By Rhidian Brook
Top 3 Reasons Why to Dive into This Book
Top 3 Things to admire about Rhidian Brook’s The Aftermath. No. 1, the overlooked timeframe of the war story. Most WWII novels take place during the war. This story is about the aftermath of World War II in Hamburg in which Occupier/Occupied roles are reversed — the British are the rigid rule makers and German citizens bear the brunt of scarcity and ruin following their defeat. Second are the golden nuggets of Brook’s creative metaphors encapsulating emotion.
Here’s one example: ‘But grief, stirred with other unspoken resentments, can set loose a flock of squawking thoughts, which, once out of the cage, are hard to put back.” I took to underlining them as they came up tucked into the text. Finally, No. 3 is the theme of brokenness seeking healing. The characters are shattered and coping in ways that cause their paths to crisscross with each other — sometimes in ways that stir empathy, other times treacherously. You can see the title’s double meaning. Highly recommend it...or you can see the movie!