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Original poster

Anyone read "After You'd Gone" by Maggie O Farrell?

51 replies

bintofbohemia · 26/10/2010 19:17

If so, which way do you think it went at the end? I've just finished it and am still wondering whether she pulled through. I suppose ultimately it isn't the point, but still...

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scottishmummy · 26/10/2010 19:22

read it 2 times over few years just finished it now.is not a whodunnit,more a whydunnit.and she dies.but the exploration and explanation of why she walkd in front of truck was really searing and emotional

try my lovers lover,thats good too

notnowbernard · 26/10/2010 19:23

I think I read it years ago...

Seem to remember literally sobbing on the bus Blush

But now can't really remember the story. Does her husband die?

scottishmummy · 26/10/2010 19:25

yeah john dies-blast at canary wharf

ShowOfBloodyStumps · 26/10/2010 19:27

I read it in public too. I sobbed and sobbed. Didn't she start to wake at the end (wasn't there something about her fil's voice sounding like her dh?).

I read it on the way to visit the university I eventually went to so about 10yrs ago. My memory of it's a bit sketchy. She had an axolotl in the bath didn't she?

Her other books are excellent too.

notnowbernard · 26/10/2010 19:28

Quite strange that I can remember the feelings reading this book evoked but not the story Confused

I remember being quite moved by it, it kept coming back to me for a time

Will maybe dig it out and re-read

Original poster
bintofbohemia · 26/10/2010 19:30

I did really love this book, I couldn't put it down! THe description right at the end about her being pushed up and the pearls escaping her throat(or something to that effect) I took it as she was either pushed back into consciousness or went the other way. I suppose it is supposed to be ambiguous but I hate it where I don't quite know for sure!

Bernard - yes, like scottish says, he was killed in a blast and she discovers all sorts of things about her mother.

I also wondered if Ann (the mother) had perhaps indirectly murdered her MIL by not calling for help when she found her on the floor. Again, it's the ambiguity, perhaps she was already dead, we'll never know.

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scottishmummy · 26/10/2010 19:30

couldnt read in public made be blub too much

scottishmummy · 26/10/2010 19:31

is a deep book,the cold twisted mum
the canny shrewd granny
her fil so angry at her

scottishmummy · 26/10/2010 19:32

read when 1st published and reread last week.love it

ShowOfBloodyStumps · 26/10/2010 19:32

I know what you mean notnowbernard. I can remember snippets of it but mostly how moved I was by it.

I remember her feeding her cat and when she stepped into traffic. And was it that one where her Mum cut her hand? Science lesson? And drying her hands in the toilets at the train station and seeing through the window. I can 'see' these images. Oh she woke up with cold feet and was grumpy at one point. It was well written. V evocative.

Michele Roberts is good too if you like Maggie O'Farrell.

notnowbernard · 26/10/2010 19:33

Think there is loads I don't remember...

Will definitely do a re-read

scottishmummy · 26/10/2010 19:34

yes mum doing disection class, and the hand dryer scence in waverley

the book is deep.i know edinburgh, north berwick and camden road and canary wharf.so can really place the visuals

notnowbernard · 26/10/2010 19:34

It's all ringing bells...

notnowbernard · 26/10/2010 19:36

Sleeping with his t-shirt under the pillow???? Seem to recall this bit as particularly emotional?

scottishmummy · 26/10/2010 19:37

the postcard from her fil to john,that's raw

Wholelottalove · 26/10/2010 19:53

I love this book! I remember sobbing reading it. There are a couple of images and passages from it which have really stayed with me.

I took the ending to be her coming back to consciousness in response to FIL's voice (the bit where she realises it isn't John though, totally destroyed) but still not being sure she really wants to live. I guess you could read it either way.

If you like Maggie O'Farrell you might like Siri Hustvedt as well.

Original poster
bintofbohemia · 27/10/2010 08:09

It was fantastic, I was reading it so fast because I wanted to know what happened, but then I also didn't want it to end.

Thanks for the book recommendations, will look into them!

(Slightly dumb question, (perhaps) but is she married to John O Farrell?)

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fanofpeamum · 27/10/2010 08:31

I loved this too. Her books are giving me terrible cravings for Edinburgh, though I've never even been there. I thought she pulled through in the end. Also that the mother definitely chose to let her MIL die.

Original poster
bintofbohemia · 27/10/2010 08:39

Weirdly enough I nicked this book from my mum's house a week ago having no idea what it was about/where it was set, and I went to Edinburgh for the first time at the weekend and ended up reading it whilst being in half the places mentioned.

Loved Edinburgh, quite wanted to move there until I freaked myself out in the underground vaults on a ghost tour.

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MercenaryMom · 28/10/2010 03:57

I read this book some time ago now, but absolutely loved it. Like others on this thread, I've forgotten parts of the plot, but there are particular scenes that were so evocative that I remember them very clearly.

I thought when I read it that she woke up in the end, after hearing her FIL's voice, which she initially thought was John's. Thought it ended the book on a slightly hopeful note of reconciliation and resignation without wrapping it into a gooey Hollywood type ending.

But think I'll have to go back and read it again to see if I still interpret it the same way... Smile

poguemahone · 28/10/2010 04:14

She survived! And I know this for a fact Smile:

I met Maggie O'Farrell at a book reading/signing for The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (brilliant too) and had a chat about the ending of After You'd Gone. She thought I was a bit pessimistic for even doubting that she survived. Ta-da!

Original poster
bintofbohemia · 28/10/2010 08:18

poque - Fantastic! I'm really glad it went that way.

(Still, she'll never know that her horrible mother was also a murdering cow - all because she wanted a bedroom with a sea view!) Hmm

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thegirlwiththemouseyhair · 28/10/2010 16:16

I only remember getting very VERY cross about the funeral scene.
Can't remember the details exactly but I know it was something to do with not getting the traditions of Jewish burial right.

Irrationally decided not to read any more of her books...

Notquitegrownup · 28/10/2010 16:20

Loved it and loved The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox too.

Will definitely follow up the suggested authors by others too - and will add Helen Dunmore (Mourning Ruby - very similar theme, lots of tissues required, moving and ultimately life affirming read about just how much some people can love) and also Patrick Gale too.

KERALA1 · 28/10/2010 16:26

Is it the one where she is crying on the tube and a stranger said "dont cry love he wasnt worth it" and she shouts that he was worth it? God makes me well up just thinking of that. Cant remember much about the story generally but the bits she wrote about her grief at losing the husband have really stayed with me.