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After

After 2

A blazingly beautiful memoir of a mother's choice and a daughter's grief

by Nikki Gemmell
Hardback
Publication Date: 27/03/2017
4/5 Rating 2 Reviews

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Australia's bravest and most honest writer explores the devastating aftermath of her elderly mother's decision to end her own life.

Nikki Gemmell's world changed forever in October 2015 when the body of her elderly mother was found and it became clear she had decided to end her own life. After the immediate shock and devastation came the guilt and the horror, for Nikki, her family, relatives and friends. No note was left, so the questions that Elayn's death raised were endless. Was the decision an act of independence or the very opposite? Was it a desperate act driven by hopelessness and anger, or was her euthanasia a reasoned act of empowerment?

After is the story of Elayn Gemmell - and the often difficult, prickly relationship between mothers and daughters, and how that changes over time. As anguished as it truthful, as powerful as it is profound, After is about life, death, elderly parents, mothers and daughters, hurt and healing, and about how little, sometimes, we know the ones we love the most.

A deeply intimate, fiercely beautiful, blazingly bold and important book.

ISBN:
9781460753057
9781460753057
Category:
Memoirs
Format:
Hardback
Publication Date:
27-03-2017
Publisher:
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd
Country of origin:
Australia
Pages:
304
Dimensions (mm):
210x135x26mm
Weight:
0.44kg
Nikki Gemmell

Nikki Gemmell is the bestselling author of seven novels and four works of non-fiction for adults, and two novels for children. Her work has received international critical acclaim and been translated into many languages.

In France she's been described as a female Jack Kerouac, in Australia as one of the most original and engaging authors of her generation and in the US as one of the few truly original voices to emerge in a long time.

Nikki is currently a columnist for the Weekend Australian's Saturday magazine, and a Friday regular on the Today programme in Australia. Born in Wollongong, Australia, Nikki lived in London for many years but has now returned to Australia with her family.

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4.5

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2 Reviews

Important topic, valid observations, great writer.
I recommend this book to everyone interested in the topics of assisted dying or suicide.
It has touched many of my own experiences and validated them.

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I don’t think I’ve ever read a book so drenched in shock and bereavement. After is the product of Nikki Gemmell’s mother’s decision, faced with crippling injury and addiction, to end her own life without warning anyone around her. In the aftermath of her mother’s death, Gemmell captures every aftershock and takes readers on a journey to reconcile her fractious relationship with the woman she’s just identified in a morgue. The writing is sparse, immediate and doesn’t hold back. It must have been an very difficult thing to write and the author has been incredibly brave to have shared it.

Contains Spoilers No
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