Alice Raikes takes a train from London to Scotland to visit her family, but when she gets there she witnesses something so shocking that she insists on returning to London immediately. A few hours later, Alice is lying in a coma after an accident that may or may not have been a suicide attempt. Alice's family gathers at her bedside and as they wait, argue, and remember, long-buried tensions emerge. The more they talk, the more they seem to conceal. Alice, meanwhile, slides between varying levels of consciousness, recalling her past and a love affair that recently ended. A riveting story that skips through time and interweaves multiple points of view, After You'd Gone is a novel of stunning psychological depth and marks the debut of a major literary talent. "It's the depiction of . . . deceptively small moments that is O'Farrell's winning gift. . . . Her absorbing characters gracefully circle one another 'round the room like moths at the light bulb, ' grazing their wings against life's raw heat instead of being consumed by it." ("The New York Times Book Review") ""After You'd Gone" is beautifully written contemporary fiction." (Edna O'Brien, "The Sunday Times")

玛姬·欧法洛：1972年出生于北爱尔兰的科尔伦，她是英国最负盛名的小说家，处女作《你走了以后》获得英国《卫报》“25年来最佳小说”，是英国最大连锁书店“水石”(Warterstones)评选出的“影响未来25年的25位作家”之一。

玛姬的作品多涉及家庭关系、家族秘密及个 人情感，探讨不可违逆的意外与灾难对家庭的影响，她的笔法细巧而充满热情，擅于以层层剥茧的手法将一个寻常的故事写得鲜活动人。如此浓烈的风格，在她28岁出版第一部小说《你走了以后》，即以强大的渲染力虐获广大读者群。这部作品不仅创下耀眼的销售佳绩，为她夺下2002年由作家协会颁发的“贝蒂特拉斯克奖”，而后更在2006年入选《卫报》“英国25年来最佳小说”。