This is a stirring story of immigration, loss, and family set mainly in Vermont. It’s a short novel, but packed with many pertinent issues that plague the US today. I hope readers will have more compassion for migrants and immigrant families after finishing this important novel.

Thank you for the ecopy of this book. I will be posting a full review on Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram! Many thanks.

thank you @algonquinbooks for allowing me to read an ARC of Afterlife by Julia Alvarez.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again Alvarez still has it 14 years later! Afterlife is her first adult book in fourteen years and she still managed to give me chills and make my eyes tear up. Being Dominican myself, I’ll read anything with the name Julia Alvarez on it and I know she won’t disappoint me. This book follows Antonia who is one of the most well-written characters you will ever come across. This is a character that has depth and not shown as perfect as we want her to be. Dealing with the grief of losing her husband and the chaos of her sisterhood, Antonia one day gets an unexpected knock that shakes up her life. Tackling themes of sisterhood, immigration, old age, and grief; this book took me on a great ride and I loved every minute of it. Written with a prose that is at once funny and strong, Alvarez has written a story that tackles the human experience in a meaningful way and a story that will be hard to forget.

We will most likely purchase this title due to the author’s credentials, but it wasn’t my favorite. I started it three times and just couldn’t drum up any interest.

Antonia is a writer and teacher when she retires. Her life is anything but stable when her husband suddenly dies, her older sister disappears and an undocumented, pregnant teenager appears at her home. She has always found comfort in literature and the quotes she could pull from it, but her life is now asking for more than quotes. How will Antonia deal with this influx of issues?

Afterlife is a quick read that hits on many hard issues. Alvarez has perfectly taken multiple life issues and created a story that would appeal to readers of many ages. Even if a reader hasn’t lost a husband, they probably have lost someone. Even if they have never had a sibling disappear, they most likely have seen news clips about a missing person. Most people have known a pregnant teenager, even if they aren’t undocumented. Readers will finish this book with hope and the truth that not everything has an easy ending.

If we ever needed a book to give us hope, now is the time. We’re stuck at home worried about a virus and here to entertain us and teach us is Antonia, a Dominican Republic immigrant living in Vermont. She lost her husband, the town doctor a year ago. She is a retired English professor trying to keep her own life sane. Living next door is a grumpy Vermont dairyman who has two illegal Mexicans working for him, and of course, no gringo can distinguish between Latin cultures. Complicating her life is the pregnant girlfriend of one of the Mexican immigrants and her sisters who are worried about the missing older sister. If you have ever struggled and feel that just figuring out your own personal problems is all you can handle, you’ll understand Antonia. The ending chapter is perfect in showing how even though we are broken, we can put our lives back together incorporating the pain we have experienced.

On the brink of her retirement, Antonia Vega suddenly and unexpectedly loses her husband, Sam, as he suffers an aortic aneurysm while driving to meet her for their celebration dinner.

Anyone who has dealt with a traumatic loss will recognize the unmooring that occurs; your mental, emotional, and physical landscape demand to be reorganized and redefined. The big questions loom: Who am I now that you're gone? How do I figure out the right thing to do without your moral compass to assist me? What would you have thought of this, and am I just imagining that you would have agreed with me?

Grappling with where to put Sam and her memories of him and isolated by the ruralness of her Vermont community coupled with the end of her working life as an English Professor, Antonia réels with grief and rights herself, over and over again. This is the nature of grief; in comes in waves, then recedes enough to allow for a breath of air and a glimpse of life beyond, again and again and again.
Antonia is not completely alone. She has her sisters, Tilly, Izzy, and Mona. She has neighbors and acquaintances, the dairy farmer next door and the Sheriff, who keeps stopping by. Through the farmer, she meets the undocumented immigrants who work for him, Mario ans José, and Mario's pregnant girlfriend, Estela.

As Antonia begins to tentatively emerge into life again, these relationships spin their own webs around her, as small problems grow into crises which demand either response or separation. Who is the most important? What's the right thing to do? Whose responsibility is this? Antonia must decide - even taking no action is a decision that carries moral weight. How does one choose?

Alvarez's prose is deceptively simple. While Afterlife is not a difficult read, it is much deeper that it appears on the surface. Strewn with literary allusions that Antonia loves, Alvarez explores the way language itself can support us, define us, or fall agonizingly short in the face of life itself, where there are no easy answers for mental illness, immigration law, or borders, whether between people or countries. A gorgeous, messy, generous book, Wonderfully done.

Afterlife by Julia Alvarez was an exquisitely written book about love, loss, sisterly love, family, mental illness, undocumented immigrants and above all else taking care of oneself and doing what is best for you and your well being. Her writing was poetic and mesmerizing. The scenes were so easy to vividly envision throughout this book. Each character had purpose and was so well developed. This book was so captivating it was hard to put it down.

Antonia Vega had just retired from her position as an English professor at a local college in rural Vermont where she lived with her husband,Sam. Sam was a local doctor who cared for all his patients the same way, with genuine kindness. There were many undocumented immigrants living and working on the farms in their community. Sam did not discriminate between immigrants and locals. That was his way. Antonia admired Sam for that. Antonia, herself was from the Dominican Republic. .She was meeting her husband Sam at a restaurant to celebrate her retirement but Sam never showed up. He died suddenly of a brain aneurysm. Antonia’s whole life had been turned upside down in that instance. Everything Antonia did or thought made her reflect back to memories of Sam and made her reflect on how Sam would have handled a situation or what he would have said or done. Antonia carried Sam in her heart and never let him stray very far. Sam’s memories lived on through Antonia.

While adjusting to widowhood,, Antonia got a call from her sister Tilly. It was Antonia’s 66th birthday and Tilly wanted Antonia to come to Illinois,where she lived with her husband, to celebrate. Tilly had also invited Antonia’s two other sisters, Izzy, the oldest and Mona, the youngest. Izzy never showed up and the three sisters became very concerned. The sisters had always suspected that Izzy was suffering from.being bipolar. With Izzy’s recent disappearance and unsettling behavior the sisters were forced to confront Izzy’s problems of mental illness head on.

Antonia found herself wondering again how Sam would have reacted when she returned home from her trip from Illinois only to find an undocumented, teenage, pregnant girl asleep in her garage. Does this girl become Antonia ‘s responsibility? How far must Antonia go to help her? What does Antonia owe herself in life?

Afterlife by Julia Alvarez was a beautifully written, heartfelt book about how to pick up the pieces and return to everyday life after losing a spouse. Alvarez brilliantly interwove the aspects of mental illness and undocumented immigrants into the story. Afterlife was a short book but it was stacked with insightful themes throughout. She touched on grief, loss, love, the bond sisters share, undocumented immigrants, mental illness and how a woman navigated her way back to life after losing the love of her life. This was Julia Alvarez ‘s first book in fifteen years. I hope she does not wait so long to write her next one. I highly recommed this book.

I received a complimentary digital copy of Afterlife by Julia Alvarez in exchange for an honest review. All opinions given in this review are my own. Thank you to Netgalley, Algonquin books and Julia Alvarez for allowing me to read this amazing book.

I am a huge fan of Julia Alvarez, and with her she can never do me wrong. Afterlife was such a joy to read. Personalities of Antonia, Izzy, Tilly and Mona was AMAZING. I come from a big family so being able to read about these sisters brought me so much joy. Beautifully written and thought-provoking I highly recommend this book 4/5. Thank you, Algonquin Books for this gifted copy.

This was the first book i've read by Julia Alvarez and it did not disappoint. I'm neither a widow, nor do I have any sisters, but I somehow felt so connected to Antonia and "The Sisterhood" throughout the entire novel. I felt her pain and her joy and everything in between as she worked through her grief. I loved all the references to famous works and her love for literature. I did think that the undocumented Mexican migrants could have had more of a spotlight, though. It sometimes felt like they were just tokenized side characters in a privileged woman's life. i get what Alvarez was trying to do with Antonia's uncertainty with how much of herself she was trying to offer to help - we aren't all saints. But still. I think more could have been done. I also don't know how I felt about the pro-law enforcement attitude I was getting throughout, when that frankly isn't the reality for many undocumented people in this country. But the writing was beautiful and I love books like these that really make me think.

In "Afterlife," Julia Alvarez addresses the Big Questions in life-- "Who is the important one?," "What is the right thing to do?", "How do we carry on after loss?"-- through an everyday story written in achingly beautiful prose. Antonia Vega, a just-retired English Literature professor, immigrant, and recent widow, is discovering her life without her husband and her students'. Throughout the short novel, the literature she has taught both helps and hinders her re-creation of self. As she cares for family members and strangers in crisis, Antonia finds herself through memory, friendship, and the natural world.

This quiet book is emotionally powerful. Alvarez wields language with sly precision, inserting a humorous literary allusion or turn-of-phrase at just the right moment. I read the novel in two sittings and could barely put it down the first night after 180 pp. of straight reading.

I will be recommending this novel to adults and groups of adults whose lives are impacted by their own life transitions or those of their loved ones. As a clear-eyed call to realistic hope in the face of life's losses, "Afterlife" will find its way into readers' hearts. It will certainly be one of my favorite books of 2020.

Antonia is a retired literature professor whose husband has just died and she is left to make sense of her life. She has three sisters who are all very close but are a source of drama, and then she gets wrapped up in the lives of some of the undocumented workers living nearby. The very beginning and end are written more poetically but the majority of the middle is more straightforward.

I can't believe I haven't read this author before but I get the sense that she tends to write longish family sagas. Because this spans so little time you only get the end of the story for a few characters. I think this aligns with the author's desire to write about this stage of life and it made me think a lot of my Mom who just this week moved into a home on her own, after living in the house I grew up in for almost 40 years, where my Dad passed away a few years ago. It's easy for your focus to become other people but then who are you? Very thought provoking for sure.

This is a read that I connected most with on a character study and thematic level. We are following Antonia in the wake of her retirement and her husband’s death as she reckons with grief in various forms and navigates a very eventful life in this aftermath. There were quite a few threads to the plot, and I think for me these lacked direction at times and weren’t always as developed as they needed to be. Where they were explored, particularly with Izzy and Estela for example, they were wonderful!

As my first Alvarez read, another highlight for me was her prose - the book is peppered with brilliant turns of phrase that capture so much weight in few words. This was something I thought was explored well within the narrative itself, particularly the deliberate use of English and Spanish language amongst characters - the way Antonia comments on its effect when words are spoken to her (“Antonia’s eyes well up. Somehow it gets to her more when the condolences are in Spanish. The roots go deeper.”) or when Estela is first navigating English language in her time with Antonia. There was a chapter that ended with such a perfect reflection on this: “But even the beauties of language, of words rightly chosen, are riddled with who we are, class and race, and whatever else will keep us - so we think - on the narrow path.”

This was a wonderful introduction to Alvarez for me, and has definitely inspired me to read her backlist titles soon (most of which I picked up after reading reviews in @thereadingwomen newsletter last year), and many thanks to Algonquin for an e-ARC and Libro.fm for an ALC.

"What if anything does it mean? An afterlife? All she has come up with is that the only way not to let the people she loves die forever is to embody what she loved about them." ⁣
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Thank you to @algonquinbooks for providing this #gifted book for an honest review. I'm excited to be participating in the blog tour for 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 by Julia Alvarez - her first adult novel in 15 years. ⁣
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Overall, I liked the book. My reading attention has been tiny lately, but I flew through this book over the course of a few days! This compact (under 300 pages) book deals with grief, sisterhood, and poses the question what we owe to society. In such a tiny book, a lot of ground is covered. ⁣
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I think I read this book at the right time and connected to the more existential questions posed throughout the book (anyone else a pisces?). My grandmother died last summer and it was the first death that I've closely experienced. Today would have been her birthday - I thought choosing today to post my review for the tour was completely random but maybe it was a subconscious choice on my part? Whatever the reason, I think it enhanced my reading experience. ⁣
That being said the subplot of immigration felt a bit two dimensional throughout the book. In such a small book, the main focus was on the 4 sisters and Antonia dealing with her grief from her husband's death and the subplot kind of fell to the side. ⁣
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I will say you have to be in the right headspace as the book deals with heavy topics. If you are in the right place, I would recommend reading Afterlife. ⁣
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Recommended for lovers of existential thoughts, Julia Alvarez, sister relationships, and short books⁣
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TW: suicide, death

Antonia recently lost her husband, Sam, as she retired from her career as a college professor. Sam was a physician in the small Vermont town where they resided and strongly believed in providing medical care to everyone regardless of their socioeconomic status. As Antonia tries to adjust to life without Sam, she soon faces two unexpected events: her older sister's disappearance and the arrival of a pregnant, undocumented teenager at her door. Antonia previously relied on a mix of Sam's words and those of her favorite novels to guide her actions. Now, she finds that Sam's voice is louder than her novels. This book discusses the effects of mental illness a family system, grief, and the hardships that immigrants face.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5⭐️
What I liked:
•The writing was beautiful and utilized so much imagery
•The inclusion of mental health and how the journey isn't easy
•The characters
•How the topic of immigration was discussed •Her discussions with her students
What didn't work for me:
•There were a lot of themes here and I felt like each didn't always get the attention it deserved
•Ending felt a bit abrupt
Overall, I would recommend this book based on the topics it covered and how few books discuss what life is like after a loved one dies.
*Thanks to Algonquin Books for my free eARC in exchange for an honest review!*

Afterlife is a lovely, poignant, book about how Antonia, a recently widowed retired English teacher, copes with her life after her husband Sam passes away. Moreover, when a pregnant undocumented teenager ends up on her doorstep looking for shelter, and her sister goes missing, she's forced to put her needs behind others. Antonia is guided by the literature she loves and used to teach, and often turns to it in times of crises.

Each character arc in the story fits together, from the neighbour to the policeman. The lessons and perspective that Alvarez puts in this novel are fitting in the life that we live now. The book is a moving one about grief, family, love, and honouring those that have left you, and has left me with a lasting impression. I highly recommend this book!

Recently retired English professor Antonia Vega's world turns upside down when her husband dies suddenly. She thought that was all she could handle when her sister disappears and she finds a pregnant undocumented teenager on her doorstep. What more could go wrong? Antonia gathers her strength and pulls herself together to deal with the hardest time of her life.

Afterlife is a lovely and touching book, and Alvarez's writing is a rare treat.

Antonia Vega has just retired from teaching when her beloved husband dies suddenly. As the book starts in, she is still learning to cope with her loss nearly a year later. She is intelligent and literary and leans on comforting quotes from her favorite books and poems to help her articulate her grief and her way back from it.

But she is interrupted in her personal journey by the problems of others. First, her sister Izzy's behavior has gotten more and more erratic and now she is missing. Antonia is one of four sisters who were born in the Dominican Republic, and the sisters have a volatile, loving, and emotional relationship. When Izzy finally turns up, the other three sisters have to decide if they should interfere and how. Since they live in different parts of the country, this is problematic.

The other big dilemma concerns her next door neighbors. The farmer next door employs Mexican laborers, and one of them shows up at Antonia's door for help with bringing his young girlfriend to the U.S.

This is Antonia's story and it is beautifully told. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Alvarez is a masterful writer for anyone who loves beautiful, thoughtful prose. Characters are rich and relatable. Story line so current with the times. Looking forward to sharing the many stunning metaphors with friends who appreciate the details of this powerful, yet soft spoken, novel.

Afterlife asks us to look at our lives, our relationships, our social responsibilities and where we belong in this world. We see these questions through the eyes of Antonia, a recently widowed retiree whose life seems to be taking too many hits at once. Throughout the book she questions what she owes others and what she owes herself as far as self-care, wondering in this “place the oxygen mask on yourself first” society what her place is. This is such a perfect book for these times that I’ll be encouraging everyone to read it.