The Aftermath Summary
Rhidian Brook

The Aftermath Overview

Rhidian Brook’s The Aftermath opens in post-WWII Hamburg in 1946, now a British-occupied zone, which was reduced to ruins after the devastating firearms raid of the Allied forces. Circumstances force a British family and a German family to live under the same roof, and the tense domestic dynamics that play out over the course of the novel mirror the greater postwar Anglo-German relations. The novel explores themes of war, violence and infidelity, grief, reconstruction, and ultimately, the power of forgiveness and reconciliation.