Nothing Even Happened

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets Station Eleven in H. Lee Justine’s new novel—a trenchant and heartbreaking exploration of what love and humanity mean when life teeters at the edge of annihilation.

Elliot and Oliver’s marriage is at a breaking point. Exhausted by the animosity she feels for her husband, Elliot is nearly ready to sign the divorce papers, but Oliver isn’t willing to give up after all they’ve been through. He begs Elliot to try an experimental couples’ therapy, one that promises to clarify whether they can make their marriage work in just one session, though it may mean reliving the worst parts of their lives together. While reluctant, Elliot agrees, and the session begins with what should be an easy question: Where did you meet?

Elliot, now twenty-one, wakes up disoriented on a forest floor with no recollection of how she got there. A kind stranger named Oliver stumbles upon her, experiencing the same unexplained memory loss. The only thing they know for sure is that something is horribly wrong. This world is filled with unimaginable loss, and their fellow survivors have a different vision for what the future of the world should be. As they begin to search for answers, memories of their past—both alone and together—begin to resurface. Forced to confront their impending fate and reconcile with the memories that haunt their present, Elliot and Oliver must come together or risk losing each other, and everything, forever.

Nothing Even Happened is a mind-boggling, genre-bending journey that questions if love is enough in the face of life’s greatest trials.