Set against the backdrop of New York City in the 1950s, After the
War captures those exciting years when everyone was trying to make
up for lost time. It was a time for experimentation, and returned
World War II veteran Richard Stone deliberately erected a wall of
"disconnectionism", pursued a rootless, Rilke-like
existence in borrowed apartments, hocking the belongings for eating
(and drinking) money. It was a time for intense living, and love:
Richard's love affair with bewitching and bewildering Jemmy
Gordon, only child of a celebrated war correspondent, is a
masterpiece of enigma and surprise. But the years after the war
were more than a time to revel in youth and love - they were
haunted by the omnipresence of death - in the war and in the tragic
legacy of the six million. Daniel Stern has the rare ability to
probe the most serious subjects deeply, without compromise, while
keeping his reader entertained. Out of the shared experience of
Americans determinedly convalescing after the war, he has produced
a memorable novel.
