Set in the Canadian small town of West Gull, Cohen's complex tale dramatizes the aftermath of an auto wreck that killed Elizabeth McKelvey, one of the community's most cherished residents. Over the years, it becomes clear how deeply Elizabeth touched those around her, but it is also revealed that she was not exactly who she seemed to be. William, her cuckolded husband; Carl, her heartbroken son; and Adam, her secret lover, each struggle to recover from the tragedy of her death, and to make peace with one another as best they can. Carl compulsively punishes himself for falling asleep at the wheel while driving his parents home from a New Year's party. William drinks to drown out the guilt he feels for having survived. And Adam wants to recapture his link to his dead lover by building a friendship with Carl, who doesn't know that Adam is his biological father. Cohen narrates through the eyes of several characters, but enigmatic Elizabeth is the focal point in this simultaneously disturbing and enthralling tale. Bonnie Johnston
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From Kirkus Reviews
A strong, spare, autumnal tale of loss and redemption, winner of the Governor General's Award, and the final work from Cohen (The Bookseller, 1996, etc.), a talented, hard-working Canadian novelist who died, at age 52, in 1999.Set in the increasingly gentrified precincts of rural Canada, in a town where the long-established family farms are giving way to expensive housing developments, the story follows the struggles of a family displaced from the land and further damaged by tragedy. Carl McKelvey reluctantly returns to the town of West Gull after an absence of three years, torn between his desire to escape from the past and the need to deal with its considerable hold on him. He blames himself for the untimely death of his mother, Elizabeth, in an accident fueled by anger and alcohol. He also carries the weight of a failed marriage. He has come home in an attempt to make peace with his troublesome father, a lifelong farmer now confined against his will to a nursing home, and to reestablish a connection with his disaffected daughter, seven-year-old Lizzie. Because his mother, a schoolteacher, was a beloved figure in West Gull, whose benign presence affected many lives, Carl's return stirs up dormant memories and resentments, and precipitates a series of confrontations. Carl and his father blame each other for Elizabeth's death: Carl had been at the wheel, bringing his mother and his drunken father home from a party, when he had lost control of the car. Carl has had his own long struggle with alcoholism, and with a fierce temper also inherited from his father. His slow, painful battle to reconnect with life, to be a father for Lizzie, and to strike some truce with his own father are all delineated here in precise, resonant prose, imbued with a muted but powerful sense of longing. Cohen quietly presses the action toward a moving conclusion, all the more persuasive for its refusal to rely on easy victories.An extremely satisfying work, finding new depth in old themes, and offering a fitting memorial to a talented, deeply humane writer. -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
"Elizabeth and After constantly surprises with its compassion and generosity, and its luminous appreciation of landscape and community." -- Governor General's Award Juror's Citation
"A superb piece of storytelling." -- Saturday Night
"A mature, funny, engaging ... wonderful novel ... that nails you to the chair cushions (or bed pillows) from start to finish."-- The Edmonton Journal
"A novel with the power to remind readers why they read fiction in the first place ... It comes at age-old sorrow and joys from a new angle, and so serves as a reminder that the most astonishing of miracles is simply to be alive." -- Maclean's
From the Trade Paperback edition.
From the Inside Flap
Two love stories, one past, one present, mirror each other in this highly acclaimed story of ambition, sex, memory and marriage. Set in small-town Ontario -- vintage Matt Cohen territory -- Elizabeth and After is rich in insights about human foibles and aspirations, and an unforgettable portrait of a place and the people who live there.
From the Back Cover
Elizabeth and After constantly surprises with its compassion and generosity, and its luminous appreciation of landscape and community." -- Governor General's Award Juror's Citation"A superb piece of storytelling." -- Saturday Night
"A mature, funny, engaging ... wonderful novel ... that nails you to the chair cushions (or bed pillows) from start to finish."-- The Edmonton Journal
"A novel with the power to remind readers why they read fiction in the first place ... It comes at age-old sorrow and joys from a new angle, and so serves as a reminder that the most astonishing of miracles is simply to be alive." -- Maclean's
About the Author
Matt Cohen won the 1999 Governor General’s Award for Fiction for his last novel, Elizabeth and After, which was recently long listed for the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. He was born in Kingston, Ontario, where he lived for part of each year, not far from the fictional setting of many of his novels, including Elizabeth and After. Since 1969 he published over 20 books, including novels, short stories, poetry, translations, and several books for children under the pseudonym Teddy Jam. He is a recipient of the Toronto Arts Award and the Harbourfront Festival Prize. His penultimate novel, the critically acclaimed Last Seen, was short-listed for the Trillium Award and 1997 Governor General’s Award. Matt Cohen died in December 1999 at the age of 56.
