Between Before and After by Jessica Stilling: Review

Teddyrose@1

2 years ago

Between Before and After by Jessica Stilling

Publisher: DX Varos Publishing (November 8, 2022)
Category: General Fiction, Literary Fiction, Family Secrets
Tour Dates November 1-23
ISBN: 978-1955065665
Available in Print and ebook, 479 (or less) pages

Description Between Before and After by Jessica Stilling

Indie movie director Sebastian Foster has found his niche making movies based on the award-winning novels written by his estranged mother. However, his latest film, based loosely on the tragic death of his sister as a child, opens up old wounds best left under bandages.

Told in two concurrent timelines, now and when Sebastian was a teen, some twenty years ago in the mid-1990s, this story of learning unknown truths unwinds in the streets of Paris, where Sebastian lived as a teen and where he has returned to make his picture.

Review Between Before and After by Jessica Stilling

Guest Review by Mark

A phenomenal piece of writing from Jessica Stilling that asks questions about family history and mental health, ‘Between Before and After,’ is a must read for all lovers of literature. Using dual timelines, one in present day and one in 1994, Stilling tells a tale about a family who experiences a great loss and how they continue to recover even decades later.

As an up-and-coming indie film director, Sebastian Foster has seen his share of difficult directing jobs. But the film that he is putting together now may be the hardest he’s ever done. Sebastian is directing a film about the summer that his five-year-old sister died in a house fire.

The Foster’s had moved to Paris after the death of Sebastian’s step-father, Phillip. Sebastian’s mother, Regina had been considering divorcing Phillip when the man was diagnosed with lung cancer, at which point she decided to stay to take care of him. After Phillip’s death, Regina became more distant in ways that Sebastian didn’t fully understand and this distance only grows over the course of the novel and through the death of Lucy, Sebastian’s sister.

In many ways, this book felt like a treatise on a dysfunctional family and what keeps a son seeking his mother’s approval even when he no longer speaks to her. Sebastian was a very sympathetic character, and I loved the little details, both in present day and the flashbacks to 1994, that fleshed out his character in unexpected ways. His relationship with Maja, the girl that he had met in 1994 and later reconnected with, was very sweet, even in a book that was fraught with a lot of deep emotional turmoil.

I found this book incredibly touching and heartfelt. I can’t wait to see what this author puts out next, and I’m definitely going to be keeping an eye out for any future releases from her! I give ‘Between Before and After 4.5 stars.

About Jessica Stilling

Jessica Stilling has written three works of literary fiction, Betwixt and Between, The Beekeeper’s Daughter, and The Weary God of Ancient Travelers. She also wrote poetry and short fiction for various literary journals.

Her articles have appeared in Ms. Magazine, Bust Magazine and she writes extensively for The Writer Magazine. She has taught Creative Writing in both high school and university. She also publishes young adult fantasy under the pen name JM Stephen.

Jessica loves Virginia Woolf, very long walks, and currently lives in southern Vermont where she writes for the very local newspaper, The Deerfield Valley News.

Website: https://www.jessicastilling.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JessicaStilling
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessica.sticklor

Buy Between Before and After by Jessica Stilling

Amazon
Barnes&Noble
DX Varos Publishing

Giveaway Between Before and After by Jessica Stilling

This giveaway is for 3 print or ebook copies. Print is open to the U.S. only and ebook is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on November 24, 2022 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway