That was the day that Mama made the rules: If they come, run. Be quiet and run. But not together. Never together. If one is found, at least the other survives...."During a cold, British winter, three women reach crisis point. Emily, an immigrant survivor of the Rwandan genocide is existing but not living. Vera, a newly Christian Londoner is striving to live a moral life, her happiness constantly undermined by secrets from her past. Lynn, battling with an untimely disease, is consumed by bitterness and resentment of what she hasn't achieved and what has been snatched from her. Each suffering their own demons, their lives have been torn open by betrayal: by other people, by themselves, by life itself. But as their paths interweave, they begin to unravel their beleaguered pasts, and inadvertently change each other's futures.
***
[She said her name was Emily]***
(@Legend_Press, 1 June 2014, 256 pages, ebook, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @OverDriveLibs)
***
***
I'd never heard of the author before. I chose the book purely because the publisher is one of my favourites and I'm working way through their back catalogue. This is a fantastic book. One I started to read it I got swept into the lives of the three women and didn't want to put the book down. I race through more than half in one sitting because I had to finish it. After Before alternates between the POV of three women, linked; Lynn, a terminally ill elderly woman, Vera, a newly converted Christian and soon-to-be-Lynn's daughter-in-law and Emily, an immigrant worker and Lynn's carer. I loved the way the story bounced between these three very different people and gradually reveals their trauma and the links that bind them together. Lynn is bitter and resentful that her life is ending and she feels unfulfilled. Emily is running from horrors she experiences in Rwanda and bonds with Lynn who helps her accept what happened to her and start to make peace with it. Vera is trying to be a good Christian because she loves Lynn's son, Luke but can't quite escape demons from her past. I was engrossed in this book. I loved every word.
