What Comes After

appearance of the sheriff. Which figured. The pattern of her life had been set: horrors followed by small reprieves, glimmers of possibility, then wham, everything back to shit.

 

A few months back, she couldn't have imagined any of this. She had walked home from town on a warm July evening, the air clear and sweet, the sky glowing silver, thinking how her mom might let her enroll at the high school in the fall despite the likely presence of the devil. But when she entered the clearing and their rented trailer came into view, it radiated a stillness that stopped her breath.

 

She pushed the door. "Mom?" The cabinets hung open, only a jar of peanut butter and a couple cans of tuna left. A scrawled note waited on the table: I'm praying Jesus forgives you. She tore open an envelope next to the note. Two hundred dollars and her grandmother's jeweled brooch fell out. Evangeline slid to the floor, whimpering. "Please, Mama. You don't mean it." But her mother did mean it. Her mother had promised this day. Many times she had promised. And now she had done it, washed her hands of her daughter and slipped clean away.

 

Evangeline cried for days, praying to Jesus, afraid to leave for even a second in case her mother returned. But, as usual, the prayers didn't work, produced neither parent nor food on the shelves. She guessed her mother was using again. Years of sobriety down the drain. "My stalker boyfriend," her mom had called heroin. "A real son of a bitch."

 

As the weeks passed, Evangeline prayed less and less, until one day she realized she was done. She'd probably burned the Jesus bridge with the drinking and stealing and messing around with her mother's ex-boyfriend. Just as well. He'd never been that reliable. And the way she saw it, you could invite someone into your heart, but if they refused to come, you had to move on. You had to save yourself however you could.

 

It was early October now, winter lurking at the edge

and the young pregnant girl who may hold the key to the their tragic fates. An American Tana French, Tompkins is a writer to watch. O, The Oprah Magazine

Like Anne Tyler and Marilynne Robinson, who explore similar territories of the heart, Tompkins sensitively portrays her characters pain, isolation, and hard path to redemption. A graceful debut. Kirkus Reviews

In JoAnne Tompkins s debut novel, faith is simply part of life, a reality that is rarely so sensitively portrayed in fiction. BookPage (starred review)

Deftly handled . . . readers coming to know [the characters] almost better than they know themselves. . . . exceptional literary thriller. Booklist (starred review)

While there s mystery at the heart of this book, Tompkins creates a relatable thrill with reflections on suffering, loss, anger, and the powerful effects of forgiveness. Parade

At once a mystery and a meditation on how to move forward in the wake of a tragedy, What Comes After by Joanne Tompkins is a moving tale of two parents grappling after the sudden deaths of their teenage sons. POPSUGAR

[A] moving portrait of resilience. Oprah Daily

[A] reflective tale of grief and redemption. E! Online

"What I loved most about What Comes After is the way the characters in the wake of a great tragedy quietly, kindly reach out to one another. The loss of two teenage boys forces the characters to face truths about the boys, and therefore themselves. JoAnne Tompkins writes about the people in this small town with wisdom and grace, and I m grateful to have read this novel." Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Edward

What Comes After is a tender, wise debut, both grave and hopeful. In telling the story of the violent act that rocks a small community and what emerges from the ashes JoAnne Tompkins explores responsibility and forgiveness, connection and loss, the families we re born into and the ones we create. What Comes After asks whether we are inevitably shaped by the wounds we inherit and the ones we give ourselves or whether transformation, and redemption, are possible. Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists

Though What Comes After begins with the quick jaggedness of sorrow, it soon becomes an intricate journey across the soft, tender landscape of solace. It offers faith without dogma, love without melodrama, and healing that leaves well-earned scars. I found it a beautifully satisfying portrait of people who are terribly wrong about themselves, who discover astonishing relief when they accept their heartbreaking truths. Cara Wall, author of The Dearly Beloved

"A moving, life-affirming page-turner. JoAnne Tompkins has a deep appreciation for the power of human connection and the magic that can happen when people reach across biological relationships to create the makeshift family or community that they need. This novel is a reminder that family goes beyond blood, held in love, and we are not alone. Whitney Otto, New York Times bestselling author of How to Make an American Quilt

This is a book for the ages. A powerful, compassionate page-turner, What Comes After dives deep into the best and worst of humanity and comes out singing. This is a story of families failed and made, of lives lost and found and taken, and of anger and forgiveness elusive, precious, and overwhelming. Joanne Tompkins is a clear-eyed reader of souls, and she gives them to us in all their complicated and terrible beauty. Erica Bauermeister, New York Times bestselling author of the Reese s Book Club Pick The Scent Keeper