Briefly Very Beautiful

A startlingly beautiful story of a family's survival, and an unforgettable dystopian vision of a familiar world in flames

Shortlisted for the Climate Fiction Prize 2024
A Spectator Book of the Year 2024

‘A gut-punch of a novel’ Observer
‘Hauntingly realistic, disturbing, stylish, raw and urgent’ Daily Telegraph
‘Left me breathless’ Jodie Whittaker

It is possible for a mother to love her children beyond reason. It is possible that wildfires will take hold, the internet will turn off, the clean water will stop running. It is possible to find yourself in relationships that are as dark and exploitative as mankind’s relationship to earth. It is possible you will realise one day that your city is not safe, that you have to leave, that you have to get the children out.

And when that day comes, this is what Cass does. Packing up their lives, she and her children set off in search of a place of greater safety.

‘Instantly immersive, beautifully imagined, this is an unflinching but inspiring story about some things we're going to lose, and other things we must never lose’ Lee Child
‘Dineen is an extraordinary writer’ Evening Standard
‘We owe Roz Dineen a debt. This is a remarkable book’ TLS