A Times Best Book of 2019. 'Paver is one of Britain's modern greats. This sinister, gothic chiller shows why' BIG ISSUE, Books of the Year 2019. "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 ...
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A Times Best Book of 2019. 'Paver is one of Britain's modern greats. This sinister, gothic chiller shows why' BIG ISSUE, Books of the Year 2019. "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 by the bestselling author of Dark Matter and Thin Air. Wakenhyrst is 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 that ranges from Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker to Neil Gaiman and Sarah Perry.
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Maud lives with her father in Wakenhyrst - a house surrounded by the mysterious and beautiful fen. But when a church painting (or 'doom') is discovered and restored, what evil has been unleashed?
I picked up Wakenhyrst thinking from its blurb and supported PR that it was a 'gothic horror'. I would say I probably went in with the wrong expectations of the book. There are elements of witchcraft, superstition and death which run through the book and add an air of unease throughout, but it isn't really a horror. It's more a thriller that includes a study of mental illness, of the church vs old customs and beliefs and the role of women in Edwardian Britain. This isn't a criticism of the story at all though - I enjoyed it immensely and it surprised me, it just wasn't at all what I was expecting.
Wakenhyrst is quite a slow burn; it changes perspective from Maud's present life to reading her father's diary - sometimes a few days behind. It's a great way of telling the story and it keeps the tension up throughout but at times I just wanted it to go where it needed to go faster. We already know how the story ends - from the flash-forward at the start of the book so the tension building and suspense felt a little superfluous at times.
That said Maud is an interesting character, she feels realistic and well-rounded for a lady of her time with enough intelligence to realise her limitations. I liked the authors note at the end of the book that explains where she got her ideas from - which bits of the story came from history and which bits came from her life or were inspired from somewhere that she had visited. This very much shines through the narrative to create a detailed setting and truthful characters. I loved the descriptions of the fen and the way that it permeated and influenced the plot. I enjoyed the inclusion of superstitions and elements of witchcraft. Edward Stearne is also a really nicely drawn character - his descent into madness and paranoia kept me gripped throughout and you could really see the 'logical' steps in his actions.
Overall Wakenhyrst is an interesting Gothic thriller with a great setting and interesting characters which unsettles you and builds suspense. Thank you to NetGalley & Head of Zeus for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
