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The Aftermath, by Rhidian Brook
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1946, post-World War II Hamburg. 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.
This courageous new novel from award-winning author Rhidian Brook tells an emotionally riveting story of two families, one house, and love grown from hate.
This ebook edition includes a Reading Group Guide.
- Sales Rank: #468089 in eBooks
- Published on: 2013-09-17
- Released on: 2013-09-17
- Format: Kindle eBook
From Publishers Weekly
Postwar Hamburg is the backdrop for British writer Brook's (The Testimony of Taliesin Jones) emotionally charged third novel, which is inspired by his family history. British Col. Lewis Morgan is stationed in the German city in 1946. He requisitions a house for his family, but instead of casting out its German owners (the standard procedure), he allows them to remain. Brook's chilling observations of Hamburg's defeated inhabitants and the fantastic destruction that lay all around are unnerving and riveting. Feral children, he writes, beg for cigarettes and chocolates, and Rubble Runners clean up the remains of bombed-out buildings in exchange for food vouchers. But the novel's smaller stage—the home that Morgan; his wife, Rachael; and their son, Edmund, share with Stefan Lubert and his daughter, Freda—tells the bigger story. The blended families are uncomfortable with their new relationship, and the toxic effects of unassuaged grief for lost love ones complicates the situation. Fans of WWII-era historical fiction will be drawn to this novel. First printing of 75,000. Agent: Stephanie Cabot, Gernert Company. (Sept. 17)
From Booklist
This precisely written novel is loosely based on events in which the English author’s forebears were involved. In the immediate aftermath of WWII, as the victorious Allies partition and independently administer a Germany in ruins, English Army Colonel Lewis Morgan, joined by his wife, Rachael, and young child, Edmund, is assigned to take over the luxurious Hamburg home of Stefan Lubert and his teenage daughter, Freda. Rather than displacing them, Morgan generously, though inexplicably, encourages them to stay on and live upstairs, sharing the capacious residence. This is an uneasy arrangement, exacerbated by domestic stress and war-related bitterness: Rachael and Freda still harbor deep resentments, having lost in the bombings, respectively, a son and a mother. Further, the devastated North Sea city is home not only to the occupying British and the defeated, not always “clear” (of Nazi taint) Germans, but also to feral children roaming the streets, and members of a group ironically characterizing itself as the Resistance, “those who have not yet admitted defeat.” In this unique historical novel, Brook plays these elements out dramatically and, for the most part, credibly. --Mark Levine
Review
Praise for The Aftermath:
"An entertaining blend of romance, history and suspense, one to which Brook's style is perfectly suited: it's sturdy, stripped down with just the right amount of gnarled beauty poking through the cracks." Toronto Star
"Any good historical novel has to unwind the layers of history that have piled upon the events described and render them as open to possibility and uncertainty as our own present. The Aftermath does that impressively well." The Scotsman
"A stylish, heart-searching and convincing story that by refusing to peddle clichés and received wisdom, memorably refashions this period." Sunday Herald
"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
Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Enjoyable, but falls into tropes
By Nikki
The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook depicts a time and place not often depicted in literature: post-WWII Germany–specifically, Hamburg in 1946. The Aftermath tells the story of a British officer, his wife, and their young son sharing a requisitioned home with a German man and his teenaged daughter. This situation proves ripe for drama and clashing relationships and tensions, and Brook delivers. A note at the back of the book explains that the author got the idea from his Grandfather who hared a house with a German family after the war, which from what I understand, was certainly not the norm.
English couple Lewis and Rachael are distanced after the war, Lewis rather hung up on the idea of Rachael, and Rachael suffering from most likely a form of PTSD after the loss of someone close (I won’t say who due to spoilers). Lewis and Rachael are almost foils to each other: Lewis holds everything in while Rachael lets everything out despite her best efforts at the typical English stiff upper lip. Their son, Edmund, on the other hand, is relatively upbeat and curious despite the impacts of the war and witnessing the devastation of post-war Germany. Orphans of all ages run free in hodge-podge found clothes, scavenging food and belongings, squatting in abandoned homes, and desperately seeking prized cigarettes or food from the British soldiers. The orphans engage in a type of black market trade, with cigarettes being the main currency, and Edmund getting caught up in the plight of the Orphans.
Brook offers brief vignettes of the German family, Stefan and Freda, but I found their characters thinly painted. More time seems to have been spent fleshing out the English family. I would have liked to have gotten to know Stefan and Freda much more than Brook offered.
The Aftermath, at times, falls into the trope of the emotionally frozen marriage and the subsequent actions of husband and wife; one party inevitably being “awakened” by adultery. I won’t speak too much on that subject given the spoiler-territory, but I will say that while that aspect was enjoyable to read, it was predictable.
I found myself distracted by the author’s thesaurus-happy tendencies, perhaps because I don’t like writing that tries to elevate itself by posh language rather than theme at the risk of becoming pretentious. Maybe that’s just my egalitarian outlook in general, although I do obviously understand the importance of people learning new words from reading.
My main issue with The Aftermath is that is seems to be an incomplete book. The ending was quite abrupt and although there is allusion to closure, I felt there was no closure for any of the characters, which was very unsatisfying.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
After the Reich/A Terrible Revenge
By Peter J. Keiser
Quite good. Deals with a much misunderstood time and place in history, Germany after WWII. There's been a lot of history written about this lately that dispels the myths surrounding that time period, i.e. that the allied occupation of Germany was a benign undertaking. In fact, it was very brutal and millions of civilians suffered or lost their lives as a result. The notion of victor's justice and collective guilt were very much in evidence, as this book demonstrates. The prevailing mindset at the time seems to have been, "Well, you've slaughtered our innocent civilians so now it's our turn to do the same to yours!" It took several years for more reasonable minds(Hoover, Marshall, et. al.) to prevail.
The Brits, to their credit and despite a shocking lack of funds, were probably the best of the occupiers. The Russians and the French were deplorable, the Americans little better. The protagonist in this story, a fundamentally decent British colonel named Lewis Morgan, demonstrates that humanity in very difficult circumstances, specifically by sharing a house requisitioned by the occupation authorities with its German owner and his daughter, something very unusual at the time. The story renders the characters as complex and basically sympathetic, conflicted and suffering in turn. There are echoes of Golding's "Lord of the Flies" with the trummerkinder and their "beast", the flies swarming the rubble and their juvenile hierarchy.
Actually, I would have given this four and a half stars. The missing half star? Well the story is a little too neat, to my thinking, and it could have and maybe should have had a much darker ending. But, I guess we live in a feel good age, don't we? Also, there are some odd locutions in it. "Diffuse" is simply a mistake or a kindle mis-transcription for "defuse", also "callow", "murder"(a "murder of crows"?!), and "strip"(although I found a British definition for that in the OED). Briticisms? Well, the author is British and well-educated (I assume) so perhaps.
Notwithstanding those quibbles, a very good read, highly recommended
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
No fraternising
By C Gilmour
This story is set in immediate post WW2 Germany. It is the story of two families who share a house - requisitioned by the British who are kind enough to agree to the remains of the German family continuing to live in the house. The author tells the story of the tensions that arise and the unexpected turn in the relationship between the two families. Colonel Lewis Morgan is in charge and it is he who comes across as a kindly man who does not hold the death of his elder son against the German family. In this he is unlike his wife who tends to blame her husband for the whole war. The deprivations of the immediate post war period are realistically described. There are British officers who are far less sympathetic than Lewis Morgan. The anti-Nazi interrogations are described, as is the hypocritical behaviour of some of the interrogators. The Resistance too finds a place with unexpected consequences for Lewis. The denouement too is satisfactory if unexpected. This is a well written book with well drawn characters and a strong plot. It is also an informative read in a setting too easily forgotten.
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