What do you think?
Rate this book
Beauty Secrets of The Martyrs
Saint Silvan is a miracle. Since he died two-thousand years ago, not one atom of his beautiful body has succumbed to the natural decay of the flesh. But the planet is not so fortunate. In a small church in Dubrovnik, Silvan lies in state for the veneration of the faithful while nation after nation succumbs to the rising tides of climate change. When an immortal dandy calling himself Az offers Silvan a job boosting humanity's morale by prettifying the revered dead, Silvan is eager to offer his talents, unaware that someone may be playing him for a holy fool.
From Imperial Rome to Soviet Russia, Silvan crosses the worlds of the living and the dead to uncover his past and divine his future in a dying world.
This is a story of magic and makeup, crypts and clownfish.
From Imperial Rome to Soviet Russia, Silvan crosses the worlds of the living and the dead to uncover his past and divine his future in a dying world.
This is a story of magic and makeup, crypts and clownfish.
152 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2015
1 person is currently reading
484 people want to read
About the author
Verity Holloway
24 books80 followersThe short version…
Art, history, folklore, and bad medicine. I wrote Pseudotooth, Beauty Secrets of The Martyrs and The Mighty Healer. I have Marfan syndrome, but my symmetry is still fearful.
And the long…
Born in Gibraltar in 1986, I grew up following my Navy family around the world. Always on the move, dealing with the effects of my connective tissue disorder, Marfan syndrome, I found friendly territory in fantasy, history, and Fortean oddities.
In 2007, I graduated from Cambridge’s Anglia Ruskin University with a First Class BA in Literature and Creative Writing. I went on to earn a Distinction Masters in Literature with special focus on Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s The House of Life.
My short stories and poems have been variously published. My story Cremating Imelda was nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and in 2012 I published my first chapbook, Contraindications. My ‘delightfully weird’ novella, Beauty Secrets of The Martyrs, was released in 2015, and in October 2016 Pen & Sword will publish my first non-fiction book, The Mighty Healer: Thomas Holloway’s Patent Medicine Empire, a biography of my Victorian cousin who made his fortune with questionable remedies. Unsung Stories published my novel Pseudotooth in March 2017.
Find me at verityholloway.com.
Art, history, folklore, and bad medicine. I wrote Pseudotooth, Beauty Secrets of The Martyrs and The Mighty Healer. I have Marfan syndrome, but my symmetry is still fearful.
And the long…
Born in Gibraltar in 1986, I grew up following my Navy family around the world. Always on the move, dealing with the effects of my connective tissue disorder, Marfan syndrome, I found friendly territory in fantasy, history, and Fortean oddities.
In 2007, I graduated from Cambridge’s Anglia Ruskin University with a First Class BA in Literature and Creative Writing. I went on to earn a Distinction Masters in Literature with special focus on Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s The House of Life.
My short stories and poems have been variously published. My story Cremating Imelda was nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and in 2012 I published my first chapbook, Contraindications. My ‘delightfully weird’ novella, Beauty Secrets of The Martyrs, was released in 2015, and in October 2016 Pen & Sword will publish my first non-fiction book, The Mighty Healer: Thomas Holloway’s Patent Medicine Empire, a biography of my Victorian cousin who made his fortune with questionable remedies. Unsung Stories published my novel Pseudotooth in March 2017.
Find me at verityholloway.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 23, 2017
A highly enjoyable piece of fantasy ideal for anyone who has an interest in the history and beauty of relics.
September 8, 2015
I should first of all point out that I'm friends with Verity, so obviously I'm biased, but... this really is a damn fine little book.
I share Verity's fascination with incorruptibles - thanks to a trip to Kefalonia as a child when I saw the (very wrinkly) corpse of St. Gerasimos - I've always wondered about other bodies and statues in churches.
This is really imaginative and the book has its own internal logic, the CryptSpace which allows incorrupt saints to visit each other (which reminded me a bit of Will Self's How The Dead Live). Set in a not-too-distant future when the world is drowning and for many the beautiful miracles of incorruptibles are the only hope left, this is a richly imagined story.
Verity's writing style is delightful - her sentences are like pearls on a thread, but it never feels over-written or pretentious (unlike the similes I stick in my reviews).
I really, really enjoyed this.
I share Verity's fascination with incorruptibles - thanks to a trip to Kefalonia as a child when I saw the (very wrinkly) corpse of St. Gerasimos - I've always wondered about other bodies and statues in churches.
This is really imaginative and the book has its own internal logic, the CryptSpace which allows incorrupt saints to visit each other (which reminded me a bit of Will Self's How The Dead Live). Set in a not-too-distant future when the world is drowning and for many the beautiful miracles of incorruptibles are the only hope left, this is a richly imagined story.
Verity's writing style is delightful - her sentences are like pearls on a thread, but it never feels over-written or pretentious (unlike the similes I stick in my reviews).
I really, really enjoyed this.
November 24, 2015
A magical mystery tour', a satirical, sarcastic, sensual experience. Martyrs is an immersive experience, almost as if sharing one mind with author. The author of Martyrs seems to me the happy off-spring of Dorothy Parker and Christopher Moore, with perhaps Terry Pratchett looming as the uncle. And the story is set in Dubrovnik, once the crown jewel of Europe, certainly of the former Eastern bloc. Altogether, a consuming, memorable story. My book-of-the-year.
August 25, 2015
This is a wonderful and extremely accomplished novella. With striking, beautiful imagery woven into a strong visceral story, I found myself thinking about its magical and macabre imagery for days afterwards. Well worth reading if you liked books such as Glen Duncan's "I, Lucifer" or Andrew Davidson's "The Gargoyle"
March 9, 2018
What a fascinating tale this is, courtesy of Goodreads. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the saints, the incorruptibles and all things macabre. I loved it.
January 21, 2021
Surreal and unexpected, it is beautifully written. Once again I find that Holloway makes me care deeply about the cast of characters, and drags me fully into the world in which they reside.
October 21, 2019
Eerie, charming, intriguing and just a little morbid. I loved it!
December 31, 2015
Original, unusual, funny, moving.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews