After You by Julie Buxbaum

After You

A family drama with half a family and then some. In this well-written book (2009), a 35-year old American woman, Ellie, travels to England so she can look after the daughter of her friend who recently died.

Her friend Lucy was killed in the streets of Notting Hill while taking her 8 year old daughter Sophie to school. Ellie sees how deeply this has affected Sophie and moves in with Sophie and her father, Greg.

Ellie and Lucy had been friends since they were four years old, and Ellie is also Sophie’s godmother, so she feels responsible for the wellfare of the child.

Meanwhile, in the US, Ellie’s husband Phillip is not so happy with her decision to go and stay in England. Their marriage has been unsettled for a while. Is the death of Lucy a good excuse for Ellie to spend some time away from Greg?

I devoured this book in a few days. I very much enjoyed the deepening relationship between Ellie and Sophie. I could understand why Ellie wanted to be away from her husband and the US, but I think (and so did he!) that she could have explained it a bit better to him. Poor man!

Buxbaum didn’t take the obvious route where an awkward relationship might have ensued between Ellie and Lucy’s husband (now widower) given that they were living in the same house and both looking after Sophie. However, another obvious route was chosen which I guessed around 2/3s of the book. That was a pity, as I would have liked to be kept in the dark a little longer.

In all, a very nice read for anyone who likes to read about relationships, family and friendship.

Just to let you know, I got this copy for free from Transworld Publishers because of the Transworld Summer Reading Challenge.

Rating: 4/5