Imagine it’s 1946, post-World War II and you’re in Hamburg. This is the setting for THE AFTERMATH written by Rhidian Brook.
While thousands wander the rubble, lost and homeless, Colonel Lewis Morgan, charged with overseeing the rebuilding of this devastated city and the denazification of its defeated people, is stationed in a grand house on the River Elbe. He is awaiting the arrival of his wife, Rachael—still grieving for their eldest son—and their only surviving son, Edmund. But rather than force the owners of the house, a German widower and his rebellious daughter, out onto the streets, Lewis insists that the two families live together. In this charged atmosphere, both parents and children will be forced to confront their true selves as enmity and grief give way to passion and betrayal, to their deepest desires, their fiercest loyalties, and the transforming power of forgiveness.
Watch an Interview with Author Rhidian Brook on His Novel The Aftermath
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Praise for The Aftermath
“Rhidian Brook’s arresting novel brings vividly to life a little-told aspect of World War II: its aftermath. His story-energetically and authoritatively told-is unsettling and compelling, suffused with suffering and, mercifully, some hope.” –Claire Messud, author of The Woman Upstairs
“Brook’s beautifully written novel ponders issues of decency, guilt, and forgiveness… Profoundly moving.” –The Independent
“Superb…Conjuring surprise after surprise as it shows how the forces of politics and history penetrate even the most intimate moments of its characters’ emotional lives…The house on the Elbe [is] akin to Hamlet‘s Elsinore.” –The Guardian
“Brook’s excellent novel [is] a captivating tale of love among the ruins but also of treachery and vengeance… It does what all good novels should do: it poses many complex questions and resists neat, topped-and-tailed answers.” –Literary Review
Follow the Author on Twitter: @Rhidianbrook