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After the Barricades
Who was my mother?
This is a question that plagues Anna, a journalist living in New York City, after the sudden tragic death of her parents. Armed with a box of letters and a strange painting, Anna travels to Paris to learn more about the life that her mother, Bethany, lived in the city of lights in the late 1960s. There she meets Stefan, her mother's former lover whom she never knew existed. Bethany’s one year in Paris included May 1968, a turbulent time when student protests and labor strikes threatened to upend the very fabric of French society. Bethany, a blue-blood Bostonian, found herself in the thick of riots and rationing as she and her friends attempted to find their place in the world. At the heart of it all is the story of Bethany and her lover, Stefan, a quiet, unassuming man with a harrowing past and many dark secrets of his own.
About the Author
Jessica Stilling is the author of literary fiction as well as poetry and short fiction for various literary journals. Her articles have appeared in Ms. Magazine, Bust Magazine and she writes extensively for The Writer Magazine . She also publishes young adult fantasy under the pen name JM Stephen. Jessica loves Virginia Woolf, very long walks, and currently lives in southern Vermont where she writes for the very local newspaper, The Deerfield Valley News.
This is a question that plagues Anna, a journalist living in New York City, after the sudden tragic death of her parents. Armed with a box of letters and a strange painting, Anna travels to Paris to learn more about the life that her mother, Bethany, lived in the city of lights in the late 1960s. There she meets Stefan, her mother's former lover whom she never knew existed. Bethany’s one year in Paris included May 1968, a turbulent time when student protests and labor strikes threatened to upend the very fabric of French society. Bethany, a blue-blood Bostonian, found herself in the thick of riots and rationing as she and her friends attempted to find their place in the world. At the heart of it all is the story of Bethany and her lover, Stefan, a quiet, unassuming man with a harrowing past and many dark secrets of his own.
About the Author
Jessica Stilling is the author of literary fiction as well as poetry and short fiction for various literary journals. Her articles have appeared in Ms. Magazine, Bust Magazine and she writes extensively for The Writer Magazine . She also publishes young adult fantasy under the pen name JM Stephen. Jessica loves Virginia Woolf, very long walks, and currently lives in southern Vermont where she writes for the very local newspaper, The Deerfield Valley News.
489 pages, Paperback
Published May 9, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 14, 2023
The world, it seems, changes little in spite of protests about injustice and inequality. This novel, set essentially in the Paris student riots (I prefer rebellion, protests, political activism) of 1968, relates the times as seen through the eyes of some students and an artist who understands and befriends the workers.
The situations it describes, and the causes of those very real and justified protests, continue to this day all around the world. Those with wealth and those in power clearly never take the necessary notice of the bulk of humanity. They clearly care little for ‘ordinary’ people and do less for them.
But the story is also very much a love story, a tale about relationships within and outside of family. It is about friendship, brotherhood, prejudice, ignorance, fascism, communism, education and its lack, and so much more.
Emotionally, this is a tale that bring tears, laughter, enjoyment, horror, anger, pain, happiness, and empathy. Populated by so many characters we can easily know and empathise with, it takes us through the turmoil and violence of that Paris rebellion, an event that has been duplicated the world over, often to little effect. That, in the case of Paris, it brought about some much-needed social changes at least brings hope that protest can do some good. But the powers that be, cushioned from everyday reality by sycophants and those supporters who hope to join their gravy train, rarely take the action necessary to bring about real justice, real equality of opportunity, real reductions in poverty, ignorance, and prejudice. Rather, they stoke the feelings of alienation and worthlessness suffered by so many under their control, hoping by doing so they will deflect attention from their own failings, greed, and lust for power and instead place it with the uneducated poor of the world.
This is a book full of argument, exposition, discussion and thought, yet it is also so much about humanity’s potential for compassion, love, cruelty, injustice, courage, hope, determination, and hatred. There is a narrated passage about the Holocaust that movingly personalises the treatment of and feelings of the Jewish community so demonised and destroyed by the Nazis. There is an aspect that deals with our uncertain relationship with the inevitable prospect of the death of a suffering loved one. There are themes of loyalty, justice, struggle, and persistence.
It is a damn good read that may make you cry, laugh, and yell with anger. Well worth the time to absorb and experience.
The situations it describes, and the causes of those very real and justified protests, continue to this day all around the world. Those with wealth and those in power clearly never take the necessary notice of the bulk of humanity. They clearly care little for ‘ordinary’ people and do less for them.
But the story is also very much a love story, a tale about relationships within and outside of family. It is about friendship, brotherhood, prejudice, ignorance, fascism, communism, education and its lack, and so much more.
Emotionally, this is a tale that bring tears, laughter, enjoyment, horror, anger, pain, happiness, and empathy. Populated by so many characters we can easily know and empathise with, it takes us through the turmoil and violence of that Paris rebellion, an event that has been duplicated the world over, often to little effect. That, in the case of Paris, it brought about some much-needed social changes at least brings hope that protest can do some good. But the powers that be, cushioned from everyday reality by sycophants and those supporters who hope to join their gravy train, rarely take the action necessary to bring about real justice, real equality of opportunity, real reductions in poverty, ignorance, and prejudice. Rather, they stoke the feelings of alienation and worthlessness suffered by so many under their control, hoping by doing so they will deflect attention from their own failings, greed, and lust for power and instead place it with the uneducated poor of the world.
This is a book full of argument, exposition, discussion and thought, yet it is also so much about humanity’s potential for compassion, love, cruelty, injustice, courage, hope, determination, and hatred. There is a narrated passage about the Holocaust that movingly personalises the treatment of and feelings of the Jewish community so demonised and destroyed by the Nazis. There is an aspect that deals with our uncertain relationship with the inevitable prospect of the death of a suffering loved one. There are themes of loyalty, justice, struggle, and persistence.
It is a damn good read that may make you cry, laugh, and yell with anger. Well worth the time to absorb and experience.
April 22, 2023
Though I can't personally vouch for it, history tells us that 1968 was a year of mayhem around the world. This book takes us to Paris during the Spring-Summer of that year through protests, strikes, and all of the devastation in between.
In 2019, Anna dedicates herself to learning about her mother's past in the wake of her death. She travels to Paris on this endeavor. From there, the book follows Bethany in 1968, an American girl studying abroad for a year. It's a turbulent time for the city and Bethany finds herself in the midst of the riots and protests and the lasting effects they have on her and her friends' lives.
A lot of interesting subjects are presented and discussed throughout the story, mainly Communism vs. Capitalism. The writing is strong and each of the characters brings a unique personality to the pages. A particularly interesting supporting character is Stefan, Bethany's friend and lover. There are a lot of intricacies of the plot to keep up with which I struggled to keep straight at times, but the end comes together nicely as the reader is brought back into the present day.
A huge thanks to the author for sending me a free digital ARC of the book to read and review!
In 2019, Anna dedicates herself to learning about her mother's past in the wake of her death. She travels to Paris on this endeavor. From there, the book follows Bethany in 1968, an American girl studying abroad for a year. It's a turbulent time for the city and Bethany finds herself in the midst of the riots and protests and the lasting effects they have on her and her friends' lives.
A lot of interesting subjects are presented and discussed throughout the story, mainly Communism vs. Capitalism. The writing is strong and each of the characters brings a unique personality to the pages. A particularly interesting supporting character is Stefan, Bethany's friend and lover. There are a lot of intricacies of the plot to keep up with which I struggled to keep straight at times, but the end comes together nicely as the reader is brought back into the present day.
A huge thanks to the author for sending me a free digital ARC of the book to read and review!
May 23, 2023
After her mother’s sudden death, Anna finds a stash of paintings and love letters from Paris, by a man she’d never heard of. When Anna goes to Paris to cover the Yellow Vest protests, she meets her mother’s now elderly fling, who'd survived Auschwitz, given up painting, and was a waiter that summer of 1968 when he and Anna’s mother fell in love.
I asked the author about what I thought were a few incorrect details regarding the Holocaust and Judaism, and it turned out that she'd researched, studied, and talked at length to her grandmother-in-law, who was also a Romanian Jewish Holocaust survivor. I need to remember that there are many ways to look at history and many different views about how to describe Judaism. After talking to Jessica about it, I liked the book even more!
I was honored to interview the author for the New Books Network -https://newbooksnetwork.com/after-the...
I asked the author about what I thought were a few incorrect details regarding the Holocaust and Judaism, and it turned out that she'd researched, studied, and talked at length to her grandmother-in-law, who was also a Romanian Jewish Holocaust survivor. I need to remember that there are many ways to look at history and many different views about how to describe Judaism. After talking to Jessica about it, I liked the book even more!
I was honored to interview the author for the New Books Network -https://newbooksnetwork.com/after-the...
May 20, 2023
AFTER THE BARRICADES
AFTER THE BARRICADES
By Jessica Stilling
Anna, a journalist, working and living in New York City learns of the sudden death of her parents, due to a car accident. Anna discovers letters and a painting that leads her to journey to Paris, curious about her mother’s past. Anna discovers her mother, Bethany, a Bostonian, lived in the midst of student protests, labor strikes, censorship, unprepared for a turbulent time in Paris, as an Art History student, in 1968. In the middle of street protests, fleeing barricades, she is hurt but rescued by Stephan, an older man, who eventually becomes her lover. When Anna meets Stephen she discovers he has secrets of his own, and gives Anna much to think about. Stilling’s writing and plot lines and themes of history and political unrest drive the novel’s characters’ to keep you on your toes.
AFTER THE BARRICADES
By Jessica Stilling
Anna, a journalist, working and living in New York City learns of the sudden death of her parents, due to a car accident. Anna discovers letters and a painting that leads her to journey to Paris, curious about her mother’s past. Anna discovers her mother, Bethany, a Bostonian, lived in the midst of student protests, labor strikes, censorship, unprepared for a turbulent time in Paris, as an Art History student, in 1968. In the middle of street protests, fleeing barricades, she is hurt but rescued by Stephan, an older man, who eventually becomes her lover. When Anna meets Stephen she discovers he has secrets of his own, and gives Anna much to think about. Stilling’s writing and plot lines and themes of history and political unrest drive the novel’s characters’ to keep you on your toes.
December 4, 2023
Truly engaging characters. They seem real, you want listen to them and learn all about them.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews