In the Aftermath - by Jane Ward (Paperback)

About the Book

After David Herron takes his life in the wake of the bursting lending bubble of 2008, those left behind--his wife and daughter, the detective who investigated the suicide, and the banker who called in the loan--learn, as they struggle to remake their worlds, that there is power in forgiveness and unlimited possibility in the unknown.

Book Synopsis

When David Herron--overwhelmed and despairing, his family's business and
finances in ruin due to the bursting lending bubble of 2008--takes his
own life one chilly spring morning, he has no idea the ripple effect his
decision will set into motion.

Two years later, his widow, Jules, is now an employee of the bakery she
and David used to own--and still full of bitterness over David's lies,
perceived cowardice, and ultimate abandonment of her and their
now-teenage daughter, Rennie. Rennie, meanwhile, struggles socially at
school, resents her work-obsessed mother, and is convinced she's to
blame for her father's death.

When Denise, the former police detective who worked (and, due to her own
personal struggles at the time, mishandled) David's case, catches sight
of Rennie at her sons' school, she's struck by the girl's halo of
sadness--and becomes obsessed with attempting to right the wrongs she
believes she perpetrated two years ago.

And as all this unfolds in Boston, Daniel, the guilt-ridden young man
who, in his old life as a banker, helped create the circumstances that
led to David's suicide, continues to punish himself for his sins by
living half a life, working odd jobs and bouncing from one US city to
another, never staying long enough to make friends or build something
lasting.

Ultimately, each of these very different people--all of them tied
together by one tragic event--must learn in their own way how to say
good-bye to the past and move into a brighter future.

Review Quotes

2023 NYC Big Book Awards Distinguished Favorite in Literary Fiction
2023 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist in Fiction General and Literary Fiction
2022 IPPY Awards Bronze Winner in Great Lakes (Best Regional Fiction)

"Ward masterfully builds a sense of dread with mundane details in the
first section, and the way that she finds significance in moments of
ordinary, everyday life is reminiscent of the work of Anne Tyler. This
deeply empathetic novel deals sensitively with difficult subjects. . . .
An insightful and psychologically astute story of ordinary people
moving forward after personal tragedy."

--Kirkus Reviews

"In the Aftermath is a masterful novel in which a man's suicide leaves indelible marks on those left behind."

--Foreword Clarion Reviews

"This is an absorbing book, and I cared about every character in it. . .
. Jane Ward did an excellent job capturing the upheaval suicide has
caused."

-Paula Mikrut, Windy City Reviews

"Jane Ward's deeply resonant, beautifully written, and emotionally
complex exploration of this tragedy's fallout is riveting. . . . Less
about suicide than it is about survival, In the Aftermath is a
gripping testament to the need for policies that value human life and a
vivid reminder that a kinder, more loving world is within our reach."

--Eleanor J. Bader, Rain Taxi Review of Books

About the Author

Jane Ward is the author of Hunger (Forge 2001), The Mosaic Artist (2011), and In the Aftermath (She Writes Press 2021). After graduating from Simmons College, she worked in the food and hospitality industry; later, she became a contributing writer to an online food magazine and a blogger and occasional host of cooking videos for an internet recipe resource affiliated with several regional newspapers. Most recently she has contributed book reviews to Story Circle and Mom Egg Review. She loves to travel, and to document her trips through travel photography. Jane lives in Ipswich, Massachusetts.