A difficult story well told, Jennifer Castle's debut novel opens a window onto the process of loss, transition and recovery. The plot of The Beginning of After is not, at first glance, uplifting, and it's tempting to turn away. A car accident kills Laurel's entire family--her mother, father and younger brother--along with her neighbor David's mother, and puts David's father into a coma. No one really knows what caused the accident, except that David's dad was driving and he'd had a few drinks. In the aftermath, as Laurel and David struggle to deal with their drastically altered lives and come to terms with their grief, they find themselves both at odds with and drawn to each other.
Castle explores the grieving process with insight and care. Laurel is easy to sympathize with but by no means perfect, as she attempts to reassemble the pieces of her life. David serves simultaneously as a reminder of the tragedy and also the only other person who truly relates to her, and their relationship's evolution is both fraught and inevitable. But rather than being the centerpoint of the novel, their romance shares the stage with Laurel's other relationships--primarily those with her grandmother and her best friend--as she tries to find a balance between healing and self-absorption. --Jenn Northington, events manager at WORD bookstore