- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Trapeze (6 Sept. 2018)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1409172643
- ISBN-13: 978-1409172642
Synopsis
When Rachel and Aidan fell in love, they thought it was forever.
She was a brilliant, high-flying scientist. He was her loving and supportive husband.
Now she’s gone, and Aidan must carry on and raise their daughter alone.
But Rachel has left behind her life’s work, a gift of love to see them through the dark days after her death.
A gift called iRachel.
Review
The After Wife is an original and emotional story of one families loss, and a book that took me through many different emotions. Narrated by Rachel, Aiden, Chloe, Sinead and IRachel we see how different people deal with the loss of a family member. Rachel was a talented scientist, wife, mother, work colleague and daughter in law, so to each character she means something different. Rachel knew she may not see old age and was working on a humanoid robot that could live with her husband and daughter and hopefully help with their grief, and keep a little bit of her with them.
Aiden, Rachel’s husband, is angry at loosing his wife, angry that she knew she may have a problem and not confide in him. During their marriage he was the one who was there more for their daughter Chloe, whose career was second to that of his wife. Throughout this book, his relationships change with his daughter, his mother, Sinead, and to his work. Chloe is used to her dad being there for her and although loved her mother she hated that she was compared to her, that everyone knew who she was. I thought Chloe was a wonderful character, such a mature girl for her age, and caring towards her family and friends. She is horrified by IRachel but over the few weeks she begins to learn more about her mother, understand her more and become more connected to her. Sinead, Chloe’s Grandmother, is a woman of her time; she was a single mother who worked to bring up her children on her own, didn’t have a lot of time for displays of emotion, and was fearlessly independent. As it becomes clear that she is having memory problems she has to come to terms with the loss of her memory, her independence and her home. And for Aiden and Chloe it is the partial loss of another family member. Through these characters we are part of their love, loss, sadness, triumphs and their future.
I found this an ingenious and thought provoking story, that made me consider how we cope with different types of loss in our lives; not only from death, but also from having a busy career that can mean even when you are at home your mind could be elsewhere so you are not fully in the present. There is also the loss of memory and dementia, the loss of friends, the loss of identity and of relationships. IRachel was an interesting concept in that it looked like Rachel, had her memories and spoke like her, but what was missing was that essential part of being human, emotion and feeling; she is very clinical and scientific as she should be. However, I do think there is a lot of positive messages in this book that come from the concept of IRachel, and certainly gave me something to think about, and these difficult subjects matters were dealt with great empathy and sensitivity.
The After Wife is a book I may have passed over if I had seen in on a shelf as I stay away from books about robots, but I’m glad that I had the opportunity to read and review as I found this a wonderful read. I was swept up in the characters lives and emotions and how they moved forward with their lives. For someone who doesn’t read about robots and am not overly interested in science, I was fascinated by IRachel, and what she represented and how she fitted into the family. This is a really engaging and compelling read and I urge you to give it a go, you won’t be disappointed.
