Title: Afterlife
Author: Julia Alvarez
Narrator: Alma Cuervo
Published: April 2020, Recorded Books
Length: 6 hours 26 minutes
Source: ALC via Libro.fm
Summary:
The first adult novel in almost fifteen years by the internationally bestselling author of In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents
Antonia Vega, the immigrant writer at the center of Afterlife,
has had the rug pulled out from under her. She has just retired from
the college where she taught English when her beloved husband, Sam,
suddenly dies. And then more jolts: her bighearted but unstable sister
disappears, and Antonia returns home one evening to find a pregnant,
undocumented teenager on her doorstep. Antonia has always sought
direction in the literature she loves—lines from her favorite authors
play in her head like a soundtrack—but now she finds that the
world demands more of her than words.
Afterlife is a
compact, nimble, and sharply droll novel. Set in this political moment
of tribalism and distrust, it asks: What do we owe those in crisis in
our families, including—maybe especially—members of our human family?
How do we live in a broken world without losing faith in one another or
ourselves? And how do we stay true to those glorious souls we have lost?
My thoughts: This is a new-to-me author and I picked this one up on a whim, after hearing my friend, Rhiannon, speak quite highly about it. I love getting recommendations about books from friends, especially when that recommendation is for an author who I have never read. I admit I was a little hesitant about this one, but I adored it.
This little book sneaks up on you. It’s not a story with a crazy twist but rather one that is all heart and I so needed that. While this story is about grief, it’s also about family and finding yourself. The emotion that this story evokes is so raw and it is so completely thought-provoking…it’s unbelievable. For a short book, this certainly packs a punch.
I loved the bonds between Antonia and her sisters. I have sisters and there is nothing I love reading more than a book that explores this relationship. But to see this explored where the sisters are older is not something I’ve come across yet, so I really appreciated that. Alvarez writes these sisters with such life, and their relationships are so dynamic that you can’t help but fall in love with them. Their bond is so strong and I loved how they were always checking up on each other. When one had a crisis, they were there for each other.
At the heart of this story is grief and loss. Antonia is struggling with loss long after her husband’s death, though is there really a time limit to this? She keeps herself busy by getting involved with one thing after another, some she willingly takes on, some that just show up on her doorstep.
This book makes us wonder just what lengths we go to help one another. Are we doing it for ourselves or for those who think we should? This powerful book is written with such beautiful language that I will not be forgetting it or the characters anytime soon.
Audio thoughts: I loved listening to this audio book. I found myself completely swept up in the story, and thought Alma Cuervo did a great job bringing this book and the characters to life. This is an audio that I could definitely listen to again and again.
