Description

'What a glorious, beautiful sea-shanty of a book this is. A fairy tale of wild, sea-swept children and wolfish fear. Written in a compelling, rushing language.' Daisy Johnson, author of the Man Booker-longlisted Everything Under

Ellie Fleck has a question for everything, except the one she cannot ask.
Where have they taken her mother?

Ten years old and irrepressibly curious, Ellie lives with her fisherman father, Peter, on the wild North Yorkshire coast. It’s the 1980s and her mother’s breakdown is discussed only in whispers, with the promise ‘better by Christmas’ and no further explanation.

Steering by the light of her dad’s sea-myths, her mum’s memories of home across the water, and a fierce spirit all her own, Ellie begins to learn – in these sudden, strange circumstances – who she is and what she can become. By the time the first snowdrops show, her innocence has been shed, but at great cost.

How Saints Die

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    A Paperback / softback by Carmen Marcus

    £8.54

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    RRP £8.99 – you save £0.45 (5%)

    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Wed 14 Oct 2026.

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      Book details

      Publisher Penguin Random House Group
      Imprint Vintage
      Published 5 July 2018
      ISBN-13 9781784705510
      978-1784705510
      ISBN-10 1784705519
      Also in:
      Contemporary Fiction

      Description

      'What a glorious, beautiful sea-shanty of a book this is. A fairy tale of wild, sea-swept children and wolfish fear. Written in a compelling, rushing language.' Daisy Johnson, author of the Man Booker-longlisted Everything Under

      Ellie Fleck has a question for everything, except the one she cannot ask.
      Where have they taken her mother?

      Ten years old and irrepressibly curious, Ellie lives with her fisherman father, Peter, on the wild North Yorkshire coast. It’s the 1980s and her mother’s breakdown is discussed only in whispers, with the promise ‘better by Christmas’ and no further explanation.

      Steering by the light of her dad’s sea-myths, her mum’s memories of home across the water, and a fierce spirit all her own, Ellie begins to learn – in these sudden, strange circumstances – who she is and what she can become. By the time the first snowdrops show, her innocence has been shed, but at great cost.

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