"Afterlife is a compact, nimble, and sharply droll novel. Set in this political moment of tribalism and distrust, it asks: What do we owe those in crisis in our families, including—maybe especially—members of our human family? How do we live in a broken world without losing faith in one another or ourselves? And how do we stay true to those glorious souls we have lost?"
I love Alvarez's writing and I am so looking forward to reading this novel.

"Afterlife" is a deeply moving and profoundly human novel that speaks to the universal experiences of loss, love, and resilience.

Recently retired English professor Antonia Vega is struggling after the death of her beloved husband Sam. Having grown up in the Dominican Republic, English is her second language but platitudes from her favorite authors swirl through her mind and like fortune cookies as she doles out wise words garnered from years of studying. Favorite students and books have nurtured her life while Sam, a compassionate physician, took care of the rest of the world. As she contemplates her suddenly solitary life in this quiet Vermont farming town Antonia begs Sam for a sign and channels his choices and feelings - always easier to say what Sam would do? One day a sad pregnant teenager, the girlfriend of a local migrant worker from the farm next door shows up at her house. She is pregnant, terrified and Mario has all but abandoned her. As one of the only Spanish speaking locals how can Antonia send her away? To further add to her distress Antonia’s eldest and often erratic sister, Izzy, never arrives at the birthday celebration sending the remaining three sisters on a wild goose chase. A teacher, wife, sister and immigrant, her once ordered world has been turned upside down. Deciding who comes first - Antonia must dig deep in her heart to figure out who she will be in this after life. A sensitive and fast paced story of family, diversity and self identity narrated in poetic prose by internationally bestselling Dominican- American author Julia Alvarez.

Antonia’s husband, Sam, dies suddenly on his way to meet her for a celebratory retirement dinner. She is leaving her position as a literature professor at the local university, Sam was a beloved physician in the small community. Antonia is the second oldest of four sisters of Dominican Republic parents. The farmer next door has undocumented workers and sends Mario to help her with some chores. She helps him telephone his young girlfriend who is en route to meet him. Unwillingly, Antonia finds herself involved with their problems. Soon, she is not only mourning Sam, but learns that the eldest sister is missing, and a young woman arrives. This a well-crafted novel, with themes of sisterhood, mental illness, grief, illegal migrants. Throughout there is humour.

This is my first Julia Alvarez book and I was not disappointed! A beautifully written tale of love, loss, immigration and family relationships. The protagonist, Antonia Vega, has just retired from teaching English as a college professor when her husband suddenly dies. In addition to coping with the death of her husband, Antonia is confronted with attempting to get support for her mentally unstable sister while supporting a pregnant, undocumented young woman. As the stress continues to pile on, Antonia turns to her literature to guide her through the difficult times. Complex characters and gorgeously written prose make this short novel an unforgettable read.

This is perfect for fans of Julia Alvarez. The themes of grief were present throughout as Antonia experiences isolation from the passing of her husband and separation from her family. This gives for sad girlies, especially if they've been in serious relationships and are brown.

I really enjoyed this read!!! Loved the relationships amidst sisters & how we surprise ourselves with decisions we make!!! Very enjoyable read! Thank you for the ARC!!!

The book does pose some thought-provoking questions, especially regarding what people owe to each themselves and each other, but stylistically it just wasn't for me. I hope other readers will be able to connected with Alvarez's story and her characters more than I was.

Antonia Vega expects peace and quiet after retiring from her job as an English professor. But then her husband dies, her sister disappears, and a pregnant, undocumented teen shows up on her doorstep. In an increasingly distrustful world, Antonia’s plight explores what we owe to our families, and how wide the net of family extends.

I read this while a family members was nearing death, and while Afterlife would have likely stuck with me regardless, it provided an incredible amount of comfort for me. There are so many parts of this book that continue to come to mind as I process my grief. It's a quiet, thoughtful, beautiful novel that I won't soon forget.

This novel follows Antonia, a retired college professor, who has recently lost her husband. Through conversations with her sisters and flashback of her husband, Antonia is reminded of her husband’s compassion and strong stance on social justice. This leads her to help Estela, a pregnant undocument immigrant who has just crossed the border. Through Estela, Antonia is reminded of her own family’s journey and the different women her sisters have become.

A book about one of four sisters - Antonia - recently widowed and recently retired - as she goes through a journey of death, love, repair of relationships. This is a relatively short book that tries to tackle many topics and felt very disjointed to me - that plus the fact that I didn't connect or even really like any of the characters in the book. While it may be the timing of my reading it or the organization of the book in general, it just wasn't for me.
Thanks to Julia Alvarez, Algonquin and NetGalley for the ARC.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2021 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2021/02/2021-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

I did not enjoy this one sadly. It did not hold my attention. I may just not have been in the right place at the time to properly read and enjoy this book.

I will preface this review by saying I think I am in the minority on my thoughts about this book. I think lots of people would enjoy this book for various reasons. In fact everyone else in our book club liked it more than I did. I still liked this book, a 3.5 star rating is good! I just didn’t love it as much and I’ve been putting off writing this review of Afterlife because I don’t really enjoy writing reviews of books I didn’t love but I wanted to give you all my thoughts.

This book focuses on what happens to the main character, Antonia, at a very specific point in her life after her husband dies. It is a story about what it means to be a good person and the struggles some of us face with that. The story also focuses on love, loss and family. I enjoyed the sister’s stories but I wanted more! I wanted more background on some of the characters so that I could get more invested but I know that probably wasn’t the author’s point with this story.

The writing of this book is a little different, it is stream of consciousness and I think that is why I had a hard time with it. I would say this book is more literary fiction since it is not plot heavy and there are plenty of beautiful quotes. I listened to the audiobook and at first it was hard to follow but after I got used to it I am glad I did the audio version.

This was my first Julia Alvarez book and it won’t be my last. I am very excited to read her other books, How the Garcia Girls lost their accent is on my backlist TBR to read by the end of the year.

A beautiful analysis and commentary on the complexity of family, love, mental health, and life in general. Alvarez is one of the greats, and it shows in this book.

Several months ago I read a bit of this and it really just didn't capture my attention so I haven't finished it. I don't think this one is for me. It was just a bit too slow and I didn't particularly like the main character very much, which made it hard for me to connect with her and therefore with the story as a whole. I'm giving this 3 stars because I don't feel like I can accurately gauge the book without finishing it, but I just know it doesn't work for me.

I work at a University Library and during this time of remote learning, remote working and trying to stay safe in a pandemic, as a way to connect the university launched a “Great Big Read” program. Two books were chosen to start, and this one, Afterlife by Julia Alverez was one of those books.

At the library we bought unlimited access to the eBook (the library is not open right for print) for our community. We came together to read this moving and beautiful book.

I’m late in posting a review, but we had discussion groups and the author herself joined in one of our zoom discussions to talk about writing, being an immigrant, and of course this book, Afterlife.
Highly recommend reading this book.

Retirement, sibling conflict, mental illness (or maybe just eccentricity) and undocumented immigrants- there is a lot going on in this book. The characters never really grabbed me, though. Overall an ok ready, but not one that makes me want to read more by Julia Alvarez.

Character and theme driven plot centered on t”the sisterhood” of four sisters whose family immigrated from the Dominican Republic when they were children. They have scattered to various states and are now adults, either in or approaching retirement, but they have maintained very close bonds. Narrator Antonia Vega is a recently retired English professor in Vermont and she is navigating the grief process since her husband Sam's death. He was a respected doctor who volunteered his time and energy to make the world a better place, and this causes Antonia to constantly ask herself how Sam would react. Antonia's Vermont town has quite a few undocumented immigrants, some who are essential to the area's diary industry and others who have started small businesses, like the cafe. Two of the undocumented immigrants, Mario and and his fiance Estella, become the focal point of this storyline, and Antonia's ethical dilemna. Meanwhile, Tilly, the 2nd youngest and most opinionated, unfiltered of the four sisters, wants everyone to gather at her home in Illinois to celebrate Antonia's birthday. Antonia has reservations about leaving Vermont, but does. Meanwhile, the oldest sister Izzy, is making her way across Massachusetts to Illinois, stopping in western Massachusetts to buy a property to highlight and house Latin art. Her sisters recognize the symptoms--she is in mental crisis, and seems to be on the hyper side of bipolar. That leaves Mona in North Carolina, the youngest, and she is hemming and hawing that between her family and career, she is too busy to come. However, when Izzy goes missing and no one can reach her, Mona joins her sisters in organizing the intervention. The discussions between the sisters as they negotiate treatment for Izzy, and Izzy's negative reception to the plan, is classic “sister speak”. Does one allow their sister to self destruct? How far does one's moral responsibility go? Like i said , this is character and theme driven, but the plot couldn't be any more timely.

A lovely story of grief. The compassion that the main characters show each other is so soothing even in its urgency. If a book can be said to listen to stories as much as it can be said to tell then, this is such a book!