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'Australia's bravest and most honest writer explores the devastating aftermath of her elderly mother's decision to end her own life.
'Nikki Gemmell's world changed forever in October 2015 when the body of her elderly mother was found and it became clear she had decided to end her own life. After the immediate shock and devastation came the guilt and the horror, for Nikki, her family, relatives and friends. No note was left, so the questions that Elayn's death raised were endless. Was the decision an act of independence or the very opposite? Was it a desperate act driven by hopelessness and anger, or was her euthanasia a reasoned act of empowerment?
'After is the story of Elayn Gemmell - and the often difficult, prickly relationship between mothers and daughters, and how that changes over time. As anguished as it truthful, as powerful as it is profound, After is about life, death, elderly parents, mothers and daughters, hurt and healing, and about how little, sometimes, we know the ones we love the most.
'A deeply intimate, fiercely beautiful, blazingly bold and important book.'
Notes
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Epigraph: 'Here we go mother on the shipless ocean. Pity us, pity the ocean, here we go.' Anne Carson
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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No Goodbye
2017
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , November vol. 61 no. 11 2017; (p. 79)
— Review of After 2017 single work autobiography'When I heard about Nikki Gemmell's book, After, I faced a dilemma. A memoir about the "euthanasia death" of her mother, Elayn Gemmell, would bring up my own memories. I went to the bookshop twice before I purchased.' (Introduction)
-
Dying Stripped Bare
2017
single work
review
— Appears in: TSIR , June no. 5 2017;
— Review of After 2017 single work autobiography -
Before and After
2017
single work
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 25 March 2017; (p. 16) 'Two new books bring passion and pain to the voluntary euthanasia debate, writes Miriam Cosic' -
'After' by Nikki Gemmell
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 390 2017; 'In 2015, Nikki Gemmell’s mother, Elayn, took an overdose of painkillers. Gemmell’s new book, After, chronicles the difficult process of confronting her mother’s death and resolving the anguish it brought to her and her children. It is also an impassioned appeal for changes in Australia’s laws on the right to die.' (Introduction) -
Nikki Gemmell Tells of the Turmoil of Losing Her Mother to Suicide
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 6 April 2017; 'The Australian author’s new memoir, After, explores her mother’s death, which forced her to confront the issue of euthanasia.'
-
Dying Stripped Bare
2017
single work
review
— Appears in: TSIR , June no. 5 2017;
— Review of After 2017 single work autobiography -
No Goodbye
2017
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , November vol. 61 no. 11 2017; (p. 79)
— Review of After 2017 single work autobiography'When I heard about Nikki Gemmell's book, After, I faced a dilemma. A memoir about the "euthanasia death" of her mother, Elayn Gemmell, would bring up my own memories. I went to the bookshop twice before I purchased.' (Introduction)
-
Nikki Gemmell Tells of the Turmoil of Losing Her Mother to Suicide
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 6 April 2017; 'The Australian author’s new memoir, After, explores her mother’s death, which forced her to confront the issue of euthanasia.' -
'After' by Nikki Gemmell
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 390 2017; 'In 2015, Nikki Gemmell’s mother, Elayn, took an overdose of painkillers. Gemmell’s new book, After, chronicles the difficult process of confronting her mother’s death and resolving the anguish it brought to her and her children. It is also an impassioned appeal for changes in Australia’s laws on the right to die.' (Introduction) -
Before and After
2017
single work
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 25 March 2017; (p. 16) 'Two new books bring passion and pain to the voluntary euthanasia debate, writes Miriam Cosic'
