The brooding, pervasive aura of the Suffolk fens permeates every nook and cranny of Michelle Paver’s grippingly gothic historic tale of madness, witchcraft and family enmity. As in her previous adult novels, Dark Matter and Thin Air, Paver proves herself adept in drawing out both the enthralling beauty and the dangerous potential of an uncanny landscape, using it to tease out the fear and malevolence in the lives of those it touches.
By the bestselling author of Dark Matter and Thin Air, an outstanding new piece of story-telling, a tale of mystery and imagination laced with terror. It is a masterwork in the modern gothic tradition.
Something has been let loose...
In Edwardian Suffolk, a manor house stands alone in a lost corner of the Fens: a glinting wilderness of water whose whispering reeds guard ancient secrets. Maud is a lonely child growing up without a mother, ruled by her repressive father.
When he finds a painted medieval devil in a graveyard, unhallowed forces are awakened.
Maud's battle has begun. She must survive a world haunted by witchcraft, the age-old legends of her beloved fen - and the even more nightmarish demons of her father's past.
Spanning five centuries, Wakenhyrst is a darkly gothic thriller about murderous obsession and one girl's longing to fly free.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN: 9781788549561
Number of pages: 368
Dimensions: 228 x 145 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
[Michelle Paver's] storytelling is irresistible - The Times, Historical Fiction Book of the Month
It's a ghost story to put beside the classics of an earlier era... Compelling' - Evening Standard
Original and engrossing... Paver masterfully blends together two narratives... Spanning fen devils, mystics and the lot of women in Edwardian England' - Observer
This book has been haunting me... Very gripping' - BBC Radio 2 Book Club
[A] superb, supernatural novel... Paver deliciously ratchets up the tension as Maud struggles for autonomy in the face of her father's deranged obsessions' - Daily Mail
A brilliantly atmospheric read (be warned: it's also terrifying!) with a brave, forward-thinking heroine I loved - Good Housekeeping
Paver is back on top form' - The Bookseller, Editor's Choice
A spine-chilling masterpiece - Woman and Home
This dark, gothic tale will hook you in with its atmospheric setting of a house on the edge of the Suffolk fens, and its themes of superstition, witchcraft and religion - Sun.
Wakenhyrst is many things all at once – a chilling Gothic horror, a coming of age tale, a story of madness and loneliness, and most of all an account of how one girl manages to look out for herself when no-one else will. Paver successfully balances these themes as only a confident writer can. With fully realised characters and motivations, she draws you deeper and deeper into the story, even as the sense of dread grows stronger with every turn of the page - Scotland on Sunday.
Dark, atmospheric and beautifully written - Candis
This perfectly constructed "modern Gothic" is laced with a real sense of menace – and a healthy dose of feminism - Heat
A demonic presence lurks in the fens in this tale about murder, loneliness and an abusive relationship - The Times, The Best Books of 2019
This is true goose-bump material' 8/10 - Sunday Post
This dark, gothic tale will hook you in with its atmospheric setting - Fabulous Magazine
Gothic thriller spanning five centuries. A woman living with her repressive father faces a battle against witchcraft and sorcery when a strange icon is discovered in a churchyard - Love It Magazine
There is a thick air of mystery to the story. The household is shrouded in secrets. I really liked the sinister, gothic feel I got from Wakenhyrst and I'll be looking out for more!' - A Knight's Reads
Paver herself said it was the best book she's written, and you can see why: it's compulsively readable and savagely intelligent - The Roaring Bookworm
This book is steeped in atmosphere as well as the stench and slime of the fen itself, a place barely touched by the outside world, and it is beautifully written and deliciously, gorgeously creepy - For Winter Nights
A clever, creepy Gothic tale - Saga
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“A perfect ghost story for gloomy dark winter nights....”
I read this book in one sitting and loved it. Michelle Paver writes atmospheric gothic ghost stories in the tradition of great masters, Stoker and Shelley.
Set in Edwardian Suffolk in a remote Manor House deep in the...
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“Thrilling, suspensful, and impossible to put down”
Having read work by Michelle Paver before, my hopes were very high for Wakenhyrst, and I am happy to report that they were met! Perhaps a bit gentler on the reader than Dark Matter in matters of terror and suspense,... More
“A gripping gothic tale”
I had previously read and enjoyed two of Michelle Paver's books both dealing with a supernatural theme so I was particularly looking forward to her latest modern gothic novel which was rooted in the folklore and... More
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