Join us to celebrate Jackie Davis's new book Aftermath to be launched by Tim Upperton.
‘A moving and beautiful story about ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events.’ — Tina Shaw, author of A House Built on Sand
This evocative novel is set in the final weeks of World War One and begins with Samuel Chapman returning home to Auckland after serving as a war artist in France. Influenza has taken over the ship Halifax that is bringing him home. He is traumatised by what he has witnessed, not only on board the ship, but also on the battlefields.
In Samuel’s absence, his wife Ivy took on a new role as a manager of the Auckland Free Library. What began as a necessity becomes a quiet awakening to her own capability and independence. A feeling shared by Ivy’s sister Katherine, who also glimpses a different life in the absence of her husband George.
All four of them carry secrets that threaten the balance of their already unstable relationships. Aftermath follows their stories as they try to put their lives back together with ill-fitting pieces, all while influenza epidemic looms over the city.
Featuring morally complex characters, Aftermath is a reflective read and an insightful look at gender roles in the early 20th century, pressures within marriages, post-war trauma while covering the history of the influenza epidemic.
Jackie says, ‘I wanted to portray ordinary people thrown into extraordinary circumstances, and explore how they respond both internally, and in their relationships with those closest to them. World War One is a period of history that needs to be remembered, and it is hoped that a new generation of readers will have a greater understanding of what our forebears had to go through, to enable our freedom today.’
Jackie Davis is an award-winning short story writer, poet, playwright and novelist who writes for both adults and children. She has previously published two novels for adults: Breathe in 2002 and Swim in 2003. Her short fiction and poetry have been widely published in journals, magazines and anthologies in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, the US, and the UK, and she has had short stories broadcast on RNZ National. She has been awarded numerous residencies and fellowships, including the Foxton Fellowship, the New Zealand Society of Authors' Lilian Ida Smith Award, the Varuna Residency in New South Wales, Australia, and the RAK Mason Fellowship in Wairarapa. She has written and directed plays for community theatre, and her play All the Things I Have had a rehearsed reading at Circa Theatre in 2024. Jackie teaches creative writing for both children and adults and lives in Palmerston North.
