Life in the Aftermath: Books That Explore What Happens After Things Go Wrong

Tara Conklin "Recommends Novels That Hinge on the Great Before/After" in Lithub.

Referring to Siri's 2004 publication What I Loved Ms. Conlink writes: "Hustvedt uses 'before' and 'after' structurally as well as substantively in this heartbreaker of a book. The novel’s two halves are separated by one unimaginable tragedy. A story of how friends become family advances intimately in the first half, giving the reader full access to the characters’ interior emotional lives and connections. You know these people deeply and honestly in the way that only great fiction can evoke. When the tragedy occurs, it’s like a punch in the face—stunning and painful. Watching how these characters fracture and evolve after that event is as gripping as any thriller."