The Next Big Thing

At seventy-three Herz is facing an increasingly bewildering world. He cannot see his place in it or even work out what to do with his final years. Questions and misunderstandings haunt Herz like old ghosts. Should he travel, sell his flat, or propose marriage to an old friend he has not seen in thirty years? Herz believes that he must do something, only he doesn't know what this next big thing in life should be . . .

LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE
‘Infinitely moving’ Literary Review
‘Exceptional’ Sunday Telegraph

‘This would soon be a new day, all too closely resembling the others, the normal days of his present existence, in which nothing happened nor could be expected to happen’

At seventy-three, Herz is struggling to know what to do with his final years. The world feels increasingly bewildering, and he can no longer see his place in it. Questions and misunderstandings haunt Herz like old ghosts. Should he travel? Should he sell his flat, or perhaps propose marriage to an old friend he has not seen in thirty years?

Herz doesn’t quite know what the next big thing in his life should be – but he knows he must do something . . .

‘Impressive. Beautifully written with flashes of charm and wisdom’ Sunday Times

‘Brookner is a brilliant writer, her prose near perfect, and she captures extremely poignantly the loneliness, the anxieties, the insecurity of old age’ Sunday Independent

‘Each book is a prayer bead on a string, and each prayer is a secular, circumspect prayer, a prayer and a protest and a charm against encroaching night’ Hilary Mantel, praise for Anita Brookner