Name: Aftermath
ISBN: 9780571277674

Rachel Cusk

Using her own life as a starting point, Rachel looks at the issues that arise for a woman in the years after she has lived the defining experiences of feminity. She writes about marriage, separation, motherhood, work, money, domesticity and love. Cusk considers the kinds of generational knowledge the contemporary woman harbours, the terrors or expectations that have been passed down to her and that are refracted through the modern transformation of female status. Aftermath is written in the personal/political mode that characterised A Life's Work, Cusk's acclaimed book about becoming a mother.

On Marriage and Separation

Aftermath

The author chronicles the proces of redefining herself as a single woman while creating a new family life for herself and her dauhgters, as her marrige of ten years has come to an end.

in awe once again at rachel cusk's writing and the distinct way in which she transcends a particular experience: how she expounds on them in a seemingly detached, very cerebral way but still manages to make room for the reader's pondering and feeling. this was about her divorce and it was very obvious that her writing came from a place of pain. 

Deepika Ramesh

I read Rachel Cusk's 'Outline' a year ago, and remember rereading quite a few passages many times, for her writing was warm and intelligent at the same time. The plot was all over, but the story was still compelling. In her memoir 'Aftermath', Cusk is confused and depressed; her marriage has plummeted. Cusk does an autopsy of her marriage, of the roles that each partner played, the futility of the institutions called Marriage and Family, and in her own time explores the shadow that her failed relationship has cast on her children, her capacity in the society, and the modified aspects of her life. Her pain is sharp; it is not hard to empathise. However, I would have loved to understand the book viscerally rather than being lectured on Greek drama and Roman stories. I wanted Cusk to be more honest instead of being condescending and self-absorbed. The book worked for me in parts, especially the spots where she identified her contradictory views. She owned up to it. Otherwise, it felt like listening to a hotheaded acquaintance who loathes marriage just because it didn't work for her. That bias is an anathema to memoir-writing. I loved this line though: "I feel like a soldier come back from a war, full of experiences that have silenced me."

In the winter of 2009, Rachel Cusk's marriage of ten years came to an end. Candid and revelatory, Aftermath chronicles the perilous journey as the author redefines herself and creates a new version of family life for her daughters.

Aftermath On Marriage and Separation

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