Product Description

When 15-year-old Alistair Black gets a part in the hit BBC series THEN AND NOW, everyone tells him it will change his life. But the malign historical events depicted in the TV play start to have an effect on the lives of its child stars, and Alistair's so-called 'opportunity' leads him into increasingly dark territory, culminating in a devastating event with far-reaching consequences. Twenty years on and Alistair's co-star, Alice Zealand, is still struggling to live with what happened. Properly and gloriously in love for the first time - but on the verge of losing it - she too must lay her ghosts to rest to claim a life back for herself. With his flair for creating memorable characters and a pitch-perfect ear for dialogue, Jeremy Dyson has written a gripping and often very funny debut novel about love, history, fate, fear and the perils and pleasures of the imagination.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #367425 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Review
'A beautiful Chinese box of a novel, propped up by pleasing symmetries' GUARDIAN 'Dyson's beautifully spun tale sucks you in completely: the loss of innocence is traumatic; exorcising our demons is paralysing and love hurts like hell' METRO 'WHAT HAPPENS NOW is never remotely predictable. With three pages to go, you still wonder how it can end . . . [it] will stay with you long after you have turned the last page' THE TIMES 'It is poignant, partly nostalgic in the right way (if you liked THE ROTTERS CLUB . . .), engrossing and by no means a local book for local people' GQ 'Splicing then with now, Jeremy Dyson's original novel probes the perils of an overactive imagination' OBSERVER 'Written with genuine verve and insight, this is a surprisingly moving exploration of how ordinary lives come to be controlled and defined by fear' DAILY MAIL 'Themes of unrequited love, fear, and the burden of history, but with a lightness of touch and compassion' JEWISH CHRONICLE 'Darkly additive . . . Dyson has created an unputdownable story that twists and turns its way to a satisfying ending' SUNDAY BUSINESS POST

GUARDIAN
'A beautiful Chinese box of a novel, propped up by pleasing symmetries'

OBSERVER
'Splicing then with now, Jeremy Dyson’s original novel probes the perils of an overactive imagination'

Customer Reviews

Hauntingly melancholic
I wasn't sure what to expect of this book. I quite like League of Gentlemen and seem to recall enjoying Mr. Dyson's previous book, though I'll be damned if I can remember a thing about it. I bought What Happens Now on the strength of the reviews on the back cover really. And I am incredibly glad I did. Though at times it reads a little like confessional, nostalgic man-lit(and there's nothing wrong with that) it has a darkness and melancholy at its core that is never far away. It is a book that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. Well worth the time and money. Top stuff!

Haunting...A great debut
Fifteen-year-old Alistair Black is something of an outsider, spending his time making cassette tapes about the imaginary world he has created. That is until a TV producer from the teen series 'Then and Now' comes to his school and casts him in their latest drama. Being cast changes the course of Alistair's life particularly because he meets Alice, a girl he begins to fall for.

I liked this novel very much. It has an underlying darkness and I really enjoyed the intricate structure that transports the reader back and forth in time, allowing us to see both Alice and Alistair as they were in 1981, but also the people that they became. I deducted one star because I felt it dragged a little in the middle, but the ending and the 'defining moment' more than made up for it.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Dyson will produce next. A really promising debut. Recommended.

Stunning Debut
I'm not sure why I picked up this novel; the name of the author rang a bell. Then I realised this was one of the creators of The League of Gentlemen. Compared to Mr Gatiss' work; it's in a league of its own. The story is extremely well-written, the characters are fully fleshed out and the sense of foreboding grows throughout the book. It's a journey, of sorts, from awkward adolescence through to adulthood, via memories of the past and a train journey into the unknown. Highly recommended.