Afterwards

A budding romance is at the center of a story of the trauma of war. An exBritish soldier stationed in Northern Ireland and his girlfriend's grandfather, who fought in Kenya against Mau Mau uprising, are both haunted by acts performed during their military service. Each man's free will was wedded to the priorities of his particular military campaign. Alice, the central female character, is herself grieving the recent death of her grandmother. All of these characters' pain is exquisitely drawn in the details of their day-to-day lives and interactions. The problem of coming to terms with questionable actions committed in the cause of national defense is posed amidst the healing process of love.

The editorial reviews adequately capture the basic storyline but the greater aspects and enjoyment of this novel lie in the way the author envelopes the "said" with the "unsaid". The greatest "self brainwash" jobs that most of us face, such as "it could be worse" (in a relationship or job), or everyone else does it (in tax evasion or environmentally unsavory behaviors) pale by comparison to a vet (this novel) or public safety official's comprehension and reconciliation of an act of extreme violence to other human beings. In this case the author connects two such characters from distinctly separate generations that are equally reflective and emotionally troubled by their past military experiences. She (the author) expertly connects them via a number of equally reflective and also very "caring" characters, including and especially the younger man's girlfriend and older man's grand-daughter, Alice. You can put this book down, and pick it up again, as I did (14 day library loan notwithstanding), but only until the 2/3 mark. After this point you have developed your own theories as to what exactly the older man knows, or thinks he understands, about the younger, and how the now troubled relationship between the younger man and Alice will play out. I can only tell you that Alice will be wiping a spot of bicycle chain grease from her leg before you will be able to evaluate the personal theories this novel forces you to formulate. This novel will leave you considering all that you have chosen not to share, the impact of this "non-sharing", and you may also become more aware and understanding of the cleaning man (who shows up at your office when you are leaving) sporting a "Viet Nam Vet" baseball cap......and limping. My final, and admittedly somewhat obtuse, observation is that the author made a repetitive point of demonstrating the impact of the natural world (vs urban) in cleansing or at least calming both the emotion tension and internal unrest among the characters. I found this a very interesting connection to recent articles stating that the dreaded juvenile ADS (Attention Deficit Syndrome) should really be re-named NDS for Nature Deficit Syndrome - after several studies where placement of so called sufferers for a regular few hours in a natural environment dramatically improved their symptoms.... John M. Peck