After The Fall by Charity Norman- 357 pages
Book Blurb:
In the quiet of a New Zealand winter’s night, a rescue helicopter is sent to airlift a five-year-old boy with severe internal injuries. He’s fallen from the upstairs veranda of an isolated farmhouse, and his condition is critical. At first, Finn’s fall looks like a horrible accident; after all, he’s prone to sleepwalking. Only his frantic mother, Martha McNamara, knows how it happened. And she isn’t telling. Not yet. Maybe not ever. Tragedy isn’t what the McNamara family expected when they moved to New Zealand. For Martha, it was an escape. For her artist husband Kit, it was a dream. For their small twin boys, it was an adventure. For sixteen-year-old Sacha, it was the start of a nightmare. They end up on the isolated east coast of the North Island, seemingly in the middle of a New Zealand tourism campaign. But their peaceful idyll is soon shattered as the choices Sacha makes lead the family down a path which threatens to destroy them all.
My Review: 4 stars
After The Fall offers more than good writing and an intelligent plot. It shares the wonders of New Zealand as a beautiful backdrop to this haunting story.
A fellow reader suggested this highly regarded book (thank you!) and I’m so glad they did. Thanks to the Vernon Area Library for finding it for me on an interlibrary loan from a city I never knew existed, over four hours away!
This book is so much more than the title suggests as to what happens after the fall of a young boy. The author deftly surprises the reader with twists that I didn’t see coming. Ultimately family, secrets, lies, trust, child rearing, drug abuse and making a house a home were at the heart of the story. Use of the New Zealand and Aussie slang was interesting to read as well.
Quotes I liked:
When you’re small, your mother’s a goddess. But when you grow up you realise she’s anything but.”
-“The music was a bird, released from its cage and overjoyed to be free.”
-“Homesickness is a rat that eats you from the inside. It has sharp teeth.”
-“How many of us can claim to unequivocally content? Everyone believes they would be happy if….”
-“I see too many parents sitting on that fence while the kids do all the living.”
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Halloeeee! I’m so glad you liked this book. This book stayed with me for a while after reading it. I remember thinking about the choices made, I couldn’t imagine what I would’ve done if I were in Martha’s shoes. I also thought about her relationship with Kit and how it panned out in the long run. I did find the ending of the book a bit pat, I think I would’ve preferred an open ending, just to make it a bit more intriguing.
Thanks so much for the recommendation! It was a great book although hard to find! Would love to read more of her fiction!