#CoverReveal-‘Wakenhyrst’ by Michelle Paver

Hurray!

Today is the release of the paperback edition of ‘Wakenhyrst’ by Michelle Paver.

I am honoured to be sharing the cover with you today, as well as the review I wrote to accompany the blogtour, courtesy of the lovely people at ed.pr.

About the book…

Isn’t it a belter?

And the perfect day to read it on!

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

This is absolutely splendid!

With breathtaking story lines and rich, gothic imagery, Michelle Paver has created a fable that is both modern and timeless at the same time.

It starts in the 1960’s, with 3 paintings by historian Edward Stearne, committed to an asylum for an unspeakable crime, and his daughter Maud, relentlessly reclusive, living in the family mansion who finally decides to tell her story.

Going back to the beginning of the 20th century, the novel then paints a picture of the subjugation of women and their expected role in society versus the wilderness of the English fens.

Not outright horrific as with ‘Thin Air’, this is a creeping, dark and lyrical look at sanity, the role of women and expectations of society versus self determination framed in a narrative which immediately immerses you.

Powerful, deeply creepy and moving, it has echoes of ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘The Wolves Of Willoughby Chase’ and was a pure joy to read.

‘Wakenhyrst’ is out NOW in paperback from Head Of Zeus publishing!

About the author…

Michelle Paver was born in Central Africa, but came to England as a child. After gaining a degree in Biochemistry from Oxford University, she became a partner in a City law firm, but eventually gave that up to write full-time.

The hugely successful Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series arose from Michelle’s lifelong passion for animals, anthropology and the distant past – as as well as an encounter with a large bear in a remote valley in southern California. To research the books, Michelle has traveled to Finland, Greenland, Sweden, Norway, Arctic Canada and the Carpathian Mountains. She has slept on reindeer skins, swum with wild orca (killer whales), and got nose-to-nose with polar bears – and, of course, wolves.

Links-http://www.michellepaver.com/

Twitter @MichellePaver

@HoZ_Books

             @ed_pr