Molly-Mae: Behind It All - Part 2
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Aftermath: On Marriage and Separation Paperback – 16 May 2019

by Rachel Cusk (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars 239 ratings
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'An extraordinary writer of the female experience.' Financial Times

'Cusk is startlingly insightful.' Independent on Sunday

'Divorce has been a catastrophe for Cusk but Cusk the writer triumphs.' Metro

In the winter of 2009, Rachel Cusk's marriage of ten years came to an end. Candid and revelatory, Aftermath chronicles the perilous journey as the author redefines herself and creates a new version of family life for her daughters.

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  1. Print length
    160 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Faber & Faber
  4. Publication date
    16 May 2019
  5. Dimensions
    12.9 x 1.2 x 19.8 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    0571351646
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0571351640
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Book Description

Written in the months after Rachel Cusk's divorce, Aftermath is a masterly work charting the largely unwritten journey back to order from the chaos that is left when a family breaks apart.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Faber & Faber; Main edition (16 May 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0571351646
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0571351640
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.9 x 1.2 x 19.8 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.0 out of 5 stars 239 ratings

About the author

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Rachel Cusk

Rachel Cusk

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Rachel Cusk is the author of nine novels, three non-fiction works, a play, and numerous shorter essays and memoirs. Her first novel, Saving Agnes, was published in 1993. Her most recent novel, Kudos, the final part of the Outline trilogy, will be published in the US and the UK in May 2018.

Saving Agnes won the Whitbread First Novel Award, The Country Life won the Somerset Maugham Award and subsequent books have been shortlisted for the Orange Prize, Whitbread Prize, Goldsmiths Prize, Bailey’s Prize, and the Giller Prize and Governor General’s Award in Canada. She was named one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists in 2003. Her version of Euripides’ Medea was directed by Rupert Goold and was shortlisted for the Susan Blackburn Smith Award.

Rachel was born in Canada in 1967 and spent her early childhood in Los Angeles before moving to the UK in 1974. She studied English at Oxford and published her first novel Saving Agnes when she was twenty six, and its themes of femininity and social satire remained central to her work over the next decade. In responding to the formal problems of the novel representing female experience she began to work additionally in non-fiction. Her autobiographical accounts of motherhood and divorce (A Life’s Work and Aftermath) were groundbreaking and controversial.

Most recently, after a long period of consideration, she attempted to evolve a new form, one that could represent personal experience while avoiding the politics of subjectivity and literalism and remaining free from narrative convention. That project became a trilogy (Outline, Transit and Kudos). Outline was one of The New York Times’ top 5 novels in 2015. Judith Thurman’s 2017 profile of Rachel in The New Yorker comments “Many experimental writers have rejected the mechanics of storytelling, but Cusk has found a way to do so without sacrificing its tension. Where the action meanders, language takes up the slack. Her sentences hum with intelligence, like a neural pathway.”

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4 out of 5 stars
239 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book insightful and emotionally charged, with one review noting its focus on interior life. The writing quality receives mixed reactions, with some praising the exquisite writing while others find it poor. Moreover, the content receives negative feedback, with one customer describing it as too little and another finding it pretentious. Additionally, the pacing is criticized as self-indulgent, and one customer mentions the overuse of Greek mythology as a drawback.

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4 customers mention ‘Insight’4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful, with one noting its phenomenal descriptive powers and another highlighting its focus on interior life.

"...It is like she is at one with the language. Her powers of description are phenomenal. Maybe that is why I finished this book feeling so exhausted...." Read more

"...is her exquisitely sensitive writing, there is a kind of pure focus on interior life relating to what is around her...." Read more

"Dark, atmospheric, sophisticated and insightful. Loved it." Read more

"The first part is insightful and emotionally charged, the rest a little tiresome." Read more

4 customers mention ‘Readability’4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book to be a great read.

"Good read... Thank you... x" Read more

"This was a great read, difficult topic, conveying private experience of a marriage breakdown." Read more

"...Julie Burchill says it’s a brilliant book. Well, I won’t be reading Julie Burchill." Read more

"This book was interesting but I read it quite a while ago so I can't remember how informative it was." Read more

3 customers mention ‘Emotional content’3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book emotionally charged, with one customer noting its honest portrayal of the grieving process during a marriage breakdown.

"This was a great read, difficult topic, conveying private experience of a marriage breakdown." Read more

"The first part is insightful and emotionally charged, the rest a little tiresome." Read more

"Excruciating and honest regarding the grieving and the energy it takes to rebuild oneself after the break up of a marriage...." Read more

8 customers mention ‘Writing quality’4 positive4 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing quality of the book, with some praising its exquisite prose while others find it poor.

"...But I will award it four stars because Rachel's writing is so darned good, and I intend reading her back catalogue...." Read more

"...I thought the writing poor. It's dull and veiled, and so tangled up with chunks of Greek myths that this reader was tempted to skip great chunks...." Read more

"...Her special talent is her exquisitely sensitive writing, there is a kind of pure focus on interior life relating to what is around her...." Read more

"...over egged series of metaphors to describe the marital status..a literary ego trip...this may not be how she intended it but it's how it reads..i..." Read more

6 customers mention ‘Content’0 positive6 negative

Customers find the book's content unappealing, describing it as banal, pretentious, and too sparse.

"...I thought the writing poor. It's dull and veiled, and so tangled up with chunks of Greek myths that this reader was tempted to skip great chunks...." Read more

"Loquacious, banal and immature, this memoir reveals it's author as surprisingly lacking in awareness and empathy...." Read more

"The first part is insightful and emotionally charged, the rest a little tiresome." Read more

"...the sort of thing a bright college student might write, immature and imitative." Read more

3 customers mention ‘Mythology’0 positive3 negative

Customers find the book's extensive use of Greek mythology annoying.

"...It's dull and veiled, and so tangled up with chunks of Greek myths that this reader was tempted to skip great chunks...." Read more

"...Awful overwrought hysterical prose, and the constant comparisions to Greek drama is grating and superfluous...." Read more

"Rather sparse and the constant references to Greek mythology were annoying as they added nothing to the book and were also tedious to read..." Read more

3 customers mention ‘Pacing’0 positive3 negative

Customers find the pacing of the book self-indulgent.

"Loquacious, banal and immature, this memoir reveals it's author as surprisingly lacking in awareness and empathy...." Read more

"Self-indulgent, very, very pretentious and utterly boring...." Read more

"Self-indulgent..." Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Sue Roberts
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good read ..
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 December 2024
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    Good read... Thank you... x
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  • Mrs. Sarah Crabtree
    4.0 out of 5 stars After The Temporary
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 February 2013
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    Rachel Cusk was the writer I would have liked to have been. In my early days of attempting to be taken seriously as a writer, I remember hearing the title 'Saving Agnes' and Rachel Cusk being stage whispered in literary circles. She was the girl I would have liked to have sat next to in English. We would have read each other's stories and given helpful feedback. We would have shared our excitement at attending each other's debut novel launch. A novel. It would definitely be novels we wrote. We would not be jealous of each other's success. We would have supported each other when things - as they invariably do - nosedive. Sales drop. Critics bite. And that novel filled with energy in its opening pages suddenly grinds to a halt because the protagonist is going nowhere.

    But time and writers move on. Some writers give up and go back to the day job. Others plod on with various projects on the go. Because that's what we do, dear reader, don't we?

    And so, after a long and winding introduction, I discuss Aftermath; only to be fair because I read something about a hatchet job winning an award. I suddenly remember 'The Temporary', which I bought in Waterstones in hardback and savoured every carefully executed word: I recall Rachel's description of the temporary as being like a blade as she rushed through the London crowd. It shone with excitement and not a little danger in my mind. It made me realise with a stab (full pun intended) how reckless I was being in daring to call myself a writer. And for me, Aftermath isn't just the story of another divorce, it chronicles the painful reality of trying to make a living as a writer; struggling to be taken seriously; and the difficulties put on those who have to live with this creature.

    And now to the grading: at least two stars because I bothered to buy it after reading the sample. At least three stars because it inspired me to write a longer than usual review. Will I award it the full five stars? Gosh, no. It was pricey for an ebook and rather short in length. But I will award it four stars because Rachel's writing is so darned good, and I intend reading her back catalogue. Now where did I put that copy of 'The Temporary'?
    6 people found this helpful
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  • MamaIzzy
    3.0 out of 5 stars Has she published her therapy?
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 November 2012
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    I just love Rachel Cusk. I envy the way she strings words together. It is like she is at one with the language. Her powers of description are phenomenal. Maybe that is why I finished this book feeling so exhausted. She conveyed her 'aftermath' so convincingly that it stung to read it, and it was so personal that it felt like I was invading. She does feel free to write controversially and openly about so many things- motherhood being the obvious topic to start with- but might she have gone too far this time? There are so many others involved- what about them and the sanctity of their aftermath? What about her family? What about her kids? What about her ex-husband? It feels like published therapy. And yes, its great she has 'moved on' but I didn't sense any lightness as a consequence, just a heavy foreboding. A very sad little book.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Rosie
    5.0 out of 5 stars I almost didn't read this wonderful book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 May 2012
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    Thank you Racheal for writing this book. You and I are at oposite ends of the table in a flat world, but in a more enlightened circular world we could be standing side by side, the leaver and the left. I almost didn't read the book when I read the other reviews, so glad I gave it a chance.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • N. Popovic
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great read on a private experience
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 August 2020
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    This was a great read, difficult topic, conveying private experience of a marriage breakdown.
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  • mintymoor
    4.0 out of 5 stars Unsure - but exquisite writing at times
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 September 2020
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    I'm a fan of Rachel Cusk's writing - her book about travelling in Italy and Tuscany was wonderful. Her special talent is her exquisitely sensitive writing, there is a kind of pure focus on interior life relating to what is around her. No one can describe a rainy day in the park or a failed recipe quite like her, in vivid subtlety and tone. Her account of a holiday in Devon, which was both funny and macabre by turn, was especially gripping. And even a hamster’s cage. Also her writing explored some of interesting deeper reflections generally. Though I found some of the writing subjects more random and less interesting. The long Greek mythology tracts, interesting at first, but overlong and grew tiresome for this reader.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Annie Clayton
    1.0 out of 5 stars So disappointing
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 April 2012
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    I think that Rachel Cusk's publishers have done her no favour in publishing this thin little book. Not because of all the fuss about her invasion of her own family's privacy, because there is far less of that than one would have expected from all the hostile reviews - and far, far less than some prurient readers might have relished! (In any case, she comes over as much less sympathetic and reasonable than her partner.) I thought the writing poor. It's dull and veiled, and so tangled up with chunks of Greek myths that this reader was tempted to skip great chunks. Don't anyone judge her writing by this book.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • twowhitecats
    5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely atmospheric and relatable.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 July 2021
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    Dark, atmospheric, sophisticated and insightful. Loved it.
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Virginia W.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Aufräumen mit dem Mythos der gelungenen Trennung/Patchworkfamilie
    Reviewed in Germany on 29 August 2018
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    Ich bin des Englischen einigermaßen mächtig, und da dieses Buch noch nicht in Übersetzung vorliegt, habe ich mich drangewagt.
    Das Englisch dieser Autorin ist ziemlich elaboriert und idiomatisch, daher braucht es einen zweiten Lesedurchgang, damit ich mir sicher sein kann, alles richtig erfaßt zu haben.
    Mein erster Eindruck ist der: Sie schreibt sehr authentisch, nichts wird beschönigt, oder, um es mit Leonard Woolf zu sagen: "downhill all the way", das ist, was man erlebt, wenn man sich nach einer Trennung desorientiert fühlt, verloren, überfordert. Ihre Beobachtung ist, dass mit einer Scheidung für die meisten Frauen ein sozialer Abstieg beginnt, der sich allein schon darin ausdrückt, dass sie plötzlich viel weniger komfortabel wohnen müssen als ihr Expartner. Weil sie es sind, die wiederum - nach einer Trennung in der Regel auf sich gestellt, unter verschärften Bedingungen also - alles unter einen Hut bekommen müssen: Job, Alltag, Betreuung und Erziehung der Kinder. Die Frage eines möglichen neuen Partners ist in dieser Phase kein Teil des Szenarios, weil all die Unwägbarkeiten des Alltags, die eigene emotionale Labilität es erforderlich machen, alle Energie darauf zu verwenden, die Lage stabil zu halten.
    Rachel Cusk ist kämpferisch, ihre Intention ist, offenzulegen, was meist in den Medien, in den Soaps und natürlich auch von den Mitmenschen beschönigt wird: Es wird nicht so schnell wieder gut, es hinterläßt tiefe Wunden und das Gefühl, unvollständig zu sein. Nach der Trennung ist sie damit beschäftigt, die Kinder diese immense Lücke (in sich selbst und in der Restfamilie) nicht so sehr spüren zu lassen. Sie gibt ihre eigene Verfassung in berührenden kleinen Beobachtungen weiter, hat man selbst eine schmerzliche Trennung erlebt, findet man sich darin sicher wieder. Die Exkursionen in die griechische Mythologie sind möglicherweise auch erhellend, aber dafür braucht es noch einmal ein tiefes Durchatmen, um sich einzulesen.
    Der Einstieg mit dem Vergleich eines durcheinandergeworfenen Puzzles hat mich erst einmal stutzen lassen, weil ich dachte, dies sollte doch eine brillante Autorin sein, warum greift die zu so einer abgegriffenen Metapher?
    Aber im weiteren finde ich, dass sie den Ruf, der ihr vorauseilt einlöst. Am besten gefallen mir jene Passagen, wo klar wird, dass in einer modernen Frau nicht nur diese Modernität wohnt, das unabhängige und kühle Denken, sondern auch all das was ihr traditionell und unbewußt mitgegeben wurde, was ihren Instinkt als Mutter ausmacht und die Widersprüche und Unvereinbarkeiten, die sich aus all dem zusammen ergeben. Die Zerrissenheit.
    Vielleicht wird mir ein zweiter, vollständigerer Lesedurchgang gelingen, und dann kann ich möglicherweise noch mehr sagen.
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  • J
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
    Reviewed in the United States on 16 February 2022
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    I loved Aftermath. I loved Trains, the autofictional/autobiographical story with “Sonia.”

    I also loved The Country Life

    I am that gay guy described in Outline who cries and sees himself in what Faye reads

    Rachel Cusk is brilliant and is undervalued in our time because of what she says, it’s painful and it hurts, but her work has been described as upholding the “feminist principle of autobiographical writing even when it hurts”

    ❤️
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  • Ger Crotty
    3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on 8 February 2017
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    This a book that feels like the author needed to write it. It's intelligent and honest and complex at times but for me her best moments just sounded like something Jeanette Winterson would have written. Try 'Oiutline' first if you want to read her.
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  • Winslow
    5.0 out of 5 stars Also loved her novel
    Reviewed in the United States on 24 May 2016
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    This book is the book you want to pick up when you are going through a break up, or just when you want to read a very fierce and fiercely talented writer on one of life's most difficult subjects. Also loved her novel, Outlines, which is much quieter but stunning in a more watchful register.
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  • Bessie
    5.0 out of 5 stars Cusk is a great writer. I would recommend "Outline
    Reviewed in the United States on 26 March 2016
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    Sensitive and realistic. Cusk is a great writer. I would recommend "Outline."
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