Book Review: After the Fall

Next month, Kylie Ladd’s first novel titled After the Fall will hit bookstores and libraries. Of all the pre-release novels that I have read, I have to say that I was most disappointed in this one. Perhaps some of the fault lies in the fact that it is Ladd’s debut novel, and therefore needs some more polishing. However, there is no escaping the fact that the novel is (overall) weak.

The plot is extremely simple and one that has been used any times before in movies, books, plays, tv shows, etc: adultery. Kate and Cary have been married a couple of years and their life together appears perfect. Kate is an extrovert who enjoys parties and flirting while her husband is introverted and loves to watch his wife work the crowd. Though Kate catches the eye of both men and women, she never dreams of falling in love with someone other than Cary. The second couple in the novel, Cressida and Luke, who haven’t been married as long as Kate and Cary and who seem to be comfortable in their relationship even if they are not completely happy. Luke is a tease and will lead women on even though he has no intention of being unfaithful to his wife. Cressida is not proud of Luke’s intense flirtation with other women, but she rests assured that he is handsome and all hers. Trouble begins when the two couples meet and become friends. It is not long before Kate and Luke become entranced with each other and share an adulterous kiss and at wedding. They are caught and agree to never speak to each other again. Of course that makes their forbidden love even more enticing, and the two being an illicit affair.

What makes the novel so disappointing is that it doesn’t bring anything new to the classic story of adultery and betrayal. Ladd tells the story from each viewpoint and bounces back and forth between the four people involved. This was interesting, but only to a point. Instead of delving into the minds and psyches of these characters, it left them  as two dimensional and further perpetuated the stereotype of cheating and cheaters.
At times, the viewpoints seem to read almost like case studies and not even like a novel. The multiple narrations became even worse when Ladd integrated the viewpoints of Luke’s best friend and two of Kate’s friends. Both characters are moralizers and attempt to summarize the importance of monogamy and the disappointment of all people involved when someone betrays his/her spouse.This seemed unnecessary and took away from whatever story there was. The writing was decent but filled with cliches and statements that were supposed to make a bang but inevitably fell flat.

Overall, I was clearly disappointed. I do believe that Ladd has potential to be a good writer but this book, unfortunately, does not show that. I did like how she focused solely on the affair and act of adultery. However, I would still like her to delve deeper by making the characters more three dimensional and real. With some more work on writing and plot/character development, I think that she could write a great book in the future.


-DLP