Beautiful World, Where Are You

By: Sally Rooney

Narrated by: Aoife McMahon

' Beautiful World, Where Are You is Rooney's best novel.' THE TIMES

The *new* novel from the internationally bestselling author of Normal People.

Alice, a novelist, meets Felix, who works in a warehouse, and asks him if he'd like to travel to Rome with her. In Dublin, her best friend Eileen is getting over a break-up and slips back into flirting with Simon, a man she has known since childhood.

Alice, Felix, Eileen and Simon are still young - but life is catching up with them. They desire each other, they delude each other, they get together, they break apart. They worry about sex and friendship and the world they live in. Are they standing in the last lighted room before the darkness, bearing witness to something? Will they find a way to believe in a beautiful world?

'A tour de force. The dialogue never falters, and the prose burns up the page.'
GUARDIAN

'Rooney's strongest writing thus far . . . There is a touching honesty and truthfulness in these pages, along with a quiet brilliance.'
FINANCIAL TIMES

'The book moved me to tears more than once . . . Rooney's best novel.'
THE TIMES

'Written with immense skill and illuminated by an endlessly incisive intelligence.'
IRISH TIMES

' Beautiful World, Where Are You is not just worth reading. It's worth thinking about.'
IRISH INDEPEDENT

'Brilliantly done: gripping, steamy, unbearably sad.'
TELEGRAPH

©2022 Sally Rooney (P)2022 Faber & Faber

Critic reviews

'Beautiful World, Where Are You is Rooney's best novel.' The Times

'A tour de force.' Anne Enright, Guardian

'Rooney's best novel yet.' Brandon Taylor, New York Times

Interesting and immersive

What a beautiful book. Her books just better and better! so interestingly written and I can't help picturing my life as a Salley Rooney novel!

Not a good voice

The voice of the narrator is not at all good. The male voices are bad and so artificial. Loses the essence of story.

ok

I read it straight after Conversations with Friends and it seemed a bit repetitive and some of the logic of the characters just wasn't believable to me.

Rather dull stuff

The bbc radio 4 reading was better. Both though tell the same pretty tepid tale.

Depressing book

I found this book interesting in the sense that it gives a clear picture of what people in their 30s struggle with and value in today’s atheistic society. But I was left feeling sad and depressed about this generation that has such strong beliefs but does not live out their values. Not at all uplifting- but eye opening on some levels.