It's Not Yet Dark

'If you are hungry for truth and beauty, read this book' Roisin Ingle, The Irish Times

'A demonstration of a will to live that is breathtaking ... a work of documentary poetry ... an extraordinary read' The Herald

'An unforgettable read about what it means to be alive' Woman's Way

'The world "inspirational" is over-used, but if ever a book deserved this epithet, this is it' Sunday Independent

'Sparsely and beautifully written .. the human spirit and will to live shines out of these pages' Irish Independent

A No.1 bestseller, It's Not Yet Dark is an unforgettable book about relationships and family, about what connects and separates us as people and, ultimately, about what it means to be alive.

In 2008, Simon Fitzmaurice was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (mnd). He was given four years to live.

In 2010, in a state of lung-function collapse, Simon knew with crystal clarity that now was not his time to die. Against all prevailing medical opinion, he chose to ventilate in order to stay alive.

Here, the young filmmaker, a husband and father of five small children draws us deeply into his inner world. Written using an eye-gaze computer and told in simply expressed and beautifully stark prose, the result is an astonishing journey into a life which, though brutally compromised, is lived more fully and in the moment than most, revealing at its core the power of love its most potent.

“If you are hungry for truth and beauty, read this book”

Beautifully written. Utterly life-affirming - Alan Rickman

A beautiful love story - in its essence that's what this is. Survival stories are not about surviving, they're inherently about what makes a survivor push through. A desire to remain in the light of all creation, even as a darkening is taking place. A darkening which happens to us all - Colin Farrell

- Roisin Ingle, The Irish Times

[A] gripping, affecting, sometimes funny read by a natural-born storyteller with something to say about the weight and the value of a life...If you need a story of courage, of heart, of coming back for more, of love and struggle and the power of both, It's Not Yet Dark could be the elusive thing you're after - Joseph O'Connor

Part memoir, part stark document of the way [Simon] and his family have dealt with motor neuron disease, and part fierce celebration of being alive, It's Not Yet Dark is powerful, gripping and compelling - The Irish Times

[It's Not Yet Dark is] a demonstration of a will to live that is breathtaking...There's a rhythm of immediacy that feels like a still-beating heart whose strength is beyond admirable. It is a work of a documentary poetry...an extraordinary read - The Herald

An unforgettable read about what it means to be alive - Woman's Way magazine

The word 'inspirational' is over-used, but if ever a book deserved this epithet, this is it - Sunday Independent

Simon Fitzmaurice is an award-winning writer-director. His films have screened at film festivals all over the world and won prizes at home and abroad. He writes regularly for The Irish Times. His short fiction has been shortlisted for the Hennessy Literary Award and his poetry has appeared in the quarterly publication West 47. Simon is currently working on his first feature-length film My Name is Emily. He lives in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, with his wife Ruth and their five children.

'If you are hungry for truth and beauty, read this book' Roisin Ingle, The Irish Times 'A demonstration of a will to live that is breathtaking ... a work of documentary poetry ... an extraordinary read' The Herald 'An unforgettable read about what it means to be alive' Woman's Way 'The world "inspirational" is over-used, but if ever a book deserved this epithet, this is it' Sunday Independent 'Sparsely and beautifully written .. the human spirit and will to live shines out of these pages' Irish Independent A No.1 bestseller, It's Not Yet Dark is an unforgettable book about relationships and family, about what connects and separates us as people and, ultimately, about what it means to be alive. In 2008, Simon Fitzmaurice was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (mnd). He was given four years to live. In 2010, in a state of lung-function collapse, Simon knew with crystal clarity that now was not his time to die. Against all prevailing medical opinion, he chose to ventilate in order to stay alive.Here, the young filmmaker, a husband and father of five small children draws us deeply into his inner world. Written using an eye-gaze computer and told in simply expressed and beautifully stark prose, the result is an astonishing journey into a life which, though brutally compromised, is lived more fully and in the moment than most, revealing at its core the power of love its most potent.

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