The Gothic novel is one of the classic genre tropes of our genre – think Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, or more recently Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House or even Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black. Wakenhyrst is a novel that taps into this tradition, steeped in folklore, with strange things going on and odd characters.

Michelle Paver began her career writing young adult novels (Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series (2004 – 2009), beginning with Wolf Brother) but more recently her adult novels (Dark Matter, Thin Air) have blazed a trail on the adult creepy side. Wakenhyrst continues this pattern.

The framing story begins, not in Edwardian Britain in 1906, but instead in 1966. A newspaper article brings back to the public spotlight an infamous story and sets up what the main plot of the novel will tell us, that in the Suffolk hamlet of Wakenhyrst, Edmund Stearne, historian and academic, killed a worker at his manor house home of Wake’s End in 1913. Declared insane, he spent the rest of his life in an asylum, and, with a touch of M R James, became world famous for three Bosch-ian paintings made there. The reporter, Patrick Rippon, is granted a brief visit and meeting with the murder’s only witness, Edmund’s daughter Maud, now in her seventies. Meeting Maud at Wake’s End he is also allowed access to Edmund’s work in progress, a translation of The Book of Alice Pyatt (1451 – 1517), Mystic and Edmund’s private notebooks from 1906 to 1913.

The resulting publicity leads to communication between Maud and someone else mentioned in the newspaper article, researcher Dr. Robin Hunter, who is given access by Maud to ‘her story’ for publication. This deals with the events leading up to the murder from the perspective of Maud.



The resulting story unfolds – a story of witchcraft, repression, deception and madness.

What really works here is that the author does well to build the novel's world skilfully. Michelle knows the genre of which she writes and the story is filled with knowing nods to many classics – there’s the creepy house isolated on the edge of the disturbingly wild and open Guthlaf’s Fen, a combination of creepy Gothic gloom and eerie nature rather like that imagined in Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black. Added to this is the use of artifacts, academic research and things that should be left well alone, all keynote elements of many of M R James’ ghost stories. The book begins quietly and yet slowly adds all these elements to create a place that seems real and yet also creepy.

One of the most striking aspects of the novel is that this world is filled with memorably strange characters who are often not what they appear to be. Outwardly, Edmund Stearne is the model of Edwardian society but he has a darker, creepier side that is only seen at home. By contrast, his wife, Dorothy, is a woman whose main purpose is to be a conduit for Edmund’s lust and the bearer of his children. Repeated miscarriages have a cumulative effect on Dorothy and eventually lead to her death. This results in Maud and her younger brothers being brought up in the Stearne household by the servants. Edmund takes solace in the company of Eve, one of the servants.

Having established the background, the middle section of the novel steps the tension up when Maud, now 14, is given the responsibility of typing up her father’s notes on his current study. At the same time, she also manages to sneakily read her father’s private journals, which illustrate the real man behind the social façade.

As part of his research, Edmund uncovers an old painting in the local church connected to Alice Pyatt. Here the story raises the James-ian vibe by using this as an artefact that shows the horrors of Hell. The clear implication is that the fresco should not be made public. The painting, referred to by Maud as ‘the Doom’ is restored and put on display in the church, something which clearly has an impact in the village and on Edmund.

The last part of the story shows what Maud is reading in her father’s personal journal. We read of the physical and mental decline of Edmund, and Maud believes through reading the journal that her father sees her as a witch. This is partly due to a friendship that the lonely Maud strikes up with a magpie that she names ‘Chatterpie’, something which her father sees as akin to witchcraft.

Maud’s attempts to expose her father as ill is received with disbelief by other adults. When approached, the local vicar and her father’s physician feel that these actions are the imaginings of a young immature girl and are to be disbelieved.

Edmund’s actions become more erratic until eventually he kills a farmworker, believing him to be possessed and possibly under the influence of Maud, when in actuality he is a sweetheart of Maud’s. The story then returns to 1966 for its denouement.



Wakenhyrst is a slow burner of a novel that starts unhurriedly but relentlessly builds to a chillingly effective conclusion that is quietly unsettling. Not all of the characters are pleasant, but they are complex, logically developed and reflect the patriarchal society of Edwardian England depressingly well. Michelle manages to juggle classic elements of the Gothic theme with nature, folk horror, witchcraft and mental instability to create a modern Gothic novel that deserves to become a classic.

A delicious Gothic novel with all the elements needed for a great read - fens, eels, religion, love, symbols, murder and more!
thank you to netgalley and Head of Zeus for an advance copy of this book

My thanks to Head of Zeus for an eARC via NetGalley of Michelle Paver’s ‘Wakenhyrst’ in exchange for an honest review. I was also fortunate enough to receive a signed proof copy, which has been lovingly added to my bookshelf.

As the audiobook edition narrated by Juanita McMahon was available early I listened to this alongside reading the ARC. Juanita’s rich voice brought the text vividly to life.

In 1966 following a storm that damages the roof of her home, Wake’s End, recluse Maud Stearne agrees to meet with academic Dr. Robin Hunter. Hunter had been researching the three strange paintings produced by Edmund Stearne while he was confined to an asylum after committing a sensational murder in 1913. This was witnessed by his 16-year-old daughter, Maud, who testified against him at his trial.

Following the introduction by Hunter the narrative shifts to Maud’s account of the events that took place in the hamlet of Wakenhyrst, Suffolk from 1906 onwards. I will not say more so as to avoid spoilers but be assured that it is an excellent story told with great skill and strong characterisation.

I predict that it will be swiftly hailed as an important addition to the modern Gothic tradition. It is rich in symbolism from religion and folklore and incorporates a wide range of themes including social issues related to class and women’s position in society during the early 20th Century.

Paver has produced a very atmospheric tale with both the house and the fen being characters in their own right. The hairs on the back of my neck were tingling with the vivid descriptions of the creeping mists and eerie occurrences. Then there is the magpie that graces the cover: one of my favourite birds so vividly portrayed here.

The descriptions and circumstances of Stearne’s paintings brought to mind those of Victorian artist Richard Dadd, whose highly detailed works of sinister faeries were painted during his hospitalisation following a murder conviction.

I feel that ‘Wakenhyrst’ will also be a great choice for reading groups that enjoy historical fiction with depth as its multiple layers will provide plenty of scope for discussion.

Just wonderful and highly recommended.

This is a wonderful gothic story that had me captured from the first page. The setting and description of Fen is beautifully done, and the author created the perfect atmosphere for the story.

There was a really clever build up to the story with a shocking final scene. We meet Maude and her father and the story is carefully woven around his descent into madness. The horror increases as the story flows and it’s full of folklore and superstition which I absolutely love. I enjoyed the story, loved the way the words flowed, and will look forward to reading more of the author’s books.

.My thank to the publisher and to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.

Wakenhyrst is an extremely atmospheric story with a strong Gothic feel. Throughout I was reminded of the story of Richard Dadd and his strangely disturbing paintings. It is the story of decent into madness, unchecked as a result of the society of the dad, which gave the "master of a house" such absolute authority, even when it is apparent that his ideas are unreasonable. The device of using his journal so that much of the story is a first person narrative, works well, with Maud observing, commenting, and, maybe, driving the descent into madness with her own actions.

The setting in the fen is beautiful and adds a great deal of atmosphere to the story, as do the idiosyncratic local characters.

A really enjoyable, atmospheric story.

I really enjoyed this novel and it’s Victorian feel. If you like the Bronte’s you will like this.
Please be aware that some reviews on neygalley give away all the plot lines.
I love that it is set in the Fens and all the folkore of the area. The fathers obsession, religious or not sits well with how gentry of this period filled their time. I highly recommenend you read this book and discover the twists and turns for yourself

This is a very confusing novel about a father who is obsessed with trying to understand the diary of a mystic called Sarah Pruitt. His daughter is convinced he is mad, and when she discovers he had a hand in murdering his little sister, she tries everything to make the locals and the household staff to understand what he is doing. However, she also discovers that he is having sexual relationships with one of the servant girls, and is also dabbling in spiritual matters which make him agitated and upset.
When he eventually murders one of the servant boys, he is tried and confined to a mental institution, where he behaves himself for about 15 years, and then murders one of the warders. After a tried and failed attempt at a lobotomy, he dies, and his daughter inherits the land and house.
This book is very confusing, and difficult to follow, and the characters are equally confusing. I cannot say I enjoyed this novel at all, but thankyou to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to readn it.

'Wakenhyrst' reminded me of two of my favourite books in recent years - 'The Lie Tree' by Francis Hardinge and 'The Essex Serpent' by Sarah Perry. I loved the creepy atmosphere of the Fenland setting and the clever build-up to the final shocking scene. Knowing what was coming in advance only added to the growing sense of claustrophobia and intrigue. Historical details and local colour were woven in beautifully and the story kept me gripped from start to finish. Brilliant.

A Medieval Doom painting, an Anglo-Saxon saint, mythical creatures, a magpie, an historian, dead babies, the groaning sickness and a big old house. A fantastic gothic tale.

The story is set in Edwardian England in the fens of Suffolk. An intelligent, lonely girl does two things she shouldn't - read her father's journal and go out to the fens on her own. She discovers things that are fixed in folklore, hearsay and superstition and questions the concepts of reality, God and madness. As well as that, her father is not a very nice man at all.

Her father is an historian and is afraid of the power of a Doom painting he finds. What drives this fear and what he can do about it are the forces of the story.

There are a lot of positives in this book, one being the original idea and excellent writing. The attitudes of the Edwardians is aptly captured, particularly with regard to the general views about social class and women, the beliefs and religion. But my personal favourite is the research by the historian father into the life of Saint Guthlaf, who is obviously based on Saint Guthlac of Crowland, one of the more colourful Anglo-Saxon saints. Paver's knowledge and enthusiasm for history, research and folklore shines through this wonderful book.

There is a great sense of place as the fens are portrayed in all of their murky mystery without long descriptive passages. And viewing the world through the eyes of a child, particularly the 'disease' of childbirth, is poignantly captured. Great book, beautifully written and highly recommended.

#Wakenhyrst #NetGalley

Wakenhyrst is billed as a gothic ghost story and I agree that it is gothic but not so sure about the ghost element. Michelle Paver has woven a story full of mystery, madness and psychological horror based in the Fenlands of Norfolk. Maude is only fourteen when she sees her mother die in childbirth. Maude watches her father descend slowly into madness but nobody believes her claims - she is,after all , only a female and not important enough to listen to. The tension builds gradually and the feeling of horror increases as you realise just how unstable Maude’s father is becoming. On finishing Wakenhyrst, I was left with a feeling of helplessness at the fate of the women in the novel - they had no rights and were regarded as the property of men.

This is an extremely engrossing Gothic tale set in Edwardian England, Suffolk to be precise, in the early 1900s. Full of folklore and superstition, and a spiralling in to madness. Slow burning but incredibly atmospheric with the Fens setting. This is the first novel by Michelle Paver that I have read and I will now be actively seeking out more of her work.

This is my first experience with a Michelle Paver book since reading her Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series many years ago, and my expectations were fairly high. Sadly, what I got wasn't so much dark gothic horror, as the blurb suggested, but a historical coming-of-age story with light elements of mystery sprinkled on top. I wouldn't have minded that if I'd liked the characters, but that wasn't to be; while I could vaguely empathize with her struggles of growing up as female in a male-dominant society, I had no particularly strong feelings about Maud, and her father was just irredeemably, flat-out horrible. My biggest disappointment, though, was the lack of a solid atmosphere which is so crucial in gothic stories.

In terms of both gothic and psychological horror, I think there are many other books out there that do it far better than this one.

Having enjoyed, “Dark Matter,” and “Thin Air,” I was delighted to receive Michelle Paver’s new novel, to review.

The story begins in 1966, with the discovery of three paintings, by Edmund Stearne, which have taken the art world by storm. Edmund Stearne was committed to an asylum, where he created his only artworks and now a reporter wants to unearth the story behind the paintings. In order to do so, Paver takes us back to 1913, and a house on the Fens…

This is a wonderfully Gothic novel, which has a superbly evocative setting. The isolated house, the tyrannical father and the intelligent, scholarly daughter, Maud. Maud is an excellent central character and I adored her from the first moment she appeared on the page. In a way, this is a coming of age novel, as Maud discovers the reality beneath the surface of her solitary world.

Although I enjoyed both of Michelle Paver’s previous books, I feel this is really a step up. It just seeps and oozes atmosphere, as Paver makes the world she creates come alive. This would be an excellent choice for reading groups, as there is so much to discuss, as well as being an enjoyable personal read. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

I was looking forward to this, having read Thin Air, and finding it extremely scary.

How to describe this book?
A Gothic ghost story that somehow fails to create the right tension?
A vivid description of how a man can descend into madness and obsession, resulting in murder?
The story of a girl forced to grow up very quickly in the early 1900’s, when women had few rights?

Edmund Stearn, a scholar and historian lives in a large house in the Fens, with his family, Belgian wife, daughter Maud, and son Richard.
He becomes obsessed with a painting, known as a “Doom”, which depicts the descent into hell of sinners, and with a fourteenth century mystic.
The story is told through Maud’s eyes, and through Edmund’s journals.
I wanted to know what happened to Edmund and Maud, and read the whole book, but was eventually disappointed, for me, I couldn’t feel the atmosphere that the author was trying to evoke.

Thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for the opportunity to read this book.

This is a glorious piece of Edwardian gothic historical fiction from Michelle Paver, it has elements of horror and madness, set in the remote village of Wakenhyrst, surrounded by the fens of Suffolk at the start of the 20th century. The isolated manor house of Wake's End is owned by local landowner, historian and scholar Edmund Stearne, in the midst of Guthlaf's fen, an area bursting with superstitions, folklore, myths and legends, of the dreaded 'fen tigers' a savage people doctoring their 'ague' with a powerful home brewed opium. The overarching religion of the time is controlling and powerful, with locals attending the ornate medieval St Guthlaf's church, with its ornate demons and fallen angels. The novel begins with the now 69 year old Maud Stearne, whose father was committed to an asylum after murdering a local person when she was a child. In the asylum he painted medieval style paintings of demons, which have been rediscovered and lauded.

Doubt is now being cast on his guilt, and suspicion is being cast on Maud instead, spearheaded by Patrick Rippon, journalist on the Sunday Explorer Magazine. Hounded and harried at Wake's End, Maud allows access to her father's notebooks which she has managed to keep secret till now. The narrative then goes back time to Maud's childhood, her close relationship with her mother, and her devotion to her father, Edmund, at least at the beginning. Her mother submits to the abusive authority of Edmund, caught in a cycle of never ending miscarriages and still births, with a husband indifferent to her sufferings, intent only on satisfying his sexual needs, affronted when the doctor suggests desisting occasionally. Maud becomes responsible for the household with the death of her mother.

Edmund begins to become obsessed with the doom, a ancient painting he discovers at the site of St Guthlaf's, connecting it with his research on local medieval mystic Alice Pyett. Maud serves as his personal assistant, something she is initially proud of until she learns that he is merely taking advantage of her, whilst attaching no importance to her intelligence. Despite being forbidden from the fens, a source of fear for Edmund, Maud is drawn to fen's natural wildness and beauty, developing a life long passion that has her fighting for its survival. As she begins to become aware of the chilling threats that her dangerous father poses, she finds no-one will listen, indeed threatening her instead, for having the temerity to tarnish Edmund's reputation.

Paver is a gifted storyteller with her understated air of menace and claustrophobia that pervades the dark and intense narrative, where even though the reader knows where it is all heading, nevertheless manages to sustain tension and suspense in the need to know the how and why. I got completely caught up in Maud's character, she shows such courage, having to handle a out of control father in the throes of a growing insanity driven by his heinous past. She is trapped and thwarted by the overwhelming misogyny of society, in its attitudes to women in this period of history. The depiction of the fens, the likes of Jubal Rede, Clem Walker and Ivy, locals whose destiny demonstrate the class inequalities, and the powerlessness faced by the poor, provide a fantastic, detailed and unforgettable sense of location in this historical era. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Head of Zeus for an ARC.

I was absolutely hooked on this from start to finish. The author's description of the fens, the sights, sounds and smells really brought it to life. I liked the device of the journals, where the reader learns, at the same time as Maud, of her father's descent into madness. Superbly Gothic and atmospheric. I heartily recommend.

I have to admit that it was the cover of this book that made me pick Wakenhyrst, as I've always loved magpies, but I have to say that this book is much more than a pretty cover what it is is a beautifully written Gothic novel, and its hard to put my finger on what it was that I liked but all I can say is it just drew me in and I couldn't put it down.

I don't like to give anything away but, It is based at the beginning of the 20th century and is set in a Suffolk fen, Where Maud lives in the manor house with her family, often Maud is left to her own devices, as being a girl she isn't expected to do more than grow up and marry, but when her father sees an eye in the churchyard, her father becomes withdrawn and paranoid and no one will listen to her fears.

The Story has a gentle flowing pace and all I can say is don't fight it or give up on it because it isn't racing along to a triumphant end or isn't full of gratuitous violence, all I will say is just enjoy the journey and let it flow through & over you. Enjoy

<blockquote>I'm still conscious of that staring from the fen. I can't shake off the feeling that something has been let loose -- and that it's out there now, biding its time. Waiting to come in. [loc. 2698] </blockquote>

The framing narrative of <i>Wakenhyrst</i> is set in 1966. Dr Robin Hunter is keen to contact the elusive Maud Stearne, daughter of esteemed medievalist Edmund Stearne who, fifty years earlier, murdered a man in broad daylight as his teenaged daughter watched. Since then, Maud has lived in seclusion at Wake's End, the family home, deep in the heart of the fens. She refuses to publish her father's notebooks -- which Dr Hunter believes may contain observations about the Wakenhyrst Doom, a sixteenth-century painting now on display in the village church -- or his unfinished work on medieval mystic Alice Pyett.

The main body of the story takes place in the early years of the twentieth century. Maud grows up adoring her mother, who is frequently pregnant, and longing for her remote father's approval. What a shame that, though brighter than either of her younger brothers, she is female! As Maud grows older, she begins to question her father's rules, even whilst acting as his assistant. When she begins to read his notebooks, she is merely hoping to find something about herself.

Edmund Stearne is the archetype of a particular type of misogynist -- one I've encountered several times in recent novels. He views his studies as a form of seduction -- 'Pyett will prove a coy mistress, very hard to read, but already she is yielding riches. It will take months to lay bare all her secrets' [loc. 1350] -- and is thoroughly dismissive of Maud, despite her intelligence and interest. It's not just his daughter: Stearne has little time for any woman unless he finds her sexually attractive. He dismisses the family doctor's suggestion (after yet another stillbirth) that he might have sex with his wife slightly less often, or perhaps use contraception. And he is profoundly opposed to superstition -- though he has some eccentric rules of his own.

Maud, meanwhile, is learning a great deal about the world from the superstitious 'common people' she encounters: Jubal Rede, a vagabond who lives in the Fen; Clem Walker, the good-looking under-gardener; Ivy, the pulchritudinous housemaid. Each of these helps her to understand an aspect of what is happening to her father. What she does with that knowledge is a different matter.

This novel didn't terrify me in the same way as Paver's earlier horror novels, <a href="http://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2017/09/201779-thin-air-michelle-paver.html"><i>Thin Air</i></a> and <a href="http://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2017/02/201718-dark-matter-ghost-story-michelle.html"><i>Dark Matter</i></a>. In those novels, I was struck by the sheer claustrophobia of the great outdoors. Here, the claustrophobia is more literal. Maud seldom ventures beyond the house, except to visit the fen, a haven of wildness and freedom. She is terribly isolated, but not alone. And perhaps <i>Wakenhyrst</i> lacks immediacy: we are shown the force or entity that afflicts Maud's father through his notebooks, but that narrative is interspersed with Maud's own, more mundane (though also horrific) story.

There is a great deal of subtlety to <i>Wakenhyrst</i>, and it definitely repaid rereading. But even after rereading, I'm still not clear on whether Maud made peace with something, or whether that something pursued Edmund and inspired his paintings.

Paver's afterword confirms the influences and inspirations that I thought I recognised: Alice Pyett is based in part on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margery_Kempe">Margery Kempe</a>, and St Guthlaf (to whom the village church is dedicated, and after whom the fen outside the house is named) owes a lot to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guthlac_of_Crowland">St Guthlac</a>. I confess I didn't make the connection between Edmund's paintings and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dadd">Richard Dadd</a>.

This book was everything my little gothic heart could have dreamt of and more. Set in a manor house in the fens of Norfolk back in the early 1900s, it reveals the mystery of the events leading up to a murder.

The book is written from the perspective of Maud, an intellectual teenage girl who has been cursed with an utter bastard of a father, and Edmund, aforementioned bastard of a father via his diaries.
Edmund is descending into madness and it takes time to uncover what form it takes and whether or not there are supernatural influences at work.

Maud is a highly sympathetic main character, she tries her best to do what’s right under the rule of her tyrant of a father but, ultimately, she’s an angry woman.

The story is suspenseful and atmospheric, I enjoyed the experience of reading it and would gladly read anything else written by this author. I would recommend it for fans of historical fiction and gothic thrillers. This book is being advertised as a gothic horror novel, I'm not sure I'd use the word horror to describe it rather than 'psychological thriller'.

I was hoping this would be as good as the two adult ghost stories Paver has written, but I found it rather lacking in that regard. I would recommend it instead to older readers of Paver's children's and teen fiction. Good Gothic atmosphere but I personally was just not interested in reading about the central character.