Synopsis
*A New York Times Best Thriller *
'Page-turning . . . I absolutely loved this' Liane Moriarty, bestselling author of Here One Moment
'Riveting . . . it held me captive' Hannah Kent, bestselling author of Devotion
In the past, we had always spent our summer holidays in remote places. That had always been my mother’s preference. This year was different…
Ten-year-old Alex thought this holiday would be fun, but now everyone in her family is being boring. Her mother needs to finish her novel, her dad wants to watch cricket, and her older sister only has eyes for the local lifeguard.
Then her new friend, Kahu, tells her a secret. Two years ago, a girl went missing and was presumed drowned. But what if the adults are wrong? What if she's waiting to be found? As Alex and Kahu hunt for clues, childhood curiosity soon gives way to a darker reality. As the summer heat peaks, one terrifying question remains: did the missing girl really drown, or is a predator hiding in plain sight?
Brilliantly page-turning and tensely atmospheric, A Beautiful Family will leave a lump in your throat and a tear in your heart.
'Immersive . . . Alix grasps at the truth of things, but her perspective means only the reader parses the more adult story unravelling around her . . . as the underlying narratives coalesce' The Guardian
'Atmospheric, disturbing and beautifully evoked' Daily Mail
Details
09 July 2026
9781035055753Reviews
I absolutely loved this page-turning family mystery and didn’t want it to end. The author so effortlessly transported me to another place and time, and every character leapt off the page. An extraordinary, exquisitely written debut
An absolutely riveting read. A Beautiful Family held me captive from the first page to the last . . . I loved it
Immersive . . . Alix grasps at the truth of things, but her perspective means only the reader parses the more adult story unravelling around her . . . as the underlying narratives coalesce
Taut yet tender, A Beautiful Family examines the precariousness of childhood through the lens of a long, hazy summer of secrets . . . Trevelyan has crafted a coming of age story that perfectly balances the nostalgia of summer holidays with a looming sense of danger
