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After the Fall

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After the Fall

By: Charity Norman
Narrated by: Nicolette McKenzie
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About this listen

In the quiet of a New Zealand winter’s night, a rescue helicopter is sent to airlift a five-year-old boy with severe internal injuries. He’s fallen from the upstairs veranda of an isolated farmhouse and his condition is critical. At first, Finn’s fall looks like a horrible accident; after all, he’s prone to sleepwalking. Only his frantic mother, Martha McNamara, knows how it happened. And she isn’t telling. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

Tragedy isn’t what the McNamara family expected when they moved to New Zealand. For Martha, it was an escape. For her artist husband Kit, it was a dream. For their small twin boys, it was an adventure. For 16-year-old Sacha, it was the start of a nightmare.

They end up on the isolated east coast of the North Island, seemingly in the middle of a New Zealand tourism campaign. But their peaceful idyll is soon shattered as the choices Sacha makes lead the family down a path which threatens to destroy them all.

Martha finds herself facing a series of impossible decisions, each with devastating consequences for her family.

©2012 Charity Norman (P)2013 W F Howes Ltd Coming of Age Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Women's Fiction World Literature Heartfelt Inspiring Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking

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Critic reviews

"Original, wonderfully written and utterly gripping." (The Sun)

"After the Fall is a gripping tale that would appeal to fans of Jodi Picoult and Joanna Trollope." (Red Online)
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The story begins with five year old Finn's fall from a balcony at his home. There are hints from the beginning that this is not a simple accident but as we come to know more about each of the characters it is hard to believe that any of them would be responsible for Finn's injuries. The story is told from the viewpoint of Finn's mother, Martha, who reveals how she came to be at the hospital at this point in time, interspersed with chapters detailing her time in hospital - visits from police and social workers and Martha's anxiety on not being able to contact her husband. I found this occassionally irritating as I was so involved with the her telling of her family's history that I did not want to be brought back to the hospital scenes. I loved the New Zealand setting as the wild landscapes, beautiful beaches and local characters were vividly brought to life. The interweaving of the local legends with the modern story was especially skillful. The story was beautifully read and I found it hard to stop listening, especially in the second half of the book when the pace picked up. I found I was thinking about the story long after I had finished it. Charity Norman has been compared to Jodi Picoult and this is a fair comparison. An excellent drama which kept me guessing until the end.

A compelling read

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Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought I knew where the story was going at one point but was totally shocked with how it panned out.

The story was thought provoking and one I will share with my teenage daughter for reasons you will know once you've read it.

Narration was good.

No complaints at all about this book.

Loved it!

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A brilliant and beautifully written tale of a young family trying to settle into their New Zealand home when tragedy strikes. A mystery that unravels slowly but with a twist at the end and told with warmth and love. The narration was excellent. And the end was perfect too which is quite unusual nowadays. Recommended.

A beautiful, heart wrenching story.

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Would you consider the audio edition of After the Fall to be better than the print version?

I always enjoy the audio editions and prefer them as a rule to the written versions. However in the case of this book I think the written version would be preferable simply because of the dreadful narration of the children's voices.

What other book might you compare After the Fall to, and why?

Thankfully, none that I've listened to recently.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Extremely poor voices for the children, making me lose all sympathy for Finn, the child who "fell" as I simply found him so irritating. Unjust, but that was the effect the narrators voice had on me.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I've listened to all three of charity Normans audio books. This is the least effective in evoking any kind of emotion. Partly to blame is the narrator but also the characters lack realism and I just couldn't empathise with any of them even though the story should have lead to some kind sympathy for these people. But I just didn't care about any of them.

Any additional comments?

Charity Normans other audiobooks are excellent, especially "The Son in Law" so my criticisms are mostly around the narration. However this is the least enjoyable book of the three she has written.

Chilldrens voices are a big problem

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Where does After the Fall rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Pretty high - gripping throughout & beautiful setting makes me want to travel now

Who was your favorite character and why?

Martha - being torn between loyalty and the right thing to do is a familiar story but Martha shows very real emotions and is understandable even when completely indecisive

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Finding out who the new teacher was

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Martha's resistance to the social worker

Any additional comments?

For most of the book the ending is the last thing you'd even expect even when suspicions creep in it doesn't seem possible - brilliant twist
Narrator has a hard job to cope with so many characters and English & NZ accents switching so quickly - fair result achieved

Brilliant

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