After the Fall by Charity Norman

Val Penny ♦ February 27, 2018 ♦ Leave a comment

This book was the first story I had ever read that was set in New Zealand. It is the book that was book of the month in my book club.

After the Fall is a psychological thriller by Charity Norman. The author was born in Uganda and brought up in successive draughty vicarages in Yorkshire and Birmingham. After several years’ travel she became a barrister, specialising in crime and family law in the northeast of England. Also a mediator, she is passionate about the power of communication to slice through the knots. In 2002, she took a break from the law and moved with her family to New Zealand. After the Fall was published in 2013.

The story starts in the quiet of a New Zealand winter’s night, a rescue helicopter is sent to airlift a five-year-old boy, Finn, with severe internal injuries. He’s fallen from the upstairs veranda of an isolated farmhouse.

Initially, Finn’s fall looks like a horrible accident; but his mother, Martha McNamara, knows how it really happened. After the Fall tackles some tough family issues. This book  kept me on the edge of getting to the heart of the truth long enough to be satisfying when I got there.

I could not put it down and read this book quickly, eager to get to the ending and understand. After the Fall is a brave, well written, book that I recommend for your to read list. The characters are so vibrant and the writing so taut and the plot is complex and keeps your interest throughout the book.

If you like a complex family drama in your reading don’t look past this nove. After the Fall goes really deep into the heart of what really matters. Great setting and great story.

Val Penny