The Dead Don't Dance
- Fiction
- Publisher: Thomas Nelson
- Published: 2004
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Publisher's Description
The debut novel from New York Times bestselling author Charles Martin is a bittersweet yet triumphant love story--a tale of one man's journey through the darkness of despair and into the light of hope. Perfect for readers looking for the emotional resonance of Nicholas Sparks or Lisa Wingate. In a sleepy rural town in South Carolina, Dylan and Maggie Styles are a young couple in love, preparing eagerly for the birth of their first son. But events take a tragic turn in the delivery room, and their child is delivered stillborn. When Maggie hemorrhages and slips into a coma, Dylan slips into what can only be described as a walking coma, holding vigil at his beloved wife's bedside. Usually tough and self-reliant, an outdoorsman and a farmer, Dylan finds that everything he has known is suddenly thrown into doubt. Refusing to give up on Maggie's recovery, a devastated Dylan takes a job as an English professor in order to pay for Maggie's medical bills. Dylan connects with his students despite himself and offers hope to others amid his own disappointment and grief. As Dylan waits for some change in Maggie's condition, he reflects on his life and hers. Through friends and grace-filled moments of insight, Dylan slowly begins to heal, but it will take a second tragedy--and an anxious period of wrestling with God--to truly awaken him from his stupor and open him up to a new life. Deeply emotional and filled with themes of enduring love, loss, struggles with faith, and redemption, The Dead Don't Dance is not to be missed. "This is the story of a real person's real struggle with the uncertainties of faith, unadorned with miracles of the deus ex machina sort but full of the sort of miracles that attend everyday life if you bother to notice. Charles Martin notices, and for that I commend him. He's unafraid of tackling the crucial questions--life, death, love, sacrifice." --Duncan Murrell "[The Dead Don't Dance is] an absorbing read for fans of faith-based fiction... [with] delightfully quirky characters... [who] are ingeniously imaginative creations." -- Publishers Weekly
Endorsements (6)
“A strong and insightful first novel, written by a great new Christian voice in fiction. Brilliant.”
“The Dead Don’t Dance combines writing that is full of emotion with a storyline that charts a haunting story of love and loss—and finding one’s way back. Charles Martin quickly plunges readers into the story and takes them to a dark place. Then he draws them, like his protagonist Dylan, back to the surface, infusing them with renewed strength. Martin’s writing is strong, honest, and memorable. He’s an author to discover now—and then keep your eye on.”
“The Dead Don’t Dance affirms that even when the world drags us into its gloomy den, we can emerge battered but ever the victor holding life ecstatically by the tail. Charles Martin’s wise and tender audacity lifts us out of our ordinary lives to help us see that the extraordinary is all around us, grander than our earliest visions, and filling our cups with the sweet nectar of life. You will fall in love with Martin’s writing and believe in the goodness of humanity again. The Dead Don’t Dance is the best book you will read this year! Bravo, Mr. Martin!”
“The Dead Don’t Dance is a poignant page-turner filled with loss, hope and redemption. With passages that shine as bright as the South Carolina moon, Charles Martin captures the heart of the land and its people. This novel is bound to linger with many readers and leave them wanting more.”
“This is the story of real person’s real struggle with the uncertainties of faith, unadorned with miracles of the deus ex machina sort but full of the sort of miracles that attend every day life if you bother to notice. Charles Martin notices, and for that I commend him. He’s unafraid of tackling the crucial questions—life, death, love, sacrifice.”
“Charles Martin writes with the passion and delicacy of a Louisiana sunrise—shades of shepherd’s warning and a promise of thunderbolts before noon. Evoking a vivid picture of a young man’s dance with dark and desperate moments of ordinary life, his story swirls like the river with drama, humour, and sense of hope. To many of us in England, the reality of America’s deep south is as unknowable as the celestial kingdom of the orient in the days of sail, yet Charles has made it splendid and unforgettable. This is a lovely book that brims with heart and sensitivity, and most of all with a profound insight into what matters in our lives. I enjoyed it hugely.”
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