After Me Comes the Flood

Sarah Perry Press Reviews

'A beautiful, dream-like narrative. Rarely do debut novels come as assured and impressive as this one. * Sarah Waters *

Just occasionally you pick up a novel that is inexplicably gripping from the first page - and Perry's debut is one of them -- Phil Barker * Sunday Times *

What makes this novel truly remarkable is its unique vision, its skilful and sophisticated characterisations, and the creation, without unseemly effects, of an atmosphere that will haunt the reader long after the final page * John Burnside, Guardian *

An original and haunting book ... a mix of elegant, alluring, but subtly sinister characters ... a talented writer * Daily Mail *

A dark, marvellous novel ... Perry evokes the oppressive atmosphere in precise, elegant prose ... This mesmeric quality recalls Sebald's writing, but Gothic-smudged ... It is not good for a first novel, just very good full stop. So pour yourself a cool drink and bask in a dazzling new writing talent. -- Catherine Blyth * Sunday Telegraph *

After Me Comes the Flood is written in deceptively straightforward prose that gradually yields a profound sense of foreboding. A house and the mysteries it contains; a disconcerting, dark reservoir to which everyone's attention returns; and a most unsettling sense of place - all made me think of Fowles' The Magus, Maxwell's The Chateau, and Woolf's To The Lighthouse. This is a book perhaps most deeply about the unknowability of others and of oneself - and one that, while highly disorienting and eerie, is also intensely warm. I loved it. -- Katherine Angel, author of UNMASTERED

Perry's debut successfully creates an air of real eeriness and tension ... the real pleasure here is in her insightful and convincing depiction of family. -- Lesley McDowell * Glasgow Herald *

Impossible to put down * Image Magazine *

Perry is a startlingly good writer. If she doesn't win the Booker prize one day, I'll be amazed. * Sophie Hannah *

Unsettling, thoughtful, eerie...strange and new...It's very clever and very intriguing. * Tim Pears