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Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:�??That�??s the thing about falling. It doesn�??t go on indefinitely, and it rarely ends well . . . �?� In her page-turning fiction debut, neuropsychologist Kylie Ladd delivers a searing portrait of two marriages united and betrayed by friendship. �??I had been married three years when I fell in love,�?� begins Kate, a firecracker of a woman who thought she�??d found the yin to her yang in Cary, her sensible and adoring husband. For their friend Luke�??a charismatic copywriter who loves women and attention in equal measure, and preferably together�??life has been more than sweet beside Cressida, the dutiful pediatric oncologist who stole his heart. But when a whimsical flirtation between Kate and Luke turns into something far more dangerous, the foursome will be irrevocably intertwined by more than just their shared history. After the Fall follows the origin and fallout of the most passionate of affairs through the eyes of all four characters, unveiling the misunderstandings and unspoken needs that lie beneath our search for love and connection. The narrative moves effortlessly between past and present, painting a nostalgic picture of the two marriages at their most idealistic�??the exact moment when like turned to love�??and at their most volatile. Thanks to the boundless compassion with which Ladd draws her characters, one can�??t help but root for them as they wrestle between newfound desire and remembrances of time past, all the while spinning toward an inevitable conclusion. Steeped in psychological insight and raw emotion, After the Fall is an unsettling novel of the ma… (more)
User reviews
The drama focuses on the psychological landscape of an affair, including all the betrayals and self-deceptions. In addition, the book follows the characters through the painful and life-altering process of recovery. If you are an empathetic reader, this book will take you on an affecting journey of the heart.
Personally, I found it almost impossible to put down. It was a unique and wholly captivating experience. Perhaps this is true because the architecture of the storytelling is aggressively personal. The author pulls the reader into the story by forcing us to play the role of the listener. We're in the story and have a stake in the outcome.
As we listen to each character's story, we are transformed into armchair psychologists. Each character recounts the events of this affair with as much candor, honesty, insight, and wisdom as he or she is capable of delivering. Each character has his or her own story, each brings a private, soul-searching personal perspective. Among all the perspectives, the reader is challenged to find the truth. Be forewarned: it is impossible to stay detached.
This is the writing of an accomplished and polished storyteller. The prose is fresh, vivid, and emotionally complex. The characters are fully developed and spot-on perfect. I am hard-pressed to find anything about this novel that I would change.
"After the Fall" should have an unusually wide appeal--men, women, young, old, popular fiction lovers, literary fiction seekers. It is a book that readers will think about for a long time afterward--a book that readers will want to talk about with their friends. Book clubs will have a field day discussing these characters and the moral landscape they inhabit.
I recommend this novel without reservation...storytelling doesn't get much better.
The entire story is told in the first person with alternating voices of the principals and a few supporting players. It gives the reader unique insight into the mental workings of the players. Their characterizations are dead-on as a result. There are so many shared experiences that are viewed from different points of view.
Everyone's pain is percieved differently, based on their expectations.
The only complaint about the book and this indeed maybe from my own experience, is that I found the adulteries as an end to a rock-solid marriage, a trivialization of the institution.
None the less, one feels like all the parties are people to root for.
I really liked the way the stories intermingled to give a picture of how the affair started and why. Each character's voice and point of view was well thought out. In some ways, I found it a bit enlightening... I would never dream of having an affair, but as the story developed I could understand why they had one. I especially liked Cary, I think his views were most like mine.
I can't say I liked all the characters, but I could empathize with them. Definitely an interesting read and could be a good book club pick... I can see it bringing forth a lively discussion.
Until at a wedding, Kate and Luke get drunk and kiss.
This is about
This is a very good book, but it's one that I didn't like very much. (Kate and Luke are both pretty horrible people, Luke especially.)
But it's definitely worth the read.
The story is told in short chapters from each of the main character’s viewpoints. A sickening spiral of lust and deception; this is an utterly believable tale. It’s like watching a train wreck. You cannot look away…knowing what is going to happen but compelled to read on. The characters are real; impulsive and vivacious Kate, steadfast Cary, the naïve Cressida whose trust is so misguided, and Luke the narcissistic golden boy. The telling, from each one’s viewpoint allows the reader insight into the feelings, motivation, and reaction of each character, along with the occasional input of a couple of their friends. The author deftly weaves the individual narratives into whole cloth. This novel is not about love or even sex. It is about betrayal, deception, and impulsive disregard of consequences.
Well written with characters fleshed out enough to leave you feeling some compassion even for those you like the least, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a provocative read. No fluff here, no need for a surfeit of sexual imagery, but just a solid story of the pain that was inevitable from the first kiss.
But not all books have to be happy or have happy endings, if you're drawn into the story and have to find out how it all ends -I feel its a good book.
I'm looking forward to Kylie Ladd's next novel
Although it is readable enough to finish, the story itself is nothing more than a detailed account of the affair, starting with first lust, then noting who calls whom and when, and other surface events of the nitty gritty of extramarital sex. No reasons are ever given for the affair. No character shows any development, maturing, realizations, or change as a result of the affair. When they are discovered, the reactions of the spouses are what you'd expect. They are very, very hurt. If your best friend told you this story about themselves, you would say what the adulterous pair's friends said to them: your spouse will be hurt and is that fair. Moreover, you would probably ask him or her to spare you the quotidian details of such affairs, something that you can't tell the author. I must add that this novel about lust is strangely sexless. It is devoid of passion, much less eroticism.
Ironically, I just read another novel about an affair written as this one is by an academic taking her first plunge into novel writing. Her book, too, is first person, but only from the view of one character. This novel, however, shows why the wife had the affair, and also what effect it had on her and her own personal growth and development. It also had erotic scenes in it. This novel, Therapy: A Novel, written by Harrie Rose, like Kylie Ladd's After the Fall is to be released in June. Strange coincidence!
Both marriages are weak and the partners are particularly ill-suited from the start, even before the affair. Everybody loves everybody - we know this because they say it so much. The actual duration of the affair is a tedious part of the book. There is no passion apparent, even the sex is reported joylessly and clinically.
I actually liked the book better after the affair was discovered and blew up in everyone's faces. There were some surprising responses and more believable emotions. But the book was still weak, and the ending was completely unbelievable and unsatisfying.
This book offered no particular insight into adultery, nor did it offer the drama usually inherent in such plots. I also thought the book could have been about 20% shorter.
Thanks to LTER for the chance to read and review this book.
Luke and
"After the Fall" examines the lead-up to, the events of and the fall-out from the affair. Each side of the story is told in short, first-person accounts of what's happened and it's a fascinating "Roshomon"-like device to see the events unfold from the various perspectives. Ladd gets inside the mind of each character to try and reveal motivations, thoughts, feelings, justifications, etc for the affair.
At some points, the story follows the standard, predictable path but at others it pulls out a few unexpected twists and turns. Finding out who stays with who and why in the aftermath of things is interesting and a bit unexpected.
Overall, it's not a great piece of literature, but it's an enjoyable enough guilty pleasure type of read.
The author does show some promise and perhaps in a few years I'll look and see if she's written something else. But not for a while.
Ladd's novel also suffers from shallow characters that I found impossible to care about. Even the innocent characters in this novel about infidelity are not developed enough to arouse compassion in the reader.
Interestingly, Ladd is trained and practices as a psychologist. I am sure her insight into the experiences surrounding infidelity are accurate. I just wish more of the emotion was included in her novel.