#BookReview ‘After She’d Gone’ by Alex Dahl

About the book…

Unsettling, gripping and darkly glamorous,‘After She’d Gone’ is a timely psychological thriller about the danger of beauty, the lure of power, and the fierce love of a mother for her son.
Liv loves her son, Adrian. That’s why she keeps a low profile in Sandefjord, Norway: just another tired single mother, trying to make ends meet. She has never told her son about the secrets she carries or the life she lived before he was born. She will do anything to keep him safe.

Anastasia’s life is transformed when she moves from Russia to Milan and starts modelling. Suddenly, she’s rich. She’s desired. But then she begins to see the dark side of her new life: the high-pressure catwalk shows; the glamorous, drink-fuelled after-parties; the sun-baked Italian palazzos owned by powerful men. She will do anything to escape

Selma is a feature journalist in Oslo. She’s horrified to uncover an unsavoury and dangerous underworld when she writes an article looking into the modelling industry. Then, a woman goes missing in Sandefjord…

Many thanks to Sophie at Ransom PR and publishers Head Of Zeus for having me on the blogtour for Alex Dahl’s latest novel, which is out at all good bookshops from August 18!

This novel grips you from the start and does not let go. Skillfully juggling a quadruple narrative, 3 women and a neurodivergent child, Alex Dahl plunges us into a nightmare scenario when 9 year old Adrian witnesses his mother’s abduction.

His limited verbal ability marks him out as vulnerable and within minutes of this cataclysmic event, the world which comprises of him and mum, Liv, is destroyed.

Kidnapped and with no idea what had happened to his mother, Adrian becomes the center of a Norway wide investigation.

Liv’s lack of presence in the community, secretive nature and reports to social services a combine to paint a narrative of a single mum on the edge with no support system in place.

But there is one person who is not buying this at all.

Reporter, Selma,who had made appearances in Alex’ other novels, had been poised to break a shattering story of human trafficking,sex trafficking and exploitation in the fashion industry.

When notes from ‘on high’ pause publication on her expose,she is sent to investigate Liv and Adrian’s disappearance.

And this is one woman who is not buying the ‘under pressure suicidal mother’ storyline.

As she digs deeper and travels across Europe in an attempt to uncover the truth, the trail keeps leading back to her unpublished article and a truth darker,and more sinister than she,or we the readers, could have imagined…

Selva,Liv and Adrian tell their tales and keep you on the edge of your seat as danger is literally sitting on the shoulders of all three. But it is Yekaterinberg native Anastacia who is the heart of the story

A young woman with dyslexia,she is ripe for the picking when a fashion scout spots her working as a horticultural assistant to her grandmother.

Suddenly, she is whisked to Milan and casting for catwalks and model campaigns. But is she prepared to pay the price for fame and keep her mouth shut when she realises just what is going on?

An expose of the grime behind the glitter, the sordid nature of the way people are bought and sold as commodities, ‘After She’d Gone ‘ works as pure detective story, and investigative story,but most of all,as a story of the human resilience to do the right thing and raise our voices against those who would render us silent.

About the author…

Half-American, half-Norwegian, Alex Dahl was born in Oslo. She graduated with a B.A. in Russian and German linguistics with international studies and went on to complete an M.A. in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, followed by an M.S. in Business Management at Bath University.

Alex has published short stories in the U.K. and the U.S. She is a serious Francophile and currently lives in both London and Sandefjord. ‘The Boy At The Door’ (2018) was translated into ten languages and is currently shortlisted for a CWA Dagger award. ‘The Heart Keeper’(2019) is out now.

Twitter @alexdahlauthor @HoZ_Books @soph_ransompr