1906: A large manor house, Wake's End, sits on the edge of a bleak Fen, just outside the town of Wakenhyrst. It is the home of Edmund Stearn and his family - a historian, scholar and land-owner, he's an upstanding member of the local community. But all is not well at Wake's End. Edmund dominates his family tyrannically, in particular daughter Maud. When Maud's mother dies in childbirth and she's left alone with her strict, disciplinarian father, Maud's isolation drives her to her father's study, where she happens upon his diary.
During a walk through the local church yard, Edmund spots an eye in the undergrowth. His terror is only briefly abated when he discovers its actually a painting, a 'doom', taken from the church. It's horrifying in its depiction of hell, and Edmund wants nothing more to do with it despite his historical significance. But the doom keeps returning to his mind. The stench of the Fen permeates the house, even with the windows closed. And when he lies awake at night, he hears a scratching sound - like claws on the wooden floor...
Wakenhyrst is a terrifying ghost story, an atmospheric slice of gothic, a brilliant exploration of the boundaries between the real and the supernatural, and a descent into the mind of a psychopath.
Industry 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.
