Scan barcode
A review by justinkhchen
After She Wrote Him by Sulari Gentill
5.0
4.5 stars
I absolutely love the Escherian gimmick in After She Wrote Him—A crime fiction author writes about a literary fiction writer unwittingly being involved in a murder, while the literary fiction writer is writing about the same crime fiction author's personal demons and life struggles. The novel collides reality with fabricated fantasy, creating a stream of consciousness sensibility without feeling messy (the perspectives often switch between paragraphs), and the examination of the cryptic process of writing where made-up characters seemingly 'taking control' of the plot is effortlessly played out here.
My one major criticism is the ending, or the lack of one. The way the book abruptly ends definitely caught me off-guard, as well as its bleak overtone, being vastly different from the more lighthearted, 'cozy mystery' atmosphere prior. It also leaves major plot developments unresolved—it could be a intentional choice, symbolizing individual cannot escape the harsh reality, no matter how 'real' the fictional world feels. Even if that's the case, the resolution still comes across as if Sulari Gentill simply didn't know how to wrap up her complex puzzle, so she just left it as-is.
Still, After She Wrote Him remains one-of-a-kind, at least for me I have not yet read a novel where writing fiction is explore in such a meta, nuanced way. I would highly recommend checking this out.
I absolutely love the Escherian gimmick in After She Wrote Him—A crime fiction author writes about a literary fiction writer unwittingly being involved in a murder, while the literary fiction writer is writing about the same crime fiction author's personal demons and life struggles. The novel collides reality with fabricated fantasy, creating a stream of consciousness sensibility without feeling messy (the perspectives often switch between paragraphs), and the examination of the cryptic process of writing where made-up characters seemingly 'taking control' of the plot is effortlessly played out here.
My one major criticism is the ending, or the lack of one. The way the book abruptly ends definitely caught me off-guard, as well as its bleak overtone, being vastly different from the more lighthearted, 'cozy mystery' atmosphere prior. It also leaves major plot developments unresolved—it could be a intentional choice, symbolizing individual cannot escape the harsh reality, no matter how 'real' the fictional world feels. Even if that's the case, the resolution still comes across as if Sulari Gentill simply didn't know how to wrap up her complex puzzle, so she just left it as-is.
Still, After She Wrote Him remains one-of-a-kind, at least for me I have not yet read a novel where writing fiction is explore in such a meta, nuanced way. I would highly recommend checking this out.