What Comes After

Many books rush at plot as if it’s a wall that needs to be scaled as quickly as possible; What Comes After has plenty of plot, but none of the rush. There are moments of wisdom in its quiet scenes, such as when one character lays next to a beloved dog; and moments of kindness, too. What I loved most about What Comes After were those moments of peace, when the characters work to collect themselves in the wake of a terrible tragedy.

At the start of the novel, we find that two teenagers who lived next door to each other in a small town—Daniel and Jonah—have died in shocking ways. Daniel’s father and Jonah’s mother are left living side-by-side, locked into silence by their grief. It takes the arrival of a mysterious girl, Evangeline, for the boys’ stories to begin to be told.

This is a story about how important it is for us to truly know each other, and ourselves. Each character in the novel has a hidden, complicated truth inside them, and part of the tragedy is that these boys weren’t seen for who they were—for better and for worse—before they died. But the grief-wrecked people left behind find that there’s always time, even if it feels too late, to learn the truth. And as they throw open old creaky doors and reconsider both their neighbors and themselves, they find there is space for love.

In misty, coastal Washington State, Isaac lives alone with his dog, grieving the recent death of his teenage son, Daniel. Next door, Lorrie, a working single mother, struggles with a heinous act committed by her own teenage son. Separated by only a silvery stretch of trees, the two parents are emotionally stranded, isolated by their great losses—until an unfamiliar pregnant sixteen-year-old girl shows up, bridges the gap, and changes everything.

Evangeline’s arrival at first feels like a blessing, but she is also clearly hiding something. When Isaac, who has retreated into his Quaker faith, isn’t equipped to handle her alone, Lorrie forges her own relationship with the girl. Soon all three characters are forced to examine what really happened in their overlapping pasts, and what it all possibly means for a shared future.

With a propulsive mystery at its core, What Comes After offers an unforgettable story of loss and anger, but also of kindness and hope, courage and forgiveness. It is a deeply moving account of strangers and friends not only helping each other forward after tragedy, but inspiring a new kind of family.