Book Review: Afterlife

Afterlife, by Julia Alvarez

• Gentle story

• Immigrants and poverty

• Sisterhood files

• What do we leave behind when we go?

This book felt like I was reading someone’s journal. Antonia Verga and the couple months of her life I experienced during this novel were a nice escape.

I had a very different understanding of what this book would be when I started it. Originally drawn to the cover and its setting in Vermont, I quickly found myself wrapped up in all of Antonia’s feelings about her sister and immigration and how we move on with our lives after tragedy.

The way Antonia and her sisters are described and how they interact was almost therapeutic for me. They were the reason I truly escaped into this book, and I was sad at how short it was, I would’ve loved to experience more of life with them. They are all so different, and I enjoyed their inside jokes and relatable family humor. As someone with sisters it’s always fun to see how people write about them. The similarities of how different personalities, approaches to situations, how you remember memories can all be so different for a group of people who grew up “the same.”

If you have a quiet afternoon or need one, I recommend this book. With so many instances and thoughts that speak to such true human emotion, it was refreshing. Especially after the last trying year, to read the story of how Antonia and family respond in crisis, how they show love, it is beautiful.

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