All the Murmuring Bones

For fans of Naomi Novik and Katherine Arden, a dark gothic fairy tale from award-winning author Angela Slatter.

Long ago Miren O'Malley's family prospered due to a deal struck with the mer: safety for their ships in return for a child of each generation. But for many years the family have been unable to keep their side of the bargain and have fallen into decline. Miren's grandmother is determined to restore their glory, even at the price of Miren's freedom.

A spellbinding tale of dark family secrets, magic and witches, and creatures of myth and the sea; of strong women and the men who seek to control them.

"Like J.R.R. Tolkien, Slatter's taken her personal invented mythos and crafted a world around it that is at once familiar and deeply strange. Lush and chilling, eerie and exquisite, brutal and elegant I defy anyone to stop turning pages until they've come to the end." —Ellen Kushner, author of The Privilege of the Sword

"All the Murmuring Bones is fairy-tale gothic at its finest and then some. Luscious, richly infused with Slatter's gift for creating place; this is a world that invites travel along all of its dark roads and secret paths. Long after you're done with the book, you ll sit there drenched still in its magic, wondering how you might find your way back." —Cassandra Khaw, author of Hammers on Bone

"A story as gorgeously gothic as its title. This is a novel of blood and bones, of salt and silver, of an absolutely haunting richness. I was compelled from the very beginning and held rapt to the end." —Kat Howard, author of The Kindness of Magicians

"A rich and satisfying novel about a young woman, born to be the last hope of a once powerful family, who resists an arranged marriage and won’t stop at murder or magic to survive in a world of abusive men and dangerous, supernatural creatures. Shifting between scenes of wonder and horror, a complex plot is gradually revealed, as well paced and gripping as a thriller." —The Guardian