Everything was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt (Paperback)

Ben Reeves

ISBN 10: 1805465805 / ISBN 13: 9781805465805

Published by Atlantic Books, London, 2026

About this Item

Paperback. Travis Smith is Death in the modern world. He lives with his cat in a grey English town. He offers people comfort in their final days and hours of life. He's stoic, gentle, a little naive, despite what he knows. He's handsome, he seems young, despite what he is. Each death has a meaning to him, and he never tries to change anyone's fate. He listens and never judges, and ultimately escorts each of them to rest.Travis is desperately lonely, and when he crosses paths with young single midwife called Dalia who lives across the way and her boisterous eight-year-old daughter Layla, he can't help but be drawn to them. Dalia is beautiful and overwhelmed, and Layla seems to have a never-ending trove of small treasures to show Travis, and he's never felt the importance of making every moment count so clearly. Because he knows what's to come, and he can't make himself look away. As he learns what it means to really experience death, he's torn between his nature and his newfound understanding of the important things about being alive."This is one of the most affecting, original, and unforgettable novels I have ever read. Through the lens of death himself, we confront the highs and lows of the human experience in a way that reminds us how gritty and exquisite it is to live. Ben Reeves has expertly crafted a mortality tale that is both abstract and specific, spiritual and physical, fantastical and as true as it gets. The characters are so vivid that they seem to be sitting beside you, their loves and losses your own. Absolutely breathtaking, with a perfect twist of an ending." -Sarah Damoff, bestselling author of The Bright Years "This novel has all the ingredients of unforgettability: a plot you've never seen, characters you want to love, writing that glimmers on the page, and a spectacular ending that will smack you in the face with an aching joy. Days later, I'm still brimming." -Monica Wood, bestselling author of How to Read a Book "Reeves repeatedly takes us to life's most terrifying knife-edge, heartening us with the steady poetry of everyday life. This clever and vivid book made me fall in love with our collective ephemerality. I literally said, "Wow," about halfway through. The ending left me speechless." -Matthew Quick, New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook and Dad, Love, Me An astonishing and deeply moving novel about finding beauty in the brevity of life, as narrated by the one who knows it best: Death. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781805465805

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Everything was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt (Paperback)
• Publisher: Atlantic Books, London
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1805465805
• ISBN 13: 9781805465805
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

'This book will change your life' Joanna Cannon, Sunday Times-bestselling author of Three Things About Elsie

Travis lives an unassuming life with his cat in a small English town. Travis also happens to be the cosmic force of Death, visiting people in their final days and hours of life, before shepherding them into whatever happens next.

He listens to their stories, doesn't judge, and never tries to change anyone's fate... until he meets a young, single midwife called Dalia and her boisterous eight-year-old daughter, Layla. As he gets closer to this small, seemingly unremarkable family, Travis begins to learn what it is that makes life so worth living, and so what it is that is irrevocably lost in death.

Full of compassion and deep magic, Everything was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt might be a novel about Death, but it's also about the joy of being alive - appreciating each day we have, from the people around us to the strange wonder of our spinning world.