After the Rain (Aisling Smith, Hachette)

Aisling Smith’s debut novel, After the Rain, is the melancholic and moving winner of the 2020 Richell Prize. The story begins with Malti, a woman who moved from Fiji to Australia to study and start life anew. At first, she feels out of place, but soon settles in with university life, friends and a partner, Benjamin. The two are in the midst of building a life together, working on marriage, nesting and having children. After a few years, however, things aren’t feeling as easy and loving as they once were. Malti is having a hard time raising two daughters, and dealing with feelings of suspicion and unease towards Benjamin. They don’t feel like a team, and sure enough, when we jump ahead several years, they’re divorced. We’re now invited into the lives of their children, Verona and Ellery, whose personalities are vastly different, and who have opposing feelings towards their father. Benjamin is a late-arriving, unreliable father whose only interests lie in his linguistic work. Verona is enamoured by his positive energy and charisma, while Ellery sees through his façade and has a strained relationship with him. After the Rain is a beautifully realised exploration of family, identity and dislocation. Smith beautifully captures complicated feelings around building a home in a new country, choosing your own path in life and realising your parents are just people, too. This is for readers who want to ponder and excavate the complexities of being in a family.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Danielle Bagnato is a book reviewer and marketing and communications professional. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Category: Reviews