Also, as a mother and a reader, I appreciate that Henry actually sounds like a real, human child, and not an impossibly awful plot moppet that’s only there to drive the story forward. Whether it’s Maddie and her weakness for terrible food despite being a doctor, Roma Jean’s earnest clumsiness whenever she’s around one of her crushes, or Celine’s mama bear that comes out when Maddie’s reputation is threatened (seriously, do NOT cross Celine, no matter how much money you have), every character in Aftermath is real and vital. As quirky as many of them are, it would have been easy to turn them into walking punchlines, and Ann McMan never does that.
The characters are one of the greatest strengths of the books set in Jericho. Everything changes in the sleepy mountain town, however, when a storm blows in with huge consequences. Maddie is still the town doctor, Syd is teaching at the high school, and they’ve built a solid relationship with Maddie’s mother, Celine. Maddie and Syd are settled into their life on Maddie’s farm, raising their foster son Henry while his father is deployed in the Middle East. However, it’s not crucial because Aftermath has a Foreword with a synopsis of Jericho and a list of characters, delivered by the deliciously bitchy David Jenkins, Maddie’s best friend. It manages to take all of Jericho’s strengths and build on them, leaving the reader with a story that is often hilarious, occasionally heartrending, and entirely satisfying. Aftermath by Ann McMan is the follow-up to her debut novel, Jericho.
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