In the Beginning

From the author of The End of the World is Flat The Terg wars are over. Now meet the Yerfs 'Brilliant! Perfectly captures both the absurdity and horror of this madness'. Gareth Roberts. When Tara Farrier returns to the UK after a long spell as an aid worker in war-torn Yemen, she’s hoping for a well-deserved rest. But a cultural battleground has emerged while she’s been away, and she’s unprepared for the sensitivities of her new colleagues at an international thinktank. A throwaway reference to volcanic activity millions of years ago gets her into hot water and she discovers she belongs to the group reviled by fashionable activists as ‘Young Earth Rejecting Fascists’, or ‘Yerfs’. Faster than she can say ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’, she is at the centre of a gruelling legal drama. In the keenly awaited follow-up to his acclaimed The End of the World is Flat, Simon Edge stabs once again at modern crank beliefs and herd behaviour with stiletto-sharp satire.

About the Author :
Simon Edge was born in Chester and read philosophy at Cambridge University. He was editor of the pioneering London paper Capital Gay before becoming a gossip columnist on the Evening Standard and then a feature writer on the Daily Express, where he was also a theatre critic for many years.  He has an MA in Creative Writing from City University, London, where he also taught literary criticism. He is the author of five novels: The Hopkins Conundrum, longlisted for the Waverton Good Read Award, The Hurtle of Hell, A Right Royal Face-Off, Anyone for Edmund? and The End of the World is Flat.

Review :
'I hugely recommend Simon Edge’s magnificent pair of novels, The End of the World is Flat and In the Beginning. Coruscating satires on currently trendy anti-science lunacy, and the spiteful viciousness of its juvenile zealots and their cowardly adult enablers’ Richard Dawkins ‘Simon Edge is the wickedest of satirists, and never funnier than when skewering transgender activism and credulity’ Amanda Craig ‘In his nifty satire, Simon Edge has created a fictional popular lunacy – saying that Earth is millions of years old is offensive – to expose exactly how such human madnesses occur. The book effectively boils it down to a combination of social conformist bubbles and powerful, bad-but-attractive, ideas’ The Spectator ‘A pacy satire [which] lampoons the lunacy and captures the personal devastation caused by the movement to erase biological sex. Compelling and empathic... Edge perfectly exposes the ludicrous views and hollow values held by the globe’s most educated people’ Jo Bartosch, The Critic ‘Funny, clever, and the retelling of the Maya Forstater case in the most astute and hilarious manner. I loved every line’ Julie Bindel ‘Completely absurd yet painfully accurate, In the Beginning brilliantly parodies a fiasco that already seems beyond parody’ Victoria Smith, author of Hags ‘Hilarious, horrifying and deliciously perverse – In the Beginning captures the modern world and shines a bright light at its imperfections’ Christina Dalcher, author of Vox ‘Another richly enjoyable, rapier-sharp lampoon of cancel culture, witch hunts and the madness of crowds from the author of The End of the World is Flat’ Saga Magazine ‘A cathartic read for anyone still reeling from the absurdities of the gender wars, or any of the other topics in which self-proclaimed progressives attempt to mandate false beliefs. Highly recommended’ Holly Lawford-Smith ‘Brilliant! Totally gripping, perfectly capturing both the absurdity and horror of this madness. I laughed out loud lots and I got quite emotional – with both anger and joy’ Gareth Roberts, author of Gay Shame ‘Simon Edge is Britain’s leading exponent of Horatian satire. Yes, he likes his characters, but also sees through them – and us, his readers – with pellucid insight’ Helen Dale ‘Stories that communicate the current insanity to the future will be essential. Edge has novelised the historical moment of “Terf Island” brilliantly’ The Distance