Michelle Paver is an author I’ve been meaning to try for years, since I noticed all the hype surrounding her 2010 novel Dark Matter. For some reason I never got round to reading that book or any of her others, but I put her new one, Wakenhyrst, on my 20 Books of Summer list to ensure that I would read it.
Wakenhyrst begins in the 1960s with the elderly Maud Stearne coming under pressure from journalists to tell the story of a murder committed by her father many years earlier. Maud is the only person who knows why Edmund Stearne left the house one day in 1913, armed with an ice-pick and a geological hammer, and killed the first person he came across ‘in the most bizarre and horrible way’. Edmund spent the rest of his life in an asylum and Maud stayed on alone in the family home – the old manor house, Wake’s End, in Suffolk – never speaking about the tragedy to anyone. But now the house needs urgent repairs and Maud can’t afford to pay for them. It seems that she will have to sell her story after all.
Maud then gives her account of the events leading up to the murder, beginning by describing her lonely childhood, growing up at Wake’s End on the edge of Guthlaf’s Fen, ‘the oldest, deepest, rottenest fen ever’, with a father who is cold and domineering and a mother who is constantly pregnant (although most of the pregnancies result in stillbirths or miscarriages). Edmund, her father, is a historian and enlists Maud’s help in transcribing a book believed to be written by Alice Pyett, a medieval mystic. The book that really interests Maud, however, is her father’s secret notebook in which he records his innermost thoughts and fears. Maud already knows that Edmund is not a nice person, but even she is shocked by some of the things she reads in his journal. And when he becomes obsessed with a medieval painting of the Last Judgement, known as ‘the Doom’, she worries about her father’s mental state. Are there really evil forces at work in the fens or are they all a product of Edmund Stearne’s imagination?
I enjoyed Wakenhyrst, but it wasn’t quite what I’d expected. I think because I’d seen Dark Matter and Paver’s other recent novel, Thin Air, described as creepy ghost stories, I assumed this book would be the same, but I didn’t find it very scary at all – although I’m not necessarily complaining about that! There are plenty of Gothic elements, and the setting – a remote fenland community steeped in folklore and superstition – is certainly atmospheric, but it is not really a horror story in the usual sense. The horror in this book is more of the psychological kind, in the portrayal of a man’s descent into madness and obsession. Edmund’s notebook entries, which are interspersed throughout Maud’s narrative, become more and more disturbing and outlandish as his fears of the Doom and of demons in the fens spiral out of control.
I can’t really say that I liked Maud, but my sympathies were with her, particularly after her mother dies – weakened by too many pregnancies, or ‘groanings’ as the young Maud thinks of them (because that’s how each one ends). Maud’s life from this point becomes very isolated and unhappy, trapped in the oppressive atmosphere of Wake’s End as her father, never the most pleasant of men to begin with, gradually loses his grip on reality. The only bright spots in her life are her love for her tame bird, Chatterpie, and her relationships with Clem, the under-gardener, and Jubal Rede, the ‘wild man’ who lives in the fen.
After a slow start, I found Wakenhyrst quite an entertaining novel and I do still want to try some of Michelle Paver’s other books. I’m sure I will get round to reading Dark Matter eventually and will be interested to see how it compares.
Thanks to Head of Zeus for providing a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.
This is book 5/20 of my 20 Books of Summer.
She Reads Novels 
This one sounds like fun. I like a gothic novel now and then.
So do I, and this was a good one.
Dark Matter was one of the scariest books I’ve ever read – so scary I didn’t finish it – so, like you, I was expecting something similar, and rather to my relief, didn’t get it. I thought it was very good, but also very sad. I think Michelle Paver’s greatest achievement is her Wolf Brother series – Chronicles of Ancient Darkness – which are intended for children, but are interesting, complex and deep enough for adults to enjoy too. I also liked her novel A Place In The Hills, which links modern and Roman times.
I would like to try Dark Matter, but if it’s as scary as that I might not finish it either! I’ll have to investigate the Wolf Brother series and A Place in the Hills, which both sound interesting.
I feel bad for Maud just reading your review. This is an author I’d really like to try someday.
Maud was not the most likeable of characters, but her life wasn’t easy and I did feel sorry for her. I hope you’re able to try one of Michelle Paver’s books soon.
I haven’t read any books by this author and this one sounds worth reading when I am in the mood to be scared or deal with dark subjects.
It would be a perfect book for when you’re in that kind of mood – it’s not all that scary, but definitely very dark.
This sounds great!
Yes, I really enjoyed it, Laura!
Great review! I keep seeing this one every time I go in a bookshop and you’ve made me all the more keen to pick it up 😁
I definitely think you should pick it up! 🙂
Great review, and one that encourages me not to ignore this if it came my way.
It’s definitely not a book to be ignored!
I have a thing for descent-into-madness tales. Add the gothic element and the plight of the heroine. I think I would like this book!
It sounds like the perfect book for you, Judy!
Sounds a bit too dark for me, thanks!
It’s very dark, so probably not the best book for you, then!