Published by HarperCollins, July 2025

Sanctuary is an ancient right– a haven, a place of refuge and freedom from harm. In the classical world, it offered immunity to fugitives from justice; in medieval Europe it extended a reprieve to all who sought sanctuary in a church or holy site. It was a sacrilege to lay hands on a sanctuary-seeker : sanctuary was sacred.

But what are the principles that govern this ancient tradition? Could a revived practice of sanctuary today offer security, a home for those who seek it? What could ‘sanctuary’ offer to those who have been displaced? Or does the idea support excluding those of a certain race or creed?

Increasingly, in keeping with the general growth of nationalism and individualism, the arc of the concept has been bending away from a place of openness and welcome towards a private safe place, a redoubt : home and homeland as sanctuaries to be defended against strangers, migrants, incomers.

In this groundbreaking book, the distinguished cultural historian Marina Warner explores the principles that underpin the tradition of ‘sanctuary’. She ranges broadly across myth and history and explores the concept of hospitality, the cult of relics, shrines and festivals, the imagination of place, and travelling tales. She asks profound questions about political ideas of a right to safety, home, freedom of movement, and peace.

Sanctuary was written alongside work with the project Stories in Transit, which brings young refugees together with artists, writers and musicians in the UK and in Sicily to invent or reimagine stories and perform them. Marina Warner reflects on the ways stories address the worst experiences of humanity, and argues that the act of storytelling offers a salve, a route to a site of mutual interaction and understanding, a new place of belonging and conviviality. The book draws on a lifetime of engagement with literature, myth, history and tradition from different cultures. It is an ambitious attempt to grapple with the sharpest questions that we are facing in a world of global turmoil. Warner’s inquiry could not be more relevant.

Reviews/ Press

‘dazzlingly protean book’, ‘exquisitely attuned’ – Kathryn Hughes, ‘Sanctuary by Marina Warner review – the power of stories in an age of migration’, The Guardian Book of the Day, 17 June 2025; in print on Saturday 21 June 2025

June 23 2025: BBC Radio 4: Start the Week – Sanctuary, refuge and exile

Sanctuary is an ancient idea of a place of refuge or freedom from harm. It has deep roots in the history, literature and myths of many cultures. Marina Warner’s new book Sanctuary explores travelling tales and concepts of hospitality and home – suggesting that myths, stories and works of art can be places of sanctuary too. The story of leprosy is a story of isolation and exclusion over thousands of years. In his book, Outcast, Oliver Basciano has written about his journey across the hinterlands of the world to demystify the lives of those who have been ostracised. He argues that the image we still hold onto of medieval leprosy is a nineteenth-century myth invented to justify the gross mistreatment of patients in the name of colonial, religious and economic exploitation. Churches are a spiritual home for some 200 million Christians worldwide, but they often hold a fascination and interest for the most committed atheist. A church is a place of sanctuary, but also a place where the drama of life is played out. Fergus Butler-Gallie is an Anglican priest and his new book Twelve Churches explores the history of Christianity through the places worshippers have built.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ruth Watts

Listen back here

29th June – Scotland on Sunday, Stuart Kelly

‘ingenious and meticulous’; Stories in Transit ‘might seem modest, but given how shrill and vituperative the voices ranged against displaced people are it seems all the more necessary’; ‘Part of the exhilaration of reading any work by Warner is the breadth of reference. It is the opposite of dilettantism, a purposeful, sharp stitching’ – Stuart Kelly Review, The Scotsman: Scotland on Sunday

‘[Sanctuary] documents a tight web of practices and ideals without which any culture is not only impoverished but also seriously damaged. Warner’s complex, cumulative engagement with the topic becomes itself a kind of migrant journey to whose rhythms the reader has to surrender.’; ‘The chapters on the ways in which stories create and re-create maps for our journeys through life are tantalising. They feel like short books in themselves, full of insights that demand long pondering.’; ‘This is a deeply engaging book, learned and sensitive, original, spare and strange.’ – Rowan Williams, ‘Scattered Stories’, Review for Literary Review July 2025

1 July – Literary Review, Rowan Williams

‘[Sanctuary] documents a tight web of practices and ideals without which any culture is not only impoverished but also seriously damaged. Warner’s complex, cumulative engagement with the topic becomes itself a kind of migrant journey to whose rhythms the reader has to surrender.’; ‘The chapters on the ways in which stories create and re-create maps for our journeys through life are tantalising. They feel like short books in themselves, full of insights that demand long pondering.’; ‘This is a deeply engaging book, learned and sensitive, original, spare and strange.’ – Rowan Williams, ‘Scattered Stories’, Review for Literary Review July 2025

5 July – Daily Telegraph, Rupert Christiansen

‘Sanctuary is without a doubt an imaginative and meticulous work of scholarship, underpinned by Warner’s passionately sincere commitment to the issues she raises.’; ‘rich food for thought’ – Rupert Christiansen, ‘The history of sanctuary is no safe haven’, The Daily Telegraph – Saturday

July 11 2025: ‘A Place of One’s Own – Marina Warner on how we forgot the meaning of sanctuary’, Financial Times Weekend (summer arts special)

Read online or below Kitty Grady’s interview with Marina for the FT Weekend magazine, where they discuss Sanctuary

Sanctuary events

Upcoming:

What does sanctuary mean today? Drawing on a lifetime of engagement with literature, myth, history and tradition from different cultures, Marina Warner’s Sanctuary is an ambitious attempt to grapple with the sharpest questions that we are facing in today’s world of global turmoil.

More information here.

August 10, 2025, ‘Marina Warner: A Place of Sanctuary’, Edinburgh International Book Festival, 2.45-3.45pm, Spiegeltent, Tickets here

What is ‘sanctuary’? Is it a sacred place where travellers and refugees might find safety and solace? Or is it a homeland to be shuttered and defended against incomers from the outside world? Exploring the concept throughout history and myth in her new book Sanctuary, prolific critic, cultural historian, and Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist Marina Warner joins us today to ask profound and urgent questions about the right to safety, home, freedom of movement, and peace. Chaired by Esa Aldegheri.

Past:

July 11, 2025, Enchanting Wor(l)ds: The Works of Marina Warner, Centre for Comparative Literature (Goldsmiths) Room 349, Senate House, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HU

This conference is a celebration of Marina’s work over her lifetime, organised by Lucia Boldrini, Marie-Claude Canova-Green, Clare Finburgh Delijani and Isobel Hurst. The whole day promises a wealth of brilliant talks and presentations, including the keynote – an abecedary of Marina! – by Philip Terry. Marina will be in conversation towards the end of the day, with Clare Finburgh Delijani and Natalie Katsou. Following this is the book launch and reception. Find out more about the programme here and more general information (registration etc) available here!

June 13, 2025: Maps of home: Imagining sanctuary now (College of Sanctuary Lecture), Mansfield College, Oxford, 5.30-6.30pm

Acclaimed historian, mythographer, art critic and novelist Marina Warner reflects on the idea of home, and how we can imagine sanctuary today.

This biennial lecture highlights Mansfield College’s status as a College of Sanctuary under the UK Universities of Sanctuary scheme. Learn more about this here.

Register to attend here

English historian, mythographer, and author of Inventory of A Life Mislaid, Marina Warner will discuss her latest book about sanctuary: what it means for people in desperate situations today, and what refuge and displacement has meant for people throughout history, and the canons of literature and myth.

This event is part of an afternoon exploring Spirits, Salons and Sanctuary in the church of St Leonards through new books by poet and translator Philip Terry, poet and novelist Clare Pollard and cultural historian, mythographer and writer Marina Warner. These events are kindly supported by The Bean Trust.

Register to attend here

July 9 2024: LRB event – Marina in conversation with James Butler, 7pm, London Review Bookshop, 14 Bury Pl London WC1A 2JL, Tickets: £10

Marina discusses her new book on the ancient right of sanctuary and its meaning in the modern world with James Butler at the London Review Bookshop (14 Bury Pl London WC1A 2JL) at 7pm on 9 July 2025. Book here!

July 10 2025: Refugee Tales 2025: Festival of Walking, Panel Discussion – What Are the Longterm Impacts of Detention? William Patten School, Stoke Newington, Join the walk to attend!