Book Review – Afterlight by Jaap Robben, trans. by David Doherty @WorldEdBooks

About the Book

The young free-spirited florist Frieda grew up in a strictly Catholic environment in the 1960s. When she steps onto a frozen river on a late winter afternoon, little does she know that everything is about to change for her. On the ice she meets the married Otto. They experience a love that begins stormy and ends fatefully: Frieda becomes pregnant – a scandal in the world in which she moves. And so she must never be the mother of her secret child.

For decades she kept her memories of this episode in her life to herself. But the grief for the lost child remains, despite the later marriage, despite the son she still has. At the age of eighty-one, Frieda is suddenly alone again. The silent sorrow returns with force. Only then does she dare to face her story – and to share it. 

Format: eARC (314 pages) Publisher: World Editions
Publication date: 7th May 2024 Genre: Fiction

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My Review

The author shows a deft touch in each of the two timelines. In the present day, he movingly depicts Frieda’s grief at the death of her husband, Louis, and the many little decisions a bereaved person is expected to make at such a time: where should the loved one’s ashes be scattered, evenwhat shape should the scattered ashes form. ‘Everything Louis once was, everything I once loved, is a spot of dust that steadily grows into a circle.’

Frieda also experiences a profound sense of dislocation, forced to leave the home she and Louis shared and move into sheltered accommodation. She tests the patience of her son, Tobias, who has taken on the task of clearing the house, by making what seem to him odd requests for certain items. We only learn the significance of these items later, along with the reason she lashes out in a moment of anger and why she becomes so distressed when a moth is drawn to the light of her window.

Staying with that image, you could say the young Frieda is drawn to Otto like a moth to a flame. Unfortunately, it’s clear from pretty early on she’s going to get burned. I could see why Frieda might be attracted to this older, self-assured man who initially seems to treat her with courtesy and respect. However, it wasn’t long before I began to view his actions as those of a man trying to have his cake and eat it, and one unwilling to take full responsibility for the consequences of his actions.

It might be the swinging 60’s in London but in the Netherlands, especially amongst the Catholic community, the treatment of an unmarried mother seems like something from decades earlier. Frieda is presented with an impossible choice and, when she refuses, is shunned by her family and forced to fend for herself with near fatal consequences. There are heartbreaking scenes as Frieda is treated as a social pariah even by those whose vocation you’d think would be all about compassion. I found the cruelty with which she is treated quite shocking.

As Frieda discovers, in the age of the Internet, you can find out just about anything. It provides her with a chance to find the answer to a question that has haunted her for so long. I confess, that answer left me a little tearful.

Afterlight is a beautifully crafted, moving novel that also reveals a shocking hidden story of injustice.

I received a digital review copy courtesy of World Editions via NetGalley.

In three words: Emotional, poignant, insightful

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About the Author

Jaap Robben is an acclaimed Dutch author. His novel Summer Brother was longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2021.

Afterlight is his third novel published by World Editions. (Photo: Goodreads author page)

Connect with Jaap
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About the Translator

David Doherty studied English and literary linguistics in Glasgow before moving to Amsterdam, where he has been working as a translator for over twenty years. His literary work includes novels by award-winning authors Marente de Moor, Peter Terrin, and Alfred Birney. Summer Brother, his translation of Jaap Robben’s Zomervacht, won the 2021 Vondel Translation Prize.