All That Follows is a very engaging book by the gifted British writer Jim Crace (2010). It's the second book by him that I have read, the first being the very different The Gift of Stones set in the cusp between the stone and bronze age. In All That Follows, the protagonist named Lennie is a somewhat self-absorbed and passive Jazz musician who finds himself, on his 50th birthday, embroiled in some unexpected intrigue involving an old acquaintance from his "radical days", and that man's estranged 17-year-old daughter, Lucy. The other main character is Lennie's wife, strong-willed with a streak of wildness that is usually under raps, due to her mundane schoolteacher job and the grief caused by her teenage daughter's running away. The trigger event in the plot centers around a hostage-taking incident involving Lennie's "friend" Max, and complications ensuing from an aborted plan to mitigate the situation. Interestingly, the story is mainly set in London in the late 2020's but also flashes back to 1980s Texas, when Lenny met Max and his girlfriend, Nadia, whom he had a crush on at the time. It's a well-written book with an unpredictable plot and lots of good characterization, not to mention witty satire and humor.
For a review of the book from click here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/apr/24/all-that-follows-jim-crace
For a review of the book from click here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/apr/24/all-that-follows-jim-crace
