After You Left is a tale of two women's stories that merge into one. I confess that I didn't warm to Alice until the very end of the novel. I think I could have used more time with Alice and her husband to truly get a feel for her. His leaving was abrupt, to say the least, but because I didn't feel invested in their marriage I found her floundering perplexing. This was likely intentional by the author. If you felt attached to their marriage then his disappearance would have felt devastating and would have been hard for the reader to move past it- let alone Alice. His reason for leaving is explained but it seems a flimsy choice to me. Though he obviously needed to refocus most of his attention for a period was their really a reason to leave his wife?

My connection came when we met Evelyn- a woman who is so lively and intriguing that you couldn't help wanting to know all about her. Through their emerging friendship I grew to like Alice more and was appreciative of the quiet strength and support they were giving each other.

The novel isn’t filled with rainbows and unicorns- there weren’t a lot of moments when I felt pure joy from either of our protagonists. There was so much sadness and misunderstanding in both their lives, even as children I felt that they had been given a very subdued start to life. And yet neither of them had really had a bad or difficult life, just perhaps not the one that could bring them joy. Though I didn’t always love reading the novel it did linger with me as I thought about living for the sake of living and living for the joy of life.

There was a twist towards the end that actually did come as a surprise to me. I certainly don’t want to give it away but it does a lot to explain both Alice and Evelyn.


Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for our review copy. All opinions are our own.

Alice’s new husband, Justin, walks out on her on their honeymoon, leaving her bewildered about the reasons why. All she figures out is it may have something to do with a phone call he received the day before their wedding. Then she meets a fascinating old lady called Evelyn at the art gallery where she works, and becomes involved in her poignant story – one which has parallels to her own life.
This is an intriguing, clever story about lost love, regrets and second chances which is told over different timeframes. I did find myself more invested in the storyline involving Evelyn and Eddy, with Alice’s relationship woes taking a backseat.

Carol Mason has done another brilliant job of creating a realistic and emotional heartfelt story with After You Left. This is a new favorite of mine, next to her other novel Send Me A Lover. The story starts with how Alice is alone on her honeymoon because her husband has left her only after hours of being married. The note left no explanation which leaves the reader to think of all the horrible possible reasons he left: was there another woman? As Alice goes on in her life, we feel what she feels trying to figure out what she missed by reflecting on her memories of the relationship. Enter Evelyn, an older woman, who Alice meets at an art gallery and the two strike up a friendship. Despite being from two generations, Evelyn shares about her long love relationship with Eddy, who sadly has dementia, and the ups and downs the two underwent in order to end up together. As Evelyn describes her own struggles, it was interesting how the parallels worked between the two characters, which in the end helps Alice cope with the loss of her own marriage. This story will keep you engaged and when the denouement moment happened I was speechless. The two storylines weave well together that by the end I was so hoping that it wasn't over. I loved the characters and could relate to them. There were no unanswered questions or even any disappointment with how the story ended. This was an amazing, wonderfully written story, cleverly developed, and you would want to share with a close friend to read. I simply cannot describe all the emotions I experienced; I felt completely satisfied and would highly recommend it if you love a good read.

I received a free advance copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my unbiased review.