book cover

My Swordhand is Singing

by Marcus Sedgwick

Interest age: 11+
Reading age: 10+

Published by Hachette, 2007

  • Adventure
  • Around the world
  • Chapter books
  • Coming-of-age
  • Fantasy
  • Horror
  • Thriller

About this book

Woodcutters Peter and his father Tomas arrive in the lonely village of Chust.

Peter doesn't understand why his father carries a long wooden box around with him, or why he has dug a deep ditch around their hut. But he is increasingly aware of malevolence about the place. Menacing shadows, villagers missing and people murdered only to reappear.

With the help of Sofia, a travelling gypsy, Peter sets out to conquer the evil threat to the village and uncover the secrets of his father's past. Set in the seventeenth century amid the bleakness of winter in Eastern Europe, and inspired by vampire folklore, this is a superbly crafted, dark and menacing tale.

A sense of hardship, bitter cold and fear penetrates the text, resulting in a chilling page-turner.

About the author

Marcus Sedgwick began to write seriously in 1994, and his first book, Floodland, was published by Orion in 2000, and won the Branford-Boase award for best debut children's novel. Witch Hill followed in 2001, and was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Independent Reading Association award and the Portsmouth Book Award. In 2002 The Dark Horse was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, The Carnegie Medal and the Blue Peter Book Award.

The Book of Dead Days was nominated for the Guardian Award, and was shortlisted for the Sheffield Book Award and the Edgar Allan Poe Award. He wrote more than 40 children's books and won many awards. Sadly, Marcus died in November 2022.

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