Today I’m joining the blog tour for Love, After All. My review is written with thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me on the blog tour and to Orenda Books for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

When Clara meets Elias, she isn’t looking for love. Widowed and wary of being hurt again, she has built a careful life of work and quiet independence. Elias, an actor in his thirties, is trapped in a relationship that no longer feels real, more at ease slipping into a role than being himself. Yet from the moment they meet, something genuine sparks between them – something neither has felt in years.

They fall into step easily, sharing secrets, laughter and the sense of being seen. But there is the age difference, the miles between their worlds, and the lingering guilt that ties Clara to her past. When a new job takes her to another part of the country, she ends the relationship before he can – certain that love like theirs cannot last. And then Elias falls ill, forcing them both to confront what truly matters.

Told with warmth, gentle humour and quiet insight, Love, After All is a luminous portrait of two people finding the courage to open their hearts again – proof that love, at any age, can still take us by surprise.

Review:

I’ve read a few books by Ewald Arenz now, and every time, my breath is taken away by the quality of his writing. Love, After All is a really emotional story and I absolutely love the way he conveys everything so viscerally, allowing me to completely immerse myself in the novel. This is a translated novel and I cannot give enough credit to the narrator for making sure I felt everything that the author intended me to feel with full force. 

Love, After All is the story of Clara and Elias, and Ewald Arenz tells their story in alternating chapters. This is a technique that allowed me to fully understand how each character was feeling, particularly when their feelings were at odds with each other, and I enjoyed getting to know these characters well. Both characters have things going on outside the relationship and these are incredibly poignant, but handled with the utmost sensitivity by the author. 

Like other books by Ewald Arenz, the plot of Love, After All is slow burning; however when the story starts to take shape, I was absolutely not expecting it to go in the direction it did. It really hit me hard and totally consumed me, and I really wanted to know how the relationship between Clara and Elias would turn out. 

Love, After All is available from Amazon.

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