Then
by Julie Myerson
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.
It's a tribute to the power of Julie Myserson's atmospheric writing that this book scared the bejaysus out of me. Not in a creepy/horror/ghosty/blood and guts kind of way, but in the sense of I can totally imagine this has happened. And I really don't want to.
At times it's hard to work out what's actually happened and what's imaginary as the story flashes between past and present, and I was compelled to keep reading, drawn completely into Izzy's life. It's a bleak and devastating read at times, but there are flashes of humour here and there and the ending packs an emotional punch that stayed with me for days afterwards.
HIGHLY recommended.
