After the Dam
After the Dam by Amy Hassinger, published by Red Hen Press in 2016, is a literary fiction novel that explores the complexities of motherhood and personal identity. The story follows thirty-two-year-old Rachel Clayborne, who, feeling overwhelmed and judged by her husband, escapes with her baby to her grandmother’s lakehouse in northern Wisconsin. As she seeks to reconnect with a healthier version of herself, Rachel confronts the realities of her grandmother’s declining health, an obstructive nurse, and a changed ex-boyfriend, all while a looming rainstorm threatens the nearby dam.
Readers will find a narrative that delves into Rachel’s internal struggles as she grapples with her past and contemplates her future. The novel presents themes of transformation and the challenges of reconciling one’s history with the present. With 344 pages, this first edition offers a poignant examination of the transformative power of motherhood, capturing the nuances of personal growth amid life’s unpredictability.
Official synopsis Publisher
Undone by motherhood, judged by her husband, thirty-two-year-old Rachel Clayborne flees with her baby in the middle of the night for the one place on earth that’s been her refuge: her grandmother’s lakehouse in northern Wisconsin. Hoping to reconnect with a former, healthier self, she instead faces a confused and dying grandmother, her ever-present nurse who seems bent on thwarting each of Rachel’s desires, and a changed ex-boyfriend–her first and most passionate love. As a constant rain threatens the nearby dam, Rachel struggles to discern what’s happened to the past, who she’s become, and what kind of a life she will make for herself now–one that clings to ghosts or opens bravely to a wild new geography.
From the acclaimed author of Nina: Adolescence and The Priest’s Madonna comes a gripping new novel that depicts the transformative power of motherhood with honesty, wit, and compassion.
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