Richard Flanagan had nearly finished his next novel, when the state of Tasmania caught fire. He felt compelled to change tack and started a new book that he says came out like a scream. The story centres on elderly Francie, and her three middle aged children as they debate the decisions about when and how she should die. The backdrop is the smoke and fires that engulfed Tasmania and then later the rest of the country and our wilful blindness to all that is disappearing before us.