After the War

by Alice Adams

“As always, Adams' strength is her fine, elegant language and the attention she pays to the minutiae of every day living. Like Jane Austen, she stays close to her characters and weaves intrigue out of their interrelated and complex life stories.” --San Jose Mercury News
 
In her final novel, published posthumously, Alice Adams returns to the Southern college town of Pinehill, the setting for her acclaimed Southern Exposure.
 
Even after five years in Pinehill, Cynthia Baird is still considered a Yankee. And life has become more difficult since the beginning of the war. With Harry stationed in London, Cynthia finds life in a small town complicated not only be loneliness but also by a growing awareness of local racism and anti-Semitism. Their daughter Abigail is about to return north for college, and the two generations are forced to determine what they cherish and what they must leave behind.

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Southern, Historical Fiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Alice Adams was an American novelist, short story writer, academic and university professor.

She was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia and attended Radcliffe College, graduating in 1946. She married, and had a child, but her marriage broke up, and she spent several years as a single mother, working as a secretary. Her psychiatrist told her to give up writing and get remarried; instead she published her first novel, Careless Love (1966), and a few years later she published her first short story in The New Yorker. She wrote many novels but she's best known for her short stories, in collections such as After You've Gone (1989) and The Last Lovely City (1999).

She won numerous awards including the O. Henry Award, and Best American Short Stories Award.

Reviews

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the War introduced me to Cynthia Baird "an actively unfaithful Navy wife", her husband Captain Harry Baird, their daughter Abigail and assorted friends and neighbours. World War II is winding down and the Bairds are transplanted Yankees now located in the southern town of Pinehill.

The character-driven story pulled me into their world while also touching on the changing times. The convalescence of Abigail's "colored" friend raises eyebrows in the neighbourhood as does her choice of Jewish boyfriend. Her friend Melanctha, who is self conscious of her big bosom, is frightened away from her college experience. Melanctha's father meets his maker under suspicious circumstances sparking a storm of gossip.

I felt like I was experiencing a time and place I had never entered before and am richer for the experience. I plan to read more of Alice Adams, especially her short stories.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It read like a typical soap opera.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved reading anything by Alice Adams back when I was in college and grad school. She seemed to really understand the changing sexual climate AND she wrote beautifully. I felt she really understood ME and what my life was like circa 1980. This novel was published after her death and somehow I never got around to reading it. It is set in the late 1940's in the south and covers the plight of women, racism, anti Semitism and the fear of Communism. Somehow it feels dated and a little preachy. The writing is still terrific and the characters were a joy to read but it was a little heavy-handed.

[Patrick Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is interesting in its social commentary. It is about Connecticut Yankees living in the segregationist South during World War II. It is also telling commentary how a war seems to create flexible morality. Although the writing is good, the book suffers from the lack of a compelling plot. It was the author's last work, published posthumously. I will look into an earlier work to see if I like it better.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost did not read this book after seeing the low Goodreads rating so I checked professional reviewers thoughts and saw positive ratings. Glad I did read it as I enjoyed it! A basic story, nothing too intricate. My only complaint is often I didn’t feel as though this was a 1940s era book (especially when she mentioned pointed toe shoes on women - that was not the style during WWII).

[H.L. Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read my full review at www.hlgibsonauthor.com

[Tasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like this book. All tell, no show, and everyone was weirdly obsessed with one of the characters' large breasts.

[Laura Gatland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually 3.5 stars.

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read through WWII and post war white southern society. This is THE Alice Adams to read.

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very typical Alice Adams . . . crystal-clear writing, women with complicated lives. Cynthia, who is from the North, lives in a Southern town while her husband is away fighting in the second world war. Cynthia has affairs with a couple of trouble-causing men, and applies to law school. Cynthia's daughter and a neighbor's daughters meet Jewish and Black men in college up north, and try to decide what to do with their lives . . .the McCarthy era starts. Predictably satisfying. Satisfying, I mean, if you like Alice Adams-type novels.

[Bentley · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were many potentially interesting characters in this book. Too bad they weren't developed. I started out liking this book but there were too many possible storylines, and none of them really gained momentum or depth. Oh well.

[Susan Schefflein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice Adams is a sensitive writer who creates characters who are alive, vulnerable and believable. I was thoroughly immersed in the story of the Baird family and their life in the South during and after WWII. It is a readable and enjoyable book.

[Diann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book....have loved other things by Adams and expected to with this. Just couldn't latch onto it--abandoned it before the first 50 pages.

[Torimac · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess people love it as a character study. Ehhhhh.... I liked the historical relevance of it.