Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt

"One of the most original, riveting, and moving books I've read in a long while." --Graeme Simsion, New York Times bestselling author of The Rosie Project

For fans of Fredrik Backman and Virginia Evans, an astonishing and deeply moving novel about finding beauty in the brevity of life, as narrated by the one who knows it best: Death.

Travis is Death in the modern world. He lives with his cat in a small, gray town. His job is to offer people comfort in their final hours of life, which he does without complaint or judgement. He's stoic, gentle, and a little naive, despite who he is, but he never tries to change anyone's fate. He is responsible for maintaining the balance of nature, and every life must eventually end.

Then Travis meets Dalia, a midwife, and her boisterous eight-year-old daughter Layla, who live across the hall, and despite his best attempts to keep his distance, he finds himself wholeheartedly embraced by other people for the first time. So it is with this seemingly unremarkable family that Travis begins to understand what it means to be truly alive--and what might be irrevocably lost in death.

Written with radiant warmth, wisdom, and compassion, Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt is a timeless and ultimately uplifting story about appreciating life, accepting its end, and finding our place in the universe--especially when it feels most impossible--that will resonate with anyone who has ever loved and lost or worried about time's passing.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Published: 07/07/2026
ISBN: 9781668216361
Pages: 256
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.38h x 5.50w x 0.63d

Review Citations: Shelf Awareness 01/01/0001