The Boy Who Could See Death

Eli is an ordinary boy with an extraordinary gift. He has a rare vision of mortality that will set him apart from the world and tragically shape the course of his whole life.

Eli is not the only loner. Sarah Palliser, taking refuge in an isolated country hamlet, finds unexpected solace in the haunted graveyard outside her window. Young Prince Mamillius, son of the King of Sicily, watches horrified as his father loses his mind. Cool-sighted artist Nan Maitland becomes obsessed by a mysterious wolf roaming loose in Windsor Great Park. And Eleanor Bishop, attending the funeral of an old friend, discovers how little she has understood their shared intimacy.

Salley Vickers is a master of the uncanny and the unexpected. In this collection of stories she explores bereavement and betrayal, closely guarded secrets and common gossip, unforeseen endings and decidedly odd beginnings.

The Boy Who Could See Death pierces the veneer of ordinary lives, discerning the strange and contradictory elements that make up human nature. Ambitious, lyrical, witty and disconcerting, these stories take a forensic look into the unconscious that will dazzle and enthrall.