Product Description

After 30 years of marriage Maryalicia's husband died and she set out on the hardest journey of her life, the emotional journey through bereavement. She began to record her feelings in a series of poetic images, confronting the despair, confusion and gratitude that washed over her during the initial months. Dealing with the reality of getting through loss, Maryalicia promises that joy will return to life and that love does live on.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #389277 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

'Daily Mail'
"The triumph of `After You' is that, in the end, it speaks not of despair, but of joy."

'Irish Examiner'
"A poignant poem charting the triumph of hope over despair."

About the Author
Maryalicia Post was born in New York and lives in Dublin. She married in 1962; her husband, Jack, died in 1992. Since then she has worked as a travel writer. Her work has appeared in various Irish newspapers (including the 'Sunday Tribune', and 'Irish Examiner' and the 'Irish Independent').

Customer Reviews

AFTER YOU
Rarely,if ever, can one describe a book as "life changing".
This astonishing book for me,certainly was.
It,s compact size allows it to be read and re read.
Like a diamond,each facet stuns and surprises.
It is,essentially,a diary of the year after a husband,s death,written in verse ,one for each month of the year,and what beautiful verse it is.

After several readings,I got a shape to it.
Another reading and the beauty really shines through,especially in the starkly elegant images and words ,tight,sparse and lonely as a lament.
This is not a book to be read, it is a book to be ingested.

It tastes different each time
I may never reach a conclusion and may always stroke it like an Aladdins, lamp.
It did tell me that hope never dies.
Nor does our need for hope.
In a time of bereavement,it can come dangerously close to looking that way and the prospect of a life without hope can be as frightening as no life at all.

It said to me that one cannot quicken the recovery process.
Neither can one predict when hope will return and one must simply rely on faith in life to assist the return of hope.
In these twelve gem like poems, there is a long brave journey through grief ,with only faith as a guide.
If you ever felt the terror or losing hope,you will recognise the sentiments in this book.
If you have yet to feel it, this book is an assurance that it will never be all taken away despite looking terrifyingly like it might be.
Eventually ,there is a feeling that the sun has come outfrom behind a cloud.
It nearly didnt
A stunning experience and a lifelong companion ,this book
David Beglin.
Nairobi.
Kenya.
September 2007.

When words fail you
One of the hardest tasks facing any of us is knowing what to say to a close friend struggling with the loss of a loved one.

Give them this book.

Honest,totally devoid of sentiment and, crucially, beautifully written,the verses of After You are intimate dispatches from the front line of loss.
Through them the poet helps map for others the unchartered waters of life without the beloved.

By her experience Post demonstrates that, despite all feeling to the contrary, there is still a life worth living.

More, by its conclusion the reader is left in no doubt that love will, in time, trump grief.

What better comfort is there?

After you
There is no waste on these pages. The poems are lean, exquisitely written - sometimes exquisitely painful - but always exquisite.