The Wilding

The passionate, thrilling and hugely satisfying quest for the dark truth at the heart of a 17th Century English family.

In her second novel Maria McCann returns to 17th Century England, where life is struggling to return to normal after the horrific tumult of the Civil War. In the village of Spadboro Jonathan Dymond, a 26-year old cider-maker who lives with his parents, has until now enjoyed a quiet, harmonious existence.

As the novel opens, a letter arrives from his uncle with a desperate request to speak with his father. When his father returns from the visit the next day, all he can say is that Jonathan's uncle has died. Then Jonathan finds a fragment of the letter in the family orchard, with talk of inheritance and vengeance. He resolves to unravel the mystery at the heart of his family - a mystery which will eventually threaten the lives and happiness of Jonathan and all those he holds dear.

Reviews

'Long in coming but worth waiting for, The Wilding duplicates the same driving narrative urgency but otherwise displays that McCann is a writer of considerable range This writer is a natural storyteller, and has in buckets whatever mysterious quality keeps a reader wide-eyed well after he'd planned to turn out the light . The message here is so straightforward: I was ever eager to get back to The Wilding, reluctant to put it down and sorry when it was finished.' - Lionel Shriver, Financial Times

'A passionate, suspenseful quest, rich in detail.' - Marie Claire

'An absorbing drama of revenge, inheritance and danger unfolds. It's a story packed with intrigue and historical detail, a worthy follower to McCann's first novel As Meat Loves Salt, and not to be confused with the host of bodice-rippers being churned out for little girls.' - The Times