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| Plot Summary of After the Fire |
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"In this story, Belva Plain goes to the heart of a marriage between a naive young artist and her handsome physician husband. At first, everything is idyllic. Then one terrible night, Hyacinth commits an act that gives her husband the ultimate weapon; blackmail. The price of his silence is uncontested custody of their two children.
When her own beautiful, angry mother wants to know why she won't fight for custody; Hyacinth can give no answers. For she alone knows or believes she knows, what really happened on the fateful night when her marriage went to pieces."
Boppy, Resident Scholar
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"Hyacinth has always been a bit of a softie and a dreamer. She's an artist who loves to paint pictures of her family. They coddle her and care for her every need with their ample wealth. One day she meets and falls in love with a poor medical student, Gerald, and marries him despite the reservations of her mother. It isn't long before things begin to deteriorate in their marriage and after a long time of repressing her feelings and pretending nothing's wrong one night Hyacinth makes a mistake which Gerald finds out about and holds over her head for years. He uses it as blackmail to divorce her uncontested and getting custody of their two children. She is left untrusting of men, her self-esteem is in the dumper, and she has to learn to take control of her life, be more assertive, make something of herself, and get back her children."
synergy, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of After the Fire |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- depressed
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 1980's-1999
Family, struggle with
Yes
Struggle with:
- Husband
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Pregnancy/Child rearing
Yes
Major part of story:
- custody fight
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- artist
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- doctor
Eccentric/Smart/Dumb:
Yes
Eccentric:
- obsessed
- emotionally unstable
- dumb
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
- an above average amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 4 ()
United States
Yes
The US:
- Texas
- Northeast
- Deep South
- Pacific NW
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
Misc setting
- fancy mansion
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
- rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- descript of kissing
Unusual Style:
- a lot of stream of consciousness
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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