before and after

A book review of Samantha Sotto's "Before Ever After"

I really am not a fan of love stories in novels. I got to read this book, however, due to the recommendation of my friend, Allana, who lent me a copy. I was also fascinated by the fact that its author is a Filipina.

“Before Ever After” is a story of a woman who had lost her husband in a terrible accident and three years after finds herself confronted by another man, who claims to be the grandson of his late husband. Paolo, an Italian editor of American coffee table books, one day comes knocking into Shelley’s door and shows her pictures of her late husband, Max.

Paolo tells her that Max, whom Shelley knew was dead for three years, is actually alive and well and is in fact, Paolo’s grandfather. Shelley is both overwhelmed and confused with the man in her midst but much more perplexed by the two realities she has yet to come to terms with. Shelley and Paolo then go to a trip to solve a puzzle they both know might ruin their pasts and complicate the present.

I dare not tell the ending because that is actually what kept my interest until the end. Upon reading the hanging synopsis at the back of the book, I really had no idea how it will end or even how the story would go.

As I started with the first few chapters, I felt like I was watching a movie – sort of a combination of the films “If Only”, “P.S. I Love You” and “Bridget Jones Diary”. It was way too melodramatic for me, too theatrical even so I had to remind myself that, although I didn’t adore love stories as much, I still had to give the book a chance.

But the story gets interesting when Shelley meets Paolo and receives the shocking information that her dead husband is actually alive. On their journey together to meet Max, Shelley tells Paolo of how she and Max had met. And this boy-meets-girl tale really made the story more real, vivid, frustrating at times, exhilarating but surprisingly poignant. Shelley tells her of the group tour in Europe she impulsively joined. Coincidentally, this tour was organized by Max.

Max, Shelley and a small bunch of tourists travel around the beautiful towns and cities in Europe, exploring the less explored and having the most unusual and unexpected times of their lives.

If it were a real tour, I would’ve probably joined them. I am not fond of cities. I prefer to experience the culture, the history of a place, its uncommon spots. I’d rather live in a traditional house than stay in a five-star hotel. And that’s exactly why I enjoyed most parts of the book. I liked the way it somehow brought me closer to those places I could only dream of, even if some were fictional, I guess.

I think the highlights of the book were supposed to be focused on the stories behind the places that Max narrated to them during their travels. However, what I did was to picture these places in my mind and imagine how it would feel being there and hearing Max’s stories, as well.

Max shares stories of love, foolishness, youth, irrationality, fear, insanity, urgency, patience, courage, uncertainty, monsters, death, salvation and of realities and truths that are inevitably harder to live with than to accept.

The stories are as philosophical as it is practical in our life experiences. I was amazed though at the author's creativity and very detailed accounts of Max’s stories. Although at the latter part of their tour, I got a bit bored because I was so anxious of the ending, I still tried to grasp the significance of each of their adventures. It also got confusing at times because the stories of the past (which narrates the European tour by Max with the tour group including Shelley) was alternately placed with the story of the present (Paolo and Shelley’s trip to meet Max).

The end of Shelley and Paolo’s long distance travel brings them to the Philippines, in the charming and calm island in Boracay…in that small island where they are going to meet Max.

I leave you the liberty to read the ending yourselves. It’d probably be more exciting than me telling it here.

Anyways, the ending is somehow surprising although I got hints halfway through the book. But I think I still liked how it ended.

Although I think this is the longest time it took me to finish reading a book, I still found it worthwhile. It was generally a refreshing break from all my thriller reads. It just felt bothersome how the book seemingly drowned in adjectives and figures of speech. But as a whole, I still enjoyed reading it and would perhaps recommend it to friends.

I am also proud of the book’s author, Samantha Sotto, who was able to get into the Western literature market. There are a lot of exceptional writers and novelists in the country and I hope their works do get the same attention. But in essence, for me, for the love of literature, getting published by huge publishing houses doesn’t really matter as much as the readers getting more from the book than the author had originally intended.

In one way or another, I guess the book gave me something else. I don’t know if it’s a compliment for the author and her book but I know that what I got from the book is something significant.

I think the way to appreciate these kinds of books is to delve deeper into every encounter each page strikes you with. Maybe that’s how I got to appreciate the book despite the recurrence of romance and amorous sentimentality.

It could be very escapist in some ways but still a good read. A fascinating read indeed.