Most of the writers or perhaps all of them more or less explore life, the problems the characters face, their stress, worries, their hardwork and thereafter the probable solutions,. They explore social, political issues which every man can think of or woud have come across at some point of time in his life. Sci-Fi has opened a new realm of exploration in fiction.

However,
Anugrah Edmonds in her book “After I Died” goes beyond all these and writes about things which have not been written about so far. She talks of the only imaginable aspect, how things would be for a person who has died. How the person would get to see the world and since psychology is the author’s field of expertise, the book also comes across as a help for those who have thoughts about ending their lives. 

The series of events triggers right when the protagnist commits suicide following events which are only revealed later as the plot unfolds

As the reader gets to discover the reason of the suicide of the protagonist, he gets to understand that the protagonist is a young girl with problems similar to everyone in today’s youth. The issues may be about looks or love or relationships or loyalty or trust or the depressive state that follows after the breakup. The author lines up a series of stories which the protagonist shows the readers through her eyes which provide insights into different kinds of lives people live and at places the protagonist sees her own self too.

In the initial chapters, the author builds up on how the narrator decides to end her life. She leaves nothing to the imagination of the reader and vividly describes how the narrator reaches her death. Later she talks about the reason of the narrator’s taking the extreme step namely, the seperation and the after reactions. After this the series of stories follow which altogether help to change and provide a new perspective to the author’s way of seeing life.

Through the stories in the frame narrative and the protagonist’s story in the meta-narrative, the author attempts to say that life is not all about ending it if one thing does not turn out the way it was planned. This is something which is strongly socially applicable and when the protagonist looks back after a few years, she herself admits that there is a lot more to life than letting it revolve around just one person who does not give it the deserved respect.

While the author raises the major issue of depression among the youth through her book, there are other underlying themes also which she highlights. These include the effect of social media and the superfical world of show off it promotes, parenting in an Indian houseold, abuse against children, subjugation of the girl child, homosexual relationships and the problems they face etc.

“After I Died” also fits in the category of psychological study of human beings which places it in the category of modern writing having modern age city people with the issues that they face.

The language of the book is simple and the length is also not too long. For all the people who struggle with the problems of the protagonist, the book may serve as a life changer and since the length is also not too long, the effect on the mind can be felt soon. Irresepective of that, the book can be read by young and grown up readers. The book has mentions of homosexuality and violence against children. Hence it may not appeal to all the readers. But if read from a broad perspective, the book can be read by anyone.

Ratings:
4.5/5

Author Name:  Anugrah Edmonds
Book Title:  After I Died
Publisher: Evincepub Publishing
Review By:  Akhila Saroha