Then [Hardcover]

''Then' is a bold, uncompromising book that marks out Myerson as a truly interesting and risk-taking author...Myerson's cleverness lies in her supremely confident ability to play with stucture, drip-feeding us snippets of memory yet never losing pace along the way...The careful, intriguing plotting ensures that the eventual conclusion is both disturbing and moving. Myerson's use of language, too, is striking: her sentences are sparsely poetic and she is able to convey layers of meaning through the use of a single, tellling detail which juxtaposes the mundane with the inconceivable...'Then' is not an easy read, but it is a grippingly good one' --Observer

'Myerson's new work is a novel, her eight, and the uncontrollable place that her imagination springs from is given full rein. 'Then' is a devastatingly dark story, and the hypnotic quality of its writing, and the searing vision it lays before us, certainly appear to have sprung from a deep and frightening source...It is tempting to read the terrifying landscape in which 'Then' unfolds as a mental map, an inner hell of emotional torment that any woman found wanting as a wife and mother must face. Yet it is more than that: it is also a portrait of the primitive realities of family life, and the need above all to protect what matters most. 'Then' may have been written from a source beyond Myerson's control, but it will chime with anyone who has inflicted hurt, wittingly or not. Most of us, in other words.' --Sunday Herald

'One of the starkest yet most elegant descriptions of a parent's ultimate and most terrible dilemma attempted by a writer in recent years. It is written as if through a cascade of tears. Throughout this book, Myerson demonstrates once again her masterful ability to convey the fragility of a society that can be so easily and completely broken.'
--Morning Star

`Then is a bold, uncompromising book that marks out Myerson as a truly interesting and risk-taking author... Myerson's cleverness lies in her supremely confident ability to play with structure, drip-feeding us snippets of memory yet never losing pace along the way... The careful, intriguing plotting ensures that the eventual conclusion is both disturbing and moving. Myerson's use of language, too, is striking: her sentences are sparsely poetic and she is able to convey layers of meaning through the use of a single, telling detail which juxtaposes the mundane with the inconceivable... Then is not an easy read, but it is a grippingly good one' --Observer

`Myerson's new work is a novel, her eighth, and the uncontrollable place that her imagination springs from is given full rein. Then is a devastatingly dark story, and the hypnotic quality of its writing, and the searing vision it lays before us, certainly appear to have sprung from a deep and frightening source... It is tempting to read the terrifying landscape in which Then unfolds as a mental map, an inner hell of emotional torment that any woman found wanting as a wife and mother must face. Yet it is more than that: it is also a portrait of the primitive realities of family life, and the need above all to protect what matters most. Then may have been written from a source beyond Myerson's control, but it will chime with anyone who has inflicted hurt, wittingly or not. Most of us, in other words.' --Sunday Herald

`One of the starkest yet most elegant descriptions of a parent's ultimate and most terrible dilemma attempted by a writer in recent years. It is written as if through a cascade of tears. Throughout this book, Myerson demonstrates once again her masterful ability to convey the fragility of a society that can be so easily and completely broken.' --Morning Star

'Julie Myerson offers a haunting twist on Armageddon... A chillingly persuasive vision of emotional hell' --Financial Times

'Myerson displays a deft touch at providing the reader with telling, troubling details, clues to what might have happened. Unremittingly bleak, Then is a novel about memory as a woman tries to piece together the fragments of her past' --Metro

'Beautifully written, mesmeric and haunting' --Psychologies Magazine

`This is writing that takes the breath away and a book that describes a descent into hell. Be warned: the ending is absolutely agonising. The last sentence breathtaking. I cannot praise this staggeringly accomplished work highly enough.' --Sunday Express

`The eeriness of the world outside is conveyed well; as are the horrors that beset the survivors...It is highly readable and involving, offering tantalising clues as the reader tries to navigate the grisly streets of London and the dark corners of the narrator's mind...but the central human narrative is strong and clear, proving that even in darkness there are points of light.' --Daily Telegraph

`In this unremittingly dark book this disintegrated psychic state of the central character remains bleakly engrossing and sadly touching throughout.' --The Irish Times

`Myerson's eighth novel evolves from the blurry uncertainty of Kafkaesque dreamscape into a riveting story where the dystopia gradually recedes in importance and what it's actually about begins to reveal itself: the fragmentation of the self brought about by the loss of someone you love, the difficulty of coping with everyday existence afterwards and the extreme places that grief can sometime stake us to. It's a daring and dazzling performance that confirms Myerson as a novelist who can increasingly be relied upon to come up with another new book that is both different and good.' --Daily Mail

"One of Myerson's strength's lies in creating atmosphere... Myerson sees the pathos in small details."
--The Independent

An astonishing, apocalyptic new novel, from the author of Something Might Happen

It was 9.22, the moment when everything stopped. First there was the burning air, then came the darkness, the fire, and finally the frost.

Now, in a frozen, wasted London, a woman - uncertain even of her own name - is fighting to stay alive. Along with a small group of fellow survivors, she takes refuge in an abandoned skyscraper in what was once the financial centre. But spectres stalk the empty offices and endless corridors, and soon visions of a forgotten world emerge, a world of broken love and betrayal, and horrific, shocking mercies - a world more traumatic even than the desolate present.

Then is a novel of singular invention and bravery. With it, Julie Myerson has created an echo chamber of the heartbreaking and the terrifying, and an enduring apocalyptic vision.

It was 9.22, the moment everything stopped. First there was the burning in the air, then came the darkness, the fire, and finally the frost.

One woman - uncertain even of her own name - is fighting to stay alive in a frozen, wasted London. Along with a handful of fellow survivors, she seeks refuge in an abandoned skyscraper in the City. But spectres stalk the empty offices and soon visions of a broken world emerge. Then creates an enduring apocalyptic vision as it hurtles towards its shattering conclusion and a final, horrifying act of betrayal.

'Crossing ingeniously into multiple genres, from science fiction to psychological suspense, Then is an addictively readable feat of imagination. Myerson transforms London into a raw, alien landscape whose few flashes of familiarity are themselves terrifying. A vivid, involving book I couldn't wait to get back to' Lionel Shriver

'Julie Myerson offers a haunting twist on Armageddon... A chillingly persuasive vision of emotional hell' Adrian Turpin, Financial Times

'This is writing that takes the breath away and a book that describes a descent into hell. Be warned: the ending is absolutely agonising. The last sentence breathtaking. I cannot praise this staggeringly accomplished work highly enough' Sunday Express

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Julie Myerson was born in Nottingham in 1960. She is the author of Sleepwalking (1993), The Touch (1996), Me and the Fat Man (1998), Laura Blundy (2000), Something Might Happen (2003) The Story of You (2006) and Out of Breath (2008). She lives in London.