AFTER THIS by Alice DcDermott

Another superbly written story of an Irish-American family, post-WWII through Vietnam…John and Mary Keane, children Jacob, Michael, Annie and Claire along with Mary’s friend Pauline. The author gives us these characters inner lives.  This family’s story is embedded in the shared stories of neighbors, children of neighbors, fellow church members.  These lives, seemingly routine, maybe even boring, contrast with the enormous inner longings and reflections of the characters as written by Ms. McDermott.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006  279 p.