lost his wife in the war and needs to raise his daughter, Frieda, alone - no easy task since the girl definitely is disturbed if you ask me (and not just because of the loss of her mother either, judging by some revelations later on in the book).
So we have this host of characters plus some others from the British military. A very potent mix.
What was so difficult for me were the (accurate) descriptions of Hamburg after the war. The people there; the cold; the starvation; the hopelessness; all the silly prejudice against Germans (I nearly broke down on the train when Edmund, at the beginning of the book, reads the pamphlet they got as instructions for living in Germany); the hate (on both sides); the fear.
The narrator is doing a pretty good job even with the German words and phrases so this was a very nice audiobook and the author had a very intricate and wonderful way of first creating and then interweaving all the different POVs. I just think that I might have enjoyed the often beautiful writing style more had my mind not wandered off to what I remembered from history lessons and my grandparents' accounts.
This book is about a British Colonel, his wife and son who go to live in Hamburg, Germany, because the Colonel is in charge of rebuilding the city after WWII.
Colonel Lewis Morgan is a kind man. Not really good at expressing his emotions (which nearly drove me up the walls) but he believes in humanity and forgiveness. That, of course, does not sit well with other officers, his superiors and even his wife.
Rachel has not been herself ever since the night her son Michael was killed in front of her in a night bombing.
Edmund, the youngest son, is alive but definitely neglected by both parents, and tries to navigate an alien world.
In addition to that, Colonal Morgan has offered the German family in whose house the Morgans are scheduled to live to stay with them (the house is a villa so there is more than enough room). Again, noble, but not very well thought through.
The owner of the house, Herr Luber, has lost his wife in the war and needs to raise his daughter, Frieda, alone - no easy task since the girl definitely is disturbed if you ask me (and not just because of the loss of her mother either, judging by some revelations later on in the book).
So we have this host of characters plus some others from the British military. A very potent mix.
What was so difficult for me were the (accurate) descriptions of Hamburg after the war. The people there; the cold; the starvation; the hopelessness; all the silly prejudice against Germans (I nearly broke down on the train when Edmund, at the beginning of the book, reads the pamphlet they got as instructions for living in Germany); the hate (on both sides); the fear.
The narrator is doing a pretty good job even with the German words and phrases so this was a very nice audiobook and the author had a very intricate and wonderful way of first creating and then interweaving all the different POVs. I just think that I might have enjoyed the often beautiful writing style more had my mind not wandered off to what I remembered from history lessons and my grandparents' accounts.
Who bears the blame for World War II and Germany’s crimes against humanity? Are all Germans guilty? How do you punish the guilty once you find them? How do you wipe out National Socialism in Germany so that it never comes back? In The Aftermath, by Rhidian Brook, these questions are everywhere and there are no easy answers...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
I got this audiobook from the library after watching and really enjoying the movie. The book and movie generally follow the same arc, with more characters and depth in the book, of course. I loved the idea of a story set in immediate-post-war Germany, which I honestly knew very little about. Reading the book and getting more information and background on the characters only made it more interesting to me, though of course some of the romance was heightened for the movie and felt just a little lacking in comparison in the book. I wish the movie had kept Rachel's second son in the story, I really liked that he existed in the book version.