From New York Times bestselling author Clare Mackintosh comes a deeply moving and page-turning novel about an impossible choice—and the two paths fate could take.“A beautifully written novel, compelling and clever, tender and true. I can’t stop thinking about it.”—Liane Moriarty“Tailor-made for book clubs and for fans of Jodi Picoult.”—Publishers Weekly Max and Pip are the strongest couple you …
Max and Pip are the strongest couple you know. They’re best friends, lovers—unshakable. But then their son gets sick and the doctors put the question of his survival into their hands. For the first time, Max and Pip can’t agree. They each want a different future for their son.
What if they could have both?
A gripping and propulsive exploration of love, marriage, parenthood, and the road not taken, After the End brings one unforgettable family from unimaginable loss to a surprising, satisfying, and redemptive ending and the life they are fated to find. With the emotional power of Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper, Mackintosh helps us to see that sometimes the end is just another beginning.
more
After the End is a beautifully written novel, compelling and clever, tender and true. I can’t stop thinking about it.
AFTER THE END is a fiercely honest and heartfelt examination of a family’s most wrenching moments. The intimacy and grace of this novel will both break your heart and fill you with hope. It’s an emotional tour de force.
The book was wonderful. Mom and dad went agents each other. Keep going I loved your book. Do you have another book coming soon?
I’m astounded to have not heard more buzz about this book—hands down one of my favorite reads of the year. The story begins in the midst of a couple’s worst nightmare, when they have to make an impossible decision about the fate of their terminally ill toddler. The opening chapters were difficult to read for this reason, but I’m so glad I stayed with them. It’s a choice they’ll both spend the rest of their lives second guessing, and that’s where the true magic of the story begins. Mackintosh gifts her readers with what we can never have in real life: A chance to see how both outcomes play out. In parallel universes, we watch a husband and wife fall apart and put themselves together again. We see how two divergent paths can still lead to redemption and grace, in very different forms. The result is far more than a Sliding Doors-style Choose Your Own Adventure tale: After the End is a moving, enlightening, and memorable portrait of the triumph of the human spirit.
Clare Mackintosh’s complex, riveting page-turner grapples with hard questions without ever straying from its emotional true north. I fell in love with the compelling voices of Pip, Max, and Leila as they explored the bravest and most terrifying words in the English language: What if. After the End is gorgeous, heart-wrenching, hope-soaked, and honest. It made me feel a thousand things, and it also made me think. Get an extra copy for a friend; you’re going to need to talk about this one.
After the End is a powerful exploration of grief, love, and the way in which all decisions—both large and small—can have life-changing results. This book will leave readers rethinking their own choices and wondering what might have happened if they’d acted differently.
Both utterly heart rending and incredibly uplifting, After the End is the most moving book you’ll read this year.
I don’t have words to describe what I think about this book, other than WOW, bloody, WOW! This is not only a book about a very sick little boy, but also about the unbelievable strains a marriage must endure, especially in the case of Pip and Max. There is no relief, not even after the end, but as the author says, there is hope.
Clare Mackintosh has based this story on her own painful experiences, so be prepared for a tough and emotional ride. As painful as it is, this book is one to be savored. Every single chapter brings a new awareness of how parents feel when faced with an impossible decision to keep their children alive or to remove all life support and let them die. After having read this book, I can say I’m a little better acquainted with the courts and legal decisions in such a tragedy, and the courageous path both doctors and parents must sometimes take.
I loved the characters, especially Leila. Her acute senses, her experience, her observation of the relationship between Max and Pip is beautifully drawn. When research is of such a high standard, it makes a difference to the reader. You learn something and that’s time well spent on a book.
It took me a lot longer to read this book and to comment than I have with any other. It is with some reservation that I say I ‘enjoyed it.’ It was harrowing and draining, but I couldn’t put it down. A departure from this author’s usual thrillers, it initially threw me for a loop. But I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. A book like this is definitely going to be a women’s fiction classic. I had read her book, I Let You Go, so I knew I was in for a very intricate, powerful read.
The only thing I didn’t like was the timeline, but in hindsight, how else could the author have done it? There were places where I had to go back and read sections over again as I did get lost along the way.
I can’t thank the author enough for writing it, and special thanks to Netgalley and to Penguin Group Putnam for an advance copy of this deep and and moving book.
Such a sad premise for a story and then the story veers off in two different what if directions. It was confusing at times but it was such a great story, heart wrenching in parts but such a great story! The ending leaves you questioning but I still loved it.
A moving account of how parents cope with making decisions around a sick child – and how lives can be changed forever.
It has took me a few days to put into words the emotions and the feelings that this book brought to me. The well wrote book using split narrative to show us what would happen with each decision made from the court case. The authors note at the end showed that she put her heart and soul onto the pages whilst writing this book from her personal experience. This book i highly recommend and is in my top 5 of 2020 so far and i believe will be with me for a while yet.
This is the first of Clare Mackintosh’s books that I have read and I understand it’s a bit of a departure from her usual crime thrillers. The good and bad thing about this book is how brutally honest it is. After the End gives readers a glimpse into a club with more members than we realize and it’s a club no one wants to join. I enjoyed the dual reality in the second half of the book, although it was hard to follow at times. An emotional and thought-provoking read about life after tragedy.
Heartbreaking and poignant and very different novel about a couple dealing with a very ill toddler. It tells the story from the point of view of both parents and also the doctor managing the child’s care. Dylan has a brain tumor and his parents Max and Pip are trying to hold their marriage together while dealing with the stress of a critically ill child.
It is told in Before and After segments, with the after segments detailing different paths. Very interesting and also heartbreaking.
Clare Mackintosh writes from personal experience and this makes her writing that much more emotional.
#AfterTheEnd #ClaireMackintosh
All I can say is WOW! I didn’t want to put this one down. Phenomenal!
After the End is a heartbreaking story of a couple coming to grips with treatment of their terminally ill son. As a parent, I can’t imagine losing a child. Clare Mackintosh had me enthralled with the “what if’s” in this story. A must read!
Real life struggles told with sadness and hope. Highly recommend.
I really wasn’t sure what to make of this book. The first half of the book is a narrative and the second half is a what if. If you like your books all neat and tidy this is not the book for you.
I adore Clare Mackintosh’s writing. All of her thrillers are unputdownable (I Let you Go is my favorite). Her new book is unlike her others, but equally good. This one is inspired by a tragic choice she and her husband were forced to face when their child was terminally ill. In the novel, Pip and Max are faced with the unimaginable. Their two year old son, Dylan, is dying of a brain tumor. After exhausting almost all treatments, they are advised to let him go. Pip wants to end Dylan’s suffering while Max wants to keep fighting no matter what. Forced to face off in court, the storylines split midway into the book. What if Pip wins and their son is allowed to die peacefully? What if Max gets his way and takes Dylan to Houston for alternative treatments? The reader gets to see the story play out both ways, each path equal parts emotional, believable and heartbreaking.
You can tell the author has been through a similar experience. Very moving and tells an important message.
I really liked this book ! It was a little difficult to go back & forth with the decision making that had to be done which is why 4 star not 5. I was surprised at the ending. Maybe some will figure it out but I didn’t. Great author !