Scan barcode
A review by katykelly
The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook
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.