Parenting can sometimes mean having to make impossible decisions. That is the position in which Pip and Max find themselves in Clare Mackintosh's After the End. Nearly three-year-old Dylan has a brain tumor and the treatment has been awful. When they finally reach a point that a tough decision must be made about the future, Pip and Max can't agree on the right course to take. How can you make a decision without knowing the absolute outcome? We look down the two paths before us, but we can't see far enough. In Mackintosh's book, we get that chance. In alternating chapters, we follow along with the two opposing options and see what would happen. It is heartrending and painful. Who was right? Who was wrong? Or is there a right or wrong answer either way?
The division of the storyline is a tricky thing to pull off, but Mackintosh does it wonderfully. The characters develop differently on the two different paths and I think that is important since all the decisions we make in life change us bit by bit. Max and Pip are wonderful parents who want the best for their son, but they have different views of what that is. I can't imagine having to make their decision and how much worse it would be to feel alone in that without your spouse for support. There are so many wonderful lines that I wish I could share with you, but the spoilers would not be worth it. I'm afraid you'll just have to take my word for it and read it for yourself. This book made me think a lot about how I would respond in a similar situation, but I think in the end you will never really know unless you're actually there and I truly pray I will never have find out for sure.
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