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

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

'Impossible to put down' Daily Telegraph

'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

'Left me breathless: it is a stunning, poetic, impelling story of love and survival, which I could not stop reading ... An incredible novel' Jodie Whittaker

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The world is on fire. And what will you do?

In a city rocked by global catastrophe, home-grown terrorism, shortages and wildfires, Cass is quietly raising three small children by herself. Her husband, Nathaniel, has left to serve as a medic in a war overseas.

As life in the city becomes increasingly impossible, Cass knows she can no longer wait for Nathaniel's return. Packing up their lives, she and the children set off in search of a place of greater safety.

But Cass will learn that not all promises and not all sanctuaries are what they seem - and as the fires around them begin to close in, she'll discover just how far she'll go for her children in a world teetering on apocalypse.

Sensual, claustrophobic and vivid, Briefly Very Beautiful announces the arrival of a major new talent, painting an unforgettable portrait of a mother trying to hold her family together.

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'Beautiful and timely, tough yet tender ...This is an important book and I devoured it' Clover Stroud

'Gorgeous, fierce and haunting ... A book that is, quite literally, on fire. Very beautiful and all-too brief' Catherine Taylor

'A story that burns from the page. Dineen writes about motherhood and the climate crisis with piercing clarity' Amy Twigg, author of Spoilt Creatures

'A haunting vision of our slow-motion apocalypse. This is exactly what it will be like' Michael LaPointe, author of The Creep

Roz Dineen was at the Times Literary Supplement for twelve years, variously as Fiction Editor, Features Editor and a contributor of essays, reviews and a column. Born in Brighton, she studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and received a Masters in International Studies and Diplomacy from SOAS. She was Robert L. Bartley Fellow at the Wall Street Journal, where her writing has also appeared. She lives with her two children in South London.