The Stopped Heart: A Novel

“Bloody brilliant.”—Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl on the TrainInternationally bestselling author Julie Myerson’s beautifully written, yet deeply chilling, novel of psychological suspense explores the tragedies—past and present—haunting a picturesque country cottage.Mary Coles and her husband, Graham, have just moved to a cottage on the edge of a small village. The house hasn’t been lived in for years, but they are drawn to its original features and surprisingly large garden, which stretches down into a beautiful apple orchard. It’s idyllic, remote, picturesque: exactly what they need to put the horror of the past behind them.One hundred and fifty years earlier, a huge oak tree was felled in front of the cottage during a raging storm. Beneath it lies a young man with a shock of red hair, presumed dead—surely no one could survive such an accident. But the red-haired man is alive, and after a brief convalescence is taken in by the family living in the cottage and put to work in the fields. The children all love him, but the eldest daughter, Eliza, has her reservations. There’s something about the red-haired man that sits ill with her. A presence. An evil.Back in the present, weeks after moving to the cottage and still drowning beneath the weight of insurmountable grief, Mary Coles starts to sense there’s something in the house. Children’s whispers, footsteps from above, half-caught glimpses of figures in the garden. A young man with a shock of red hair wandering through the orchard.Has Mary’s grief turned to madness? Or have the events that took place so long ago finally come back to haunt her…?

From Publishers Weekly

This overlong novel from British author Myerson (The Quickening) focuses on two families living in the same village near Ipswich in Essex, separated by 150 years. In the present, grief-stricken Mary Coles and her husband move to a run-down cottage with a large back garden, once a farmyard, to seek a new start after a tragedy that's only gradually revealed. Meanwhile, in the past, 13-year-old Eliza narrates the story of a red-haired stranger, James Dix, whose sudden arrival at her family's farm leads inexorably to trouble. Dix is a seducer whose tendency to violence gradually becomes clear, and wary Eliza is only one of his targets. Back in the present, Mary's married neighbor, Eddie, begins paying inappropriate attention to her. The forward-looking visions of Eliza's four-year-old sister, Lottie, and Mary's visions of the past connect the experiences of the two families, but this contrivance fails to unite the two stories into a suspenseful whole. Agent: Karolina Sutton, Curtis Brown (U.K.). (Mar.)\n

Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl on the Train

“Can’t remember who…drew my attention to the new Julie Myerson, but whomever it was, thank you. It’s bloody brilliant.”

Katharine Weber, New York Times Book Review

“Increasingly gripping…. What Myerson writes about so well: that eerie sense when something is both familiar and unfamiliar.”

New York Times Book Review, Editor’s Choice

“Gripping parallel narrative.”

Booklist (starred review)

“On the first page, it’s clear that something indescribably horrific has happened…. This novel is impossible to put down; it will be read compulsively to learn the what of what has happened, if not the why. A stunner.”

San Francisco Book Review

“Just as frightening as Edgar Allan Poe…. Scary, suspenseful, and the most intriguing novel yet. This new thriller by Julie Myerson is incredible.”

Kirkus Reviews

“Myerson twines a delightfully twisted tale, exposing the dark underbelly of love and the gaping, raw wounds of grief… By turns terrifying and heartbreaking; an enthralling spine-chiller.”

Cosmopolitan

“In this hair-raiser, Mary Coles moves to a country cottage that seems too good to be true…and it turns out, she’s right. Goose-bumps ensue.”

The Guardian

“Beautifully written and cleverly told…. An extraordinarily potent experience and not for the faint-hearted.”

Independent (UK)

“The story is heart wrenching, unremittingly grisly…. A thriller and…a page-turner…. The Stopped Heart exposes the flesh of the lives cut in half, the pain and loves of the past, and why they are no less real than the present.”

Vogue (UK)

“Myerson evokes mystery and madness, with glimpses into devastating events, the full extent of which are slowly and skillfully uncovered.”

The Guardian (UK)

“This novel is beautifully written and cleverly told. And it’s almost completely terrifying…. Edge-of-your-seat suspense…. It’s the sort of book you cannot put down.”

From the Back Cover

In this dark and mesmerizing novel, a grieving couple seeks refuge in a country cottage. But the cottage has its own history of tragedy. Are the chilling memories trapped within its walls becoming their new reality?Suffolk, England: During a vicious storm, a redheaded stranger appears outside a farmer’s cottage. The family takes him in—but he has no intention of leaving. One hundred and fifty years later, a devastating tragedy prompts Mary and her husband to start a new life in the countryside. They move into a small cottage, drawn to its beautiful, overgrown garden. The house has been empty for years, but it’s remote, quiet, different—exactly what they need. Then it begins: children whispering, footsteps, a young man with red hair wandering through the orchard.As the stranger insinuates himself deeper into the farmer’s family, and also into the affections of the eldest daughter, Mary’s own sense of unease grows. She feels the past and present intertwining ever more tightly, but is grief twisting her mind? Or is the cottage, haunted by the horrific events of more than a century ago, not quite the rural sanctuary it seems?

About the Author

Julie Myerson is the author of nine novels, including the internationally bestselling Something Might Happen, and three works of nonfiction. As a critic and columnist, she has written for many newspapers including The Guardian, Financial Times, Harper’s Bazaar, and the New York Times.

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