Author Sells Son's Story

LONDON, March 11, 2009 -- Nearly every teenager has a run-in with their parents at some point while growing up, even one whose mother happens to be an award-winning writer.

Jake Myerson had a typical middle-class upbringing in the suburbs of London. As a young teen, however, he started smoking skunk, a potent form of cannabis, and that's when the trouble began.

He became increasingly violent and unmanageable, according to his mother, leaving his parents so frightened they'd lock their bedroom door at night. When he tried to supply drugs to his younger siblings, according to his mother, she and his father decided they couldn't cope anymore. They threw him out at age 17, changing the locks on the door and telling him he wasn't welcome anymore.

About two years have passed, and Myerson will soon be able to read about his difficult years as a teenager in a book written by his mother, author and journalist Julie Myerson.

"The Lost Child" documents how Myerson, who had once been "a bright, sweet, good-humored boy," became violent and withdrawn, bringing chaos on the family, according to his mother's account. The book interweaves his story with that of young artist Mary Yelloly, who died from tuberculosis at age 21 in the 1820s.

But "the lost child" is fighting back and Julie Myerson is now embroiled in a bitter row with her son that has been rapidly unfolding in front of the media glare. There has been a barrage of claim and counterclaim spats in a string of national newspapers, leaving people wondering who is telling the truth and opinions divided about whether the book should have ever been written.

Jake Myerson has branded his parents '"insane" in the British media, denying he's an addict and accusing his mother of "overacting and being naïve."

He also claims he tried to stop the book from being published. He sold his story to the Daily Mail newspaper, telling the paper in an exclusive interview, "After reading it[the manuscript], I said: 'There is no way to stop you publishing this, is there?' I even consulted a lawyer to try and stop it but was told there wasn't much I could do."

Public Service or Exploitation?

The son, now 20, lives with friends in South London, a few miles down the road from the mother, 48, who lives with her husband and two other children. While the pair still speak occasionally, relations are fraught.

Julie Myerson, short-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2003, has since been on a publicity marathon defending her decision.

The author claims she is sparking a debate on the growing epidemic of skunk-cannabis abuse among teenagers. Her critics argue she is simply exploiting her son without his permission and this is about literary ethics not drugs. Commentator Minette Marrin wrote in the Sunday Times of London of her "betrayal not just of love and intimacy, but also of motherhood itself."

In an interview with the newspaper, Myerson claims her son gave her the go ahead to publish his story and believes the book was justified. "When we were in our darkest, loneliest place, it would have been helpful to have read a book like this," she said. "We felt we had to raise awareness. People need to go public. I understand why people wouldn't do this to a child."

But this isn't the first time that Myerson has written about her family's most intimate details. She used to write an anonymous Guardian newspaper column called "Living With Teenagers," while concealing her children's real identities.

Her oldest, Jake, says his school friends guessed the column was about him and teased him, for instance, when his mother wrote about his lack of pubic hair.

He told the Daily Mail that the book was largely "fantasy," accusing his mother of only including him because she ran out of things to say and had already taken an advance for the book. "What she has done has taken the very worst years of my life and cleverly blended it into a work of art, and that to me is obscene," he said.

The writer's book sales will likely be one positive thing to come from all the controversial publicity. The publisher, Bloomsbury, is hoping to make a quick buck on rushing the edition to print this week, two months before its original release date.

Publisher Rushes Book to Print

"Given this week's extensive speculation about Julie Myerson's "The Lost Child," we felt that it was right to bring forward publication to allow everyone the opportunity to read her brilliant book and consider the complicated questions it raises," a Bloomsbury spokesperson told ABC News.com.

Julie Myerson, who has since admitted to smoking cannabis herself, stands by her work, telling the Sunday Times, "I don't regret the book. I've done a very controversial thing."