Genre: Fiction
Published: 1 March 2018
Publisher: Faber & Faber

Love After Love

by Alex Hourston


Nancy Jansen is the beating heart of her family.

She is the centre around whom many lives turn.

Mother
Therapist
Daughter
Sister
Wife

But Nancy has a new role:

Lover

Everybody can be happy, Nancy believes, so long as they can be kept apart.

But when these lives start to overlap, collision becomes inevitable, with consequences for all…

"A beautifully written page-turner of a book. I desperately cared about the characters and stayed up until the small hours to discover their fate." - Kate Hamer, bestselling author of THE GIRL IN THE RED COAT
"I inhaled the book, really, in one long, cool, quenching breath...it is written with such linguistic and emotional precision – not a word or thought out of place – and its examination of what it means to love honestly and truthfully, both as an individual and as part of a marriage and a family, had me utterly gripped from the first paragraph." - Laura Barnett, bestselling author of THE VERSIONS OF US
“This very grown-up and well written tale of adultery follows Nancy, a psychotherapist who is in a long-term affair with a colleague. But she is married with three children. Hourston’s novel carries shades of Louise Doughty and Zoe Heller but what sets her apart is her skilful handling of the parent and child relationship, and the changing bond as the youngster matures.” - The Sunday Post
“Starting out in psychological thriller territory, this gradually turns into something more reflective and emotionally satisfying.” - Daily Mail
“Reads with the pace of a thriller but the beauty of a tragic love story. A deeply affecting book.” - Araminta Hall
"Hourston cuts to the quick of family life with precision to create a slow-burning read laced with wit and compassion." - Fanny Blake, Woman & Home
"Written with the grip and intensity of a thriller... LOVE AFTER LOVE is beautifully written and quietly devastating in its exposure of middle-aged folly." - Kate Saunders, The Times
"This tale of adultery is filled with sharply observed characters and darkly evocative prose." - The i Paper
"An intense tale of adultery among the chattering classes... Though the book's subject is a familiar one, it never seems formulaic or predictable." - The Scotsman

Other Books by Alex Hourston