How Saints Die

The dramatic and metaphorical strands of Marcus’s narrative are densely woven, and Ellie is a winning protagonist… But it is the sensitively drawn sorrows and vulnerabilities of the novel’s adults that are perhaps most affecting – Stephanie Cross * Daily Mail *
A magic-tinged look at adult problems through the eyes of a child. * Emerald Street *
A soaring success; beautiful and devastating… In graceful prose, Marcus sketches an image of the North Yorkshire coast then adds the snap of the cold wind, the sting of sea spray, the hotness of welling tears. The book is stunningly evocative – of a time, of a place, of childhood, and of what it means not to fit in… This book is beautiful, from cover to core. * The Skinny *
A poignant and powerful exploration of mental health, poverty and identity, all seen through the eyes of a child… Marcus builds a compelling world which combines the mundane with the mystical, the domestic with the mythic… Marcus has created a memorable young heroine who possesses the same kind of innocent intelligence, forthright self-assurance and aching vulnerability as Harper Lee’s Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird… A heart-warming and deeply affecting portrayal of a very special father-daughter relationship – Yvette Huddleston * Yorkshire Post *
In How Saints Die Carmen Marcus announces herself as a powerful and original talent. This is a novel as restless, as seductive and as dangerous as the sea that forms the backdrop to the story, while in Ellie Fleck Marcus has created one of the great child protagonists. A compelling story with a warm heart written in language that is both vivid and raw. I loved this book. – Stephen May
Remarkable and compelling… An incredibly moving, piercingly well-observed account of adult mental breakdown and its reverberations as seen from a child’s perspective – Yvette Huddleston * Yorkshire Post *
Carmen Marcus is a North Yorkshire poet, and I enjoyed her first novel, How Saints Die. Ten-year-old Ellie is the daughter of a fisherman who struggles to cope when her mum becomes unwell, and her narrative is haunted by seafarers’ legends. – Sarah Moss * Big Issue Books of the Years *

Carmen Marcus lives in the Victorian spa town of Saltburn-by-the-Sea. Her writing has been described as ‘crackling dangerously with inherited magic yet achieving contemporary vitality’. She is in much demand as a performance poet and has appeared at the Royal Festival Hall. Recently she has been commissioned by BBC Radio 3’s Verb New Voices. How Saints Die is her first novel, and as a work in progress it won New Writing North’s ‘Northern Promise’ Award.

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