Aftershocks

by Anne Fine, Matthew Biddulph (Narrator)

Aftershocks explores the ways in which grief can affect not only individuals, but communities at large from award-winning author, Anne Fine. A family mix-up means Louie has to tag along with his engineer father and his team as they head for a routine job in the farthest flung and most neglected province of the Federation. A massive earthquake, with ensuing tsunami, devastates the entire isolated coastal region, laying bare the other-worldly manner in which the silent and strange Endlanders deal with life, death and the hinterlands of memory and loss. Their curious and unsettling ways raise ghosts for Louie, who has recently lost his own brother.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Audiobook

Audio CD

Published April 15, 2022

About the author

Though readers often find themselves inadvertently laughing aloud as they read Anne Fine's novels, as she herself admits, "a lot of my work, even for fairly young readers, raises serious social issues. Growing up is a long and confusing business. I try to show that the battle through the chaos is worthwhile and can, at times, be seen as very funny." In 1994, this unique combination of humour and realism inspired the hit movie MRS. DOUBTFIRE, based on Anne's novel MADAME DOUBTFIRE and starring the late comedic genius Robin Williams.

Anne is best known in her home country, England, as a writer principally for children, but over the years she has also written eight novels for adult readers. Seven of these she describes as black - or sour - comedies, and the first, THE KILLJOY, simply as "dead black". These novels have proved great favourites with reading groups, causing readers to squirm with mingled horror and delight as she peels away the layers in all too familiar family relationships, exposing the tangled threads and conflicts beneath. (It's perhaps not surprising that Anne has openly expressed astonishment at the fact that murder in the domestic setting is not even more common.)

Anne has written more than sixty books for children and young people. Amongst numerous other awards, she is twice winner of both the Carnegie Medal, Britain's most prestigious children's book award, and the Whitbread Award. Twice chosen as Children's Author of the Year in the British Book Awards, Anne Fine was also the first novelist to be honoured as Children's Laureate in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Anne became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an OBE. Her work has been translated into forty five languages.

Anne Fine lives in the north of England and has two grown up daughters.

Reviews

[Katy Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desperately sad, perspectives on grief in a unique setting.

I was upset from the start, with a son called Toby, Louie's own grief a losing his brother hit home rather hard.

The concept of the younger brother's grief, and watching his parents 'cope' in different ways, their family fracturing, would have been a good story in itself. But Fine chooses to set this plot within that of another.

Louie's engineer father and team are off on a job to a remote and almost dystopian coastal area, where people are physically and culturally 'apart', and soon after arriving Louie and his companions are caught up in a natural disaster that devastates the local area and causes many lives to be lost.

Already caught between two parents and struggling to find his place in his one-child family at school, Louie opts to spend more time helping his father with the rebuilding. But Louie finds his place here in a strange way - he can see the dead. And his role seems to be to listen to the mourning tell stories of those they lost, as part of their cultural need. This process may help more than just those speakers.

I felt disconnected to the locals and their awful situation. We only really see them through the eyes of Louie or his father's team, they don't talk to us directly, making Louie and his own story the focus. I did wonder if there would be Wicker Man-like goings-on, but that wasn't where this story was planning to travel.

The gradual opening up, the almost numbness at the beginning and the two very different approaches by Louie's parents, all were quite moving and realistic. I actually would have preferred the story without the tsunami and supernatural elements, but that's just my opinion, I found it a distraction from the plot I was interested in.

Fine writes well, as ever, she writes wonderful family stories and relationships. I'm reading a Fine right now to my 5 year old, she covers with ease the breadth of ages from early years to teenage.

This title would be for the older age range, maybe 11-14.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful story of bereavement and the impact on those left behind. Louie is trying to deal with the death of his older brother, Toby, but the grief felt by him and his parents is pushing them apart rather than uniting them. Louie's dad is in denial, burying himself in his work. When his parents diaries clash, Louie joins his dad on a trip to carry out routine maintenance at a pumping station, located in the strange, barren Endlands, populated by a mysterious community known as the Endlanders. After an earthquake and resulting Tsunami devastate the population, Louie is thrown into an alien culture, where death is dealt with in a very different way.
This book explores the multitude of ways in which grief can can manifest itself. Everyone's experience is different and we all have to find our own way through. I could identify with so much of this story and it is written so sensitively, as you would expect from an author of the calibre of Anne Fine.
Equally important is the portrayal of a community exploited and dismissed by those in power. Feared for their differences but going through exactly the same emotions, when faced with such a tragedy, as anyone else.
A clever mix of a dystopian future, ghostly happenings, exploitation and grief.
Well worth reading!

[Sandra Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong YA novel dealing with grief, but with an unusual setting. The people in the Endlands have ritualised ways of dealing with death which are destroyed when modern technology is forced on them. Louis and his parents are grieving for Theo, killed by a reckless driver. Louis accompanies his dad, an engineer, to the Endlands and is instrumental in laying many ghosts.

[Michele Coombridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short and punchy, creepy and spooky tale that alludes to the ways we respond with grief when a young person is taken too soon.
A lot is unexplained. The setting and the people group are imaginary and the main characters are all fairly one dimensional. But, this is a short book to read with a satisfying storyline and conclusive ending.

[Vonprice · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding and important book dealing with the topic of grief within a gripping adventure. You can read my full review here: https://vsviewfromthebookshelves.home...

[Sarah Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a clever and interesting way to handle the difficult topic of bereavement. Funnily enough, I had just read an article on infant mortality and how this was so much a part of previous generations' lived experience. I found this book a very satisfying read.

[Miss · Rating 1 out of 5]

The blurb didn't say there were supernatural elements. This took up a large portion of the book. I had enjoyed the family dealing with grief plot prior to this and think this should have been the focus.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️
gave me the heeby jeebys while reading icl

[mads · Rating 2 out of 5]

i really didn't enjoy this, it felt so anticlimactic. some books i read and find them pointless which sounds weird but i don't think ive gained anything from reading this

[Elizabeth Thacker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly moving and emotional, but there was something odd in the dreamlike cadence that stopped me from becoming fully immersed.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good book by Anne Fine.