-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
A Novel
by Umar Turaki
An inexplicable sickness. A small town cut off from the world. An unexpected community of survivors forges a family out of the despair, struggling against things known and unknown for survival and hope.
A mysterious plague known as the Grey grips the small village of Pilam, which the world has quarantined without pity. Laying waste to Pilam's residents, the sickness saps its victims of strength, drains the color from their eyes, and kills all promise. Only the young are immune. But beyond the barricades and walls of soldiers―the manifestation of a nation's terror―there are rumors of a cure. Dunka, the eldest son of a family reeling from the Grey, takes on the daunting task of leaving Pilam to find that cure for his siblings and save them before it's too late.
His brother and sisters, however, have plans of their own. Navigating the chaos of violence, hunger, and death, each of them tries to make sense of the bleak circumstances, forging new bonds with other juvenile survivors left to their own devices. Now an unlikely family of six, they choose their own perilous paths, at first separately and then together, coming to terms with the decisions they make and the ghosts they cannot leave behind.
Umar Turaki's gripping novel is a story of survival, love, and the human spirit's tenacious capacity for wonder.
"A mysterious disease sweeps through an African village in Umar Turaki's debut novel. Estranged siblings reunite to band against this insidious illness, highlighting the power of the everyday in this terrifying yet elegant read." ―Good Morning America
"Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold is dark and gloomy, but also packed with tiny moments of joy and curious revelations that show life is always worth living. This is a pandemic book that shows the ugliness of the world and the way we can turn against those who need our help the most, but it also shows the power of love and the importance of forging bonds when everything seems lost. Turaki has taken the classic pandemic novel and infused it with his own brand of hope, and that makes this a must-read novel." ―Locus
"Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold is a stark, powerful novel about family, resilience, and survival in the face of nearly insurmountable odds. Turaki's engrossing storytelling will draw you in from the very first page, and the siblings' determination to escape their grim fates is as harrowing as it is hopeful, reminding us that even when faced with all matters of adversity and tragedy, humanity will still seek a way to forge ahead and prevail." ―Kirthana Ramisetti, author of Dava Shastri's Last Day
"Grim, beautiful―a stunning novel." ―T. L. Huchu, author of The Library of the Dead
This information about Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Umar Turaki is a writer and filmmaker whose work has been short-listed for the Miles Morland Scholarship and long-listed for the Short Story Day Africa Prize. For more information, visit www.umarturaki.com.
If you liked Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold, try these:
A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe
by Mahogany L.. Browne
Published 2026
In this poignant mixed voice, mixed form collection of interconnected prose, poems and stories, teen characters, their families, and their communities grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst fear and loss, these New York City teens prevail with love, resilience and hope. From the award-winning author of Chlorine Sky and Vinyl Moon.
Grief, ...
by Garth Greenwell
Published 2025
A medical crisis brings one man close to death―and to love, art, and beauty―in a profound and luminous novel by award-winning author Garth Greenwell.
by Elif Shafak
Published 2023
A rich, magical new novel on belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal, from the Booker-shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World.
We have to abandon the idea that schooling is something restricted to youth...
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Can you name the title?
Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
