AFTERLIFE

by Julia Alvarez

Afterlife is a beautifully written, sensitive and realistic exploration of one woman’s struggle to come to terms with her husband’s sudden and unexpected death. The novel begins one year after Sam’s death and Antonia is still fixated on her final days with her husband. She has conversations with him in her mind as a means of keeping him alive.  Antonia is grappling as well with how and when she’ll feel able to interact with her three sisters again.  They have always been very close, but she’s found them barely tolerable since becoming a widow.

Alvarez brilliantly depicts Antonia’s relationships with her sisters. The love and support she finds in them is matched equally with her frustration over each of their idiosyncrasies. Antonia agrees to travel from her rural Vermont home to one sister’s house in Chicago so that the sisters can celebrate her birthday.  What ensues is chaos when one of the sisters goes missing. But as the search for the missing sister plays out, Antonia begins to emerge from her grief and to feel a part of life again.

In addition to the story lines about the recent death of Antonia’s husband and the disappearance of her sister, Alvarez includes a third, beautiful story about a young undocumented Mexican couple who work on the farm next door to Antonia’s home.  Very much against her better judgment Antonia becomes involved in their relationship and ultimately helps them navigate their future together.

For a small book, Afterlife offers a wealth of stories about love and family.  In the end, Antonia makes her way through a tragic loss and learns how to live a new life in an entirely different way.  You don’t want to miss this one. (Liz)