Afterimage [Paperback]

Helen Humphreys (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Picador Usa/Metropolitan; 1st Thus. edition (2002)
• ASIN: B001VECIPO
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Afterimages leaves long-lasting impression!, April 27, 2001

By 

patricia spano (phoenix, az United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Afterimage (Hardcover)

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to read. I found this book difficult to put down, it was like reading a long poem. Not only was the plot intriguing and the characters interesting, but the syle and language employed by the author was nothing less than beautiful. She is able to evoke complex images with a minimum of words. The book tells the story of Annie Phelan, a destitute young woman who works as a maid for the well-off couple, Isabelle and Eldon Dashell. She becomes a muse to both of them, and profoundly changes by this process. The themes throughout the book are familiar ones. Love, greed, ambition, etc., all played out against a backround of class difference. There are no startling revelations, but still you find yourself holding your breath until the last page, when you let it out with a sigh, wanting more.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful piece of art!, November 13, 2001

By 

Gronroos Anni (Helsinki, Finland, Europe) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Afterimage (Hardcover)

I finally got this book (It's a pain to live in Finland where no GOOD foreign books are available!) and from the minute I laid my hands on it, it was almost impossible to put it down. It is a powerful book, its power lies in the wonderful poetic language and in the atmosphere that makes you want to hold your breath in order to avoid disturbing it.

It is a very reader-friendly book, it in many ways lets the reader decide what exactly happens in the end. In that way it's much like a poem. And I love it.

Humphreys has a wonderful way of describing emotional worlds. I think that some may be put off by the so called lack of plot, because on the outside, many things don't happen. However, what I think Afterimage clearly points out, is that usually the inner self and psychological maturing are much more... Dare I say, valuable things to describe in prose. TV and movies present action, let literature give insight!

And even though nothing "really" happens between Annie and Isabelle, I think the intimacy of their relationship might even exceed the intimacy of a normal, sexual relationship. I think, as a reader, what they had was something more than that. (Moving on to speculation at this point, I guess) One can't always act out emotion, but it doesn't make it any less valuable.

It's one of the best books I've read. Please, give me more!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Victorian Mirror, November 20, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Afterimage (Hardcover)

This is one of the best recent novels I have read this year, and one of the most successful attempts ever to imagine the Victorians from a contemporary point of view. Hughes introduces us to the inner lives of an Irish servant who has lost her family; a rebellious upper-class woman struggling to realize her artistic vision and ambitions;and a weak husband who has relinquished his dreams of mapping the world. The language is beautiful, dense, revelatory, and Hughes shows us the Victorians as they could not show themselves.