The aftermath book
Instead of kicking the German owners out, Brook’s grandfather asked them to stay and the two families lived happily alongside each other for five years. A large house was requisitioned for him and his family. His grandfather was sent to Hamburg after the war to take control of it. The Aftermath is inspired by the true life account of Rhidian Brook’s grandparents. Reconciliation appears impossible, let alone forgiveness, in war-torn Hamburg.
‘You are about to meet a strange people in a strange enemy country.‘ In this charged atmosphere, enmity and grief give way to passion and betrayal. But as they set off for their new home, Rachael is stunned to discover that Lewis has made an unexpected decision: they will be sharing the grand house with its previous owners, a German widower (Alexander Skarsgård) and his troubled daughter. Rachael Morgan (Keira Knightley) arrives in the ruins of Hamburg in the bitter winter, to be reunited with her husband Lewis (Jason Clarke), a colonel of the British Forces charged with rebuilding the shattered city. The Aftermath is set in post war Germany in the autumn and winter of 1945/6. Does the film match up? I was fortunate to be invited to an advance screening. It had already been commissioned as a screenplay. I read the novel when it was first published in 2013. It stars Keira Knightley, Alexander Skarsgård and Jason Clarke. The film The Aftermath is on general release from today.