Summit Books to Publish a New Novel by Bri Lee
Mitchell is a brilliant biologist and a prominent figure in the growing global antinatalist movement. For one month each year he and his colleague Frances live in a childfree utopia of radical equality and science in Antarctica. They are finishing off the Anarctos Project: a seed vault in an isolated, secret location, an insurance policy against a failing planet. But their helicopter doesn’t pick them up and strange things begin to happen. With the clock ticking for them to get back to McMurdo Station before the last flight home and the beginning of a long dark polar winter, these two people of firm logic and reason begin finding fault lines in their perfect social experiment. The vast white expanse starts to haunt Mitchell with memories of a devastating betrayal, and questions of legacy and fairness crowd his mind. As the days get shorter, we realise he has been keeping big secrets – not just from Frances, but also from himself. An original, propulsive, deeply unsettling glimpse into love, isolation and our worst fears.
Says Summit Publishing Director, Jane Palfreyman: ‘I’ve been a devoted admirer of Bri and her writing since we met in 2016 to work together on her award-winning memoir Eggshell Skull. Since then I’ve been honoured to publish her two subsequent acclaimed non-fiction books and her remarkable fiction debut, The Work. Bri is a brilliant thinker and writer, and her transformation into an accomplished fiction writer was incredibly impressive. With Seed, Bri has surpassed even my expectations and created a white-knuckle ride into a magnificently rendered locked-room thriller of global proportions, a scenario in which only two characters reflect and refract our world with nuance, tension, intelligence and compassion. Seed is a stunning short, epic novel of our times and I am so proud and excited to welcome it and Bri Lee to Summit Books and S&S.’
Says Bri Lee: ‘I am so grateful to have been with my agent Grace Heifetz and publisher Jane Palfreyman since the very beginning of my career. Seed has involved a lot of risks—both on the page and off the page—and I couldn’t have done it all without their support. The huge trip to Antarctica in 2023 was the first time I really wanted to back myself to that extent, and they gave me the confidence to commit. The research I’ve done into antinatalism and family planning in the climate emergency is confronting and difficult subject matter, but Grace and Jane have sat with me in those tough places. I feel honoured they placed so much faith in me. I believe Seed meets our moment. It will probably divide readers, and that will be a good thing. That’s what I do. And I couldn’t do it without them.’
Says agent Grace Heifetz: ‘With every book Bri writes, she dials it up, taking big ideas and placing them within stories that provoke and force one to see the world in different ways. Seed solidifies Bri as an extraordinary writer of fiction and it will absolutely blow your mind.’
Seed will be published on 1 October 2025 in print, eBook and audiobook.