I can’t believe that I’ve not read this book before, considering how much I’ve loved Maggie O’Farrell’s other books. It’s so beautifully written and incredibly touching. What an amazing book. I loved it!

This is Maggie O'Farrell's first novel?! Damn, she's GOOD! I had never read any of her books but I've been eyeing The Marriage Portrait for a while and I was so excited to finally read a book of hers and wasn't disappointed!

I've enjoyed some other Maggie O'Farrell books, but hadn't read "After You'd Gone" before.

It took me a while to get into the sudden changes between the different narrators, but their individual stories, and the mystery of what Alice saw, held my attention throughout and I enjoyed reading it.

After You'd Gone by Maggie O' Farrell

A real treat , her first book . I've only recently got into books by this author and This one like her others is excellent .

A distraught young woman boards a train at King's Cross to return to her family in Scotland. Six hours later, she catches sight of something so terrible in a mirror at Waverley Station that she gets on the next train back to London.
A great story , brilliant characters , and intriguing plotline.

Maggie O’Farrell at her absolute best. I adore this book. So beautifully crafted and achingly heart-breaking. I couldn’t put it down and yet didn’t want it to end. I can’t stop thinking about it and Alice and John. O’Farrell has captured the unsaid and all the havoc that wreaks in her clever, clever words. I love the construction of the book too - not always knowing whose voice we’re hearing till a few lines in. I’ve read some great books recently and rated them highly, but ‘After You’d Gone’ surpasses them all.

A brilliant and accurate depiction of grief. Maggie O'Farrell is undoubtedly a genius, I was surprised to learn that After You'd Gone is her debut novel.

"The day she would try to kill herself, she realised winter was coming again."

After You'd Gone tells a story about Alice who is currently in comma, though we have yet to learn the events leading up to this tragedy. The prologue gives off a tense atmosphere, and the opening line is stuck with me throughout the entire time I am reading this book. Told in alternating timeline, sometimes we also get the point of view from Alice's mother, Ann, and even her grandmother, Elspeth. We learn in the beginning of the book that Alice saw something tremendously shocking but the details of it only revealed nearing the end. Every page keeps me hooked, I don't mind losing sleep in order to figure the mystery out.

It's only the first month of 2025, but I am certain I have found my favorite read of the year.

After You'd Gone is Maggie O'Farrell's first novel, initially published in 2001, and it is a remarkable one. It's gripping, moving, experimental and satisfying, balancing beautiful sentences with deep characterisation and playfulness. The shifting perspectives take a little getting used to, but is a key part of the book's approach. There are some themes and symbols that are a little overdone (see the axolotl in the tank in the bathroom), but as an agonising portrayal of love, loss and life, it's really impressive.

I read this originally in 2018 and since then Maggie O Farrell has been one of my favourite writers.

She writes so beautifully and tenderly but realistically about relationships. It’s hard to believe this was her debut

I love a multigenerational novel and I love the mix of characters and time periods. This is a truly stunning book.

5 stars.

This is only the second book I have read by Maggie O’Farrell and it has left me questioning why I haven’t read any of her other books until now. I read The Hand That First Held Mine several years ago and it left a lasting impression on me and I feel exactly the same after finishing After You’d Gone.
The book is a moving story of love and loss and Alice is the central character. However, it is so much more as the background of Alice’s family life is told not just through going back to her past but also that of her Mother’s and Grandmother’s lives and also her relationship between her and her sisters. It is very much a story about the women in Alice’s life and not just about her greatest love, her husband, John. It is clear from the start that John is no longer in Alice’s life but Alice herself has gone through a traumatic experience leading to a road traffic “accident.”
They story moves backwards and forwards in time and the reader starts to piece together family secrets and the long term effects on those who have known or guessed that not all is as it seems in the family. There are some poignant moments in the story and through the sadness of Alice’s story I began to feel that there may be hope for Alice’s future. The descriptive writing really makes the story come alive and I am eager to read more of the author’s work.

An incredibly moving book - unputdownable! At first I thought the constant shifting in timelines was going to be irritating, but it's very quick to get used to and I liked the dream - ike jumping around of Alice's thoughts. This has to be one of my favourite books of Maggie O' Farrell and one I will recommend to everyone.
Thank you #Netgalley for this ARC

I can’t believe this is Maggie O’Farrell’s debut novel - not only is it just so well written, but it’s amazing to see how she’s retained her signature fluid writing style throughout her 25-year long career. What I really appreciate about how Maggie O’Farrell writes her stories is how much thought she puts into connecting every element, including characters, plot points, and even just motifs running through the entire book.

Although it can be a little confusing and maybe even feel a bit disjointed at the beginning, once you get used to all the timeline and perspective changes, I feel the story becomes even more compelling. as you’re forced to pay attention to who the characters are and how they’re feeling at any given moment. This story itself is a tragic one about grief and family dynamics and I found myself really empathising for our main character and everything she goes through.

From her childhood to adulthood, she’s definitely been dealt a difficult hand of cards but reading how everything comes together was an emotional and satisfying experience that I really enjoyed. I’d highly recommend checking this book out, especially you’re a new Maggie O’Farrell reader like me and want to see how her writing has changed (or not).

This is a brilliant book and kept me hooked from the start, the flitting between characters maybe difficult for some readers but I found the whole story riveting, emotional, gripping, sad and left me wanting more. The only thing i wasnt sure about was the ending, otherwise a highly addictive read

This book! It's mesmerising. I absolutely loved it. Right from the beginning, we are drawn into Alice's world but while it seems at first that we are there to figure out what she saw and what happened to her, it is so much deeper. The language is achingly perfect in its descriptions and the study of people and their emotions and history and reactions is beautifully done. I loved the way we move between different characters and their world and perspective. Whether it was Ann or Elspeth or Alice, all are completely engrossing. The people who come into their lives, and out again, are also all fully drawn, recognisable people. I couldn't put it down. It's just wonderful.

Consummate from the start.

I’ve read several O’Farrell novels, but not, curiously, her first, this one. It’s an astonishing first novel, told in both first person narration and in the traditional third person authorial overview. What is most interesting and poignant is the use of the first person narration when the main character, Alice, might be supposed to be least aware.

This might be regarded – indeed, should be – as a love story, but this is in the way that literary fiction does ‘love stories’ rather than ‘romantic fiction’ It is also a slowly revealing story of mental and emotional fragility and dysfunction across generations.

I don’t want to give ANYTHING away about plot, or character. The blurb pretty well reveals what the reader will learn very quickly, but if the reader knows nothing BUT this, so much the better. O’Farrell skilfully drip feeds in what the reader should learn, at any point, without any sense of over-contrived manipulation. This means, all way through, there are surprises in store which feel real and shocking.

Beautiful, heartbreaking and extremely profound.

So glad I have read this again, I had forgotten just how good it is. The main character, Alice, is tightly interwoven with her mother and grandmother and her story is told in snippets mixed with Ann’s story and Elspeth’s. Family bonds are strong and both anchor and confine Alice through this tumultuous, tragic, funny, shocking tale of love.

I first read this novel in 2016, one of many by this author that I have enjoyed. Rereading it now, it is so accomplished it is hard to believe that it was her debut novel. At first the jumping back and forth between characters and in time was a little confusing but as the story starts to hang together it ceased to be a problem.

O'Farrell creates her characters through what they say and how they behave, and through their complicated relationships, especially those of Ann and Ben, and Ann and Alice. I do not think there is any physical description, but they are vividly real and believable.

O'Farrell writes faultlessly and the way she portrays emotions such as Alice's grief after losing John had me riveted to the page. When all seemed completely hopeless, there is a glimmer of light in the final paragraph.

I can’t believe this novel is over 20 years old - it is fresh, immediate and absorbing. Maggie O’Farrell is such a good writer and it’s interesting to meet her at the start of her writing career. This is a cleverly layered story told from several different viewpoints. Romantic, heartbreaking, wonderful!

Intense and emotional. Told in brief bursts from different points of view, this novel is gripping and involving. The book centres on the lives of three women - Alice, her mother Ann, and Elspeth, her father's mother, but mainly it is about Alice. We go through Alice's relationships from her youth to her twenties, through awkward and irritating liaisons, to the love of her life. After You've Gone tells the story of life after love, of the tragedy of loss and the impossibility of living on in the early years of such loss.

But it's also about so much more - selfishness, adultery, small-mindedness, overwhelming passion, the whole gamut of emotional life.

There are irritations - the constant use of people's names by other characters, and a character being handed the deceased's ashes at the door of the crem when leaving after the service - but it's a first book and and amazing one so we won't quibble over that. I've read many of Maggie O'Farrell's other books but had not come across this one before and am very glad to have finally encountered it.

Excellent.

Oh my goodness this was such an emotional book. I was laughing and crying all the way through. A brilliant story with romance and laughter . But, sad as well. What a great debut book. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

My first time reading this, it's a very different writing style which mixes up the timeline, although this was confusing to start with it kept me gripped and the authors writing style is superb

There are not many authors who I return to time and time again - but Maggie O'Farrell is one of them. I hadn't read After You'd Gone so was pleased to get a chance to read this review copy. It isn't as good as some of the books that came later but it is still really enjoyable and fans won't be disappointed.

After You'd Gone is a book about three generations of a family told mainly through the women. Elspeth, Ann and Alice. It is told by jumping backwards and forwards in the timeline between them as they move through their lives. This is done very randomly and without any warning. The jump can happen mid paragraph which can be quite disconcerting initially. However, as you come to know the characters the narrative becomes less disjointed. The narrative tends to concentrate on Alice as it is her story that carries the others. I have read numerous Maggie O'Farrell books and enjoyed them all. I was very surprised to find this was her debut novel. One not to be missed.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Having read some of the other works by Maggie O’Farrell, I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I hoped I would.

After You’d Gone follows Alice, who is struggling with grief. It is well-written but from a personal perspective, I found the shifting timelines and perspectives rather confusing.
That said, I would read anything else she publishes in the future as I have enjoyed her last few books.

'I am somewhere. Drifting. Hiding. Thoughts running around tracks, random and unconnected as ball-bearings in the circuit of a pinball machine'.

'After You'd Gone' begins near its end. Alice is upset. Alice is not in her right mind. Alice now lies in hospital in a coma. What we get are snippets of her memory; scattered stories that let us know just how she got to this place. But this is not a linear journey. We also jump to Alice's mother's life and we also ricochet back to Alice's silent, comatose present.

This book doesn't read like a true story but rather a gamut of emotions, bundled together like letters left to a loved one. Its jumbled paragraphs can make it difficult at times to follow, yet I felt that best represented what it might feel like to be locked within your head.

With a title like, 'After You'd Gone', there's a spectre of heartache hanging over every vignette. Just what happened after you'd gone, where'd you go, and why? 'She knows enough about love to be aware of its double bind - that there's no love without pain, that you can't ever love someone without that tinge of dread at how it might end'.

This was Maggie O'Farrell's debut and it's a doozy. It's about life and love; finding love, showing love, being true to yourself and true to your love. Read it if you love your emotions being tossed around in a washing machine, as it slowly begins the spin cycle. Like a good wash, you'll feel great after.

'What are you supposed to do with all the love you have for somebody if that person is no longer there? What happens to all the leftover love? Do you suppress it? Do you ignore it? Are you supposed to give it to someone else'?

It took me about a third of the book to really get in to this. I found it quite slow going and was getting a bit confused about the quick time and perspective changes. But after that point I got really in to it. I felt very close to Alice - she was very relatable. The writing is brilliant and it feels like this could have been written today rather than 25 years ago. Couldn’t believe when I found out this is O’Farrell’s debut! I powered through the last third and thought the ending was great.

After You’d Gone is dark, intense, and beautifully written—Maggie O’Farrell really knows how to pull readers into complicated emotions. This one follows Alice and John’s all-consuming love story, with John giving up his family to be with her. After he dies in a London terror attack, Alice is completely lost, and as her grief unfolds, so do long-buried family secrets.

I loved the writing and was fully invested in Alice and John’s relationship, though I did wonder at times if Alice’s attachment to him was a little too much—it’s always unsettling to see a character who can’t imagine happiness without someone else. Also, I wasn’t expecting the twists about Alice’s mother, and they totally caught me off guard. On a lighter note, John having a pet axolotl was a fun little surprise.

Overall, this was a great read, even if I could have done without the spicy bits. Looking forward to reading more of O’Farrell’s backlist.

Here is a quote from the book that sums up my exact experience while reading After You'd Gone.
'She has spent most of the day reading and is feeling rather out of touch with reality, as if her own life has become insubstantiall in the face of the
fiction she's been absorbed in.'
O'Farrell is a tremendous storyteller and brings us on a journey with a secret which is wrapped up in grief, despair, love and the deep complexity of human relationships.. Her writing is so beautiful that it's difficult to believe this was a debut novel - I've read all her other books and will read anything she writes in the future.