This is a dark and sinister tale, full of menace and suspense. It’s a slow-burner, told through different points of view, that builds to a climax with a sad twist in the story right at the end – one I hadn’t seen coming. It’s set in a remote hamlet in the Suffolk Fens, an eerie waterlogged landscape where Edmund Stearn, a historian, and his family live in a large manor house, Wake’s End, on the edge of the Fens, said to be the oldest and most rotten of fens. It was a place of dread, haunted by spirits and the home of eels and other foul creatures.

The novel begins with a magazine report in 1966 on the events that took place at Wake’s End in 1913 when sixteen-year old Maud Stearne watched her father, Edmund, leave the house, armed with an ice-pick and a geological hammer and murder the first person he came across in the orchard. Maud was the only witness. She is now a recluse and in 1913 she had only spoken briefly at his trial. But now she needs money to repair the ancient manor house that is her home and has invited the journalist to Wake’s End. He believes Edmund was innocent and hopes to discover the truth – was Edmund mad and what did he write in his notebook that Maud has never confirmed even existed? Maud’s evidence was full of holes – did she commit the murder and frame her father, who took the blame?

Edmund never explained why he did it, or how he ended up in the well, screaming with terror as he fought off a mass of eels. He spent the rest of his life in an asylum, where he created three paintings that astonished the world – grotesque paintings full of colour and tiny malevolent faces leering out of the canvas, the stuff of nightmares.

What follows is a story of disintegrating madness, revealed in Edmund Stearne’s notebook as the reporter persuades Maud to tell her story, going back to her childhood, when her mother was still alive. Her mother got the same illness every year, or so Maud believed – an illness where her middle swelled, resulting in a period of ‘groaning’, as her middle would burst and ending with either ‘a bloody chamberpot’, or a dead baby. When she died Maud blamed her father and believed he was insane when he became obsessed with the medieval painting of the Last Judgement, known as the Doom, that he found in the churchyard. He connects the Doom with the writings of Alice Pyett, a medieval mystic whose book he was transcribing.

There is a sense of impending disaster as the tale unfolds. Whilst the fens are a source of dread and fear for Edmund, they are a place of solace and beauty for Maud. The book is full of the folklore and customs of the local people and their belief in the spirits that haunt the fen – ferishes, Jack-o’-Lanterns and Black Shuck – Michelle Paver notes in her Author’s Note that she has not invented these. Maud’s childhood, her fear of her father and his violence towards her and her mother, are scenes that are based on the misogynist attitudes of the period.

Maud’s life was run by her father’s rules. She had no friends or companions apart from the servants, whose lives were ruled by superstitions, until she met Jubal Rede, the wild man who lived in the fen. He was kind to her and taught her the ways of the fen. But there is also Chatterpie, the magpie she rescued from the well and grew to love, and then Clem, the young under-gardener who she also grew to love.

It’s a compelling story, steeped in atmosphere, with characters typical of an earlier age whose lives were oppressed and isolated from the wider world. I loved the setting, the mysterious fenland, the horrific gothic and dark nature of the story, the mystery of the murder and most of all I loved Maud and her independent spirit that brought her through the nightmare.

A creepy gothic whydunnit, set in the fens of Suffolk, Wakenhyrst is gripping from the first page. This is a story of obsession, madness, delusion, superstition.

Wakenhyrst mostly takes place in the early 20th century, just prior to the first World War, and combines creepy medieval church art; old religious notions of witchcraft, demonic possession, and saintly miracles; lingering pagan superstitions (leaving a bowl of bread and milk at the door, for witches); a creaky old manor house; the eerie natural beauty of the watery fens. The details of a murder are provided upfront, the rest of the book covers the events leading up to it. So you get a great early hook, but it also means the book drags a little towards the end - knowing what’s coming, I grew impatient to finally get there, and it’s a real slow burn.

Paver’s well known for chilling ghost stories, but to me this one is more historical fiction with a crime element, something like Alias Grace perhaps. There is still some suggestion of the supernatural in Wakenhyrst, but that element of ambiguity, where the rational explanation and the spooky one are equally plausible, just wasn’t present here. I was Team Rational all the way. This did not diminish the story for me at all, but other readers expecting a Paver haunting might be disappointed.

With a palpable atmosphere, terrific setting and well-drawn characters Wakenhyrst is a satisfying read.

A Dark atmospheric story, set in the fans of Suffolk. We learn at the beginning of the story that Maud's father, Edward Sterne, went mad and killed someone in a very gruesome manner when she was a teenager. He was sent to an asylum where he started to paint images of demons which went on to become famous. A reporter is trying to find out about the background of these paintings, and the events surrounding his incarceration. Maud has hidden herself away from society ever since that day and the reporter wonders if she might have been responsible for the murder after all. What follows is the tale of what happened leading up to these events told by Maud and some of Edward Sterne's Journal extracts as he becomes obsessed with the Doom, (a medieval painting uncovered in the local church) and descends into madness.

It started off really well, but I became slightly less interested as the story progressed. I think perhaps because I couldn't relate to Edward Sterne at all. Still a good read, though.

*Many thanks to Netgallley for a copy of this book*

Having loved Paver’s previous ghost stories, I was very much looking forward to this new story. It didn’t disappoint!

Once more, the author goes for a gothic feel, even using a frame to her narrative in the shape of a newspaper article bringing back to the fore the infamous case of a certain Edmund Stearne who killed a worker and was as a result declared insane. Journalist Patrick Rippon succeeds in getting an interview with Stearne’s daughter, now in her old age, and gets an account of the events from her own eyes...

After the wilds of nature of the Hilamayas and the Arctic, Paver this time uses an old manor house as the setting and that of the fens, which turn out to be as chilling if not more. Her style does recall that of M.R. James, and of course Susan Hill and Shirley Jackson, especially with her focus on the psychological side of things. The narration is slow but builds, layer by layer, growing in power, until the final denouement. And then, there is Maud, who stole the show for me with her intelligence and feistiness.


I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Michelle Paver, and the publisher, Head of Zeus, for this opportunity.

Let me start of by saying my rating is a combination of my enjoyment of the book versus the quality of the writing.

The writing is pretty solid. The main character Maud is interesting. With her restricted upbringing and her father’s disinterest, I found myself both rooting for her and pitying her. And yet the plot of the book did not engage me enough to keep my attention. I found myself being distracted from it too easily.

Whether I was not in the mood for a gothic tale or simply because this book was not quite for me, I am not sure, but I simply did not enjoy it as much as I felt I should have done.

I did like the writing style overall, but I found Maud’s father’s journal entries were a bit much at times and I wish the story and plot had unfolded in a different manner.

Having said that, I think there will be plenty of people out there who will really enjoy this novel and if the synopsis sounds up your street, I would recommend giving this one a go.

Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver

It is 1966 and Maud Stearne has lived a reclusive life for over fifty years, living alone but for her cook in Wake’s End, her large house in the tiny hamlet of Wakenhyrst in the Suffolk fens. The outside world has left Maud in peace for many of those years but now that might be about to change, thanks to the recent discovery of her father’s remarkable paintings. These portray a tortured mind, reminding the world what happened sixty years before during the Edwardian period. Maud’s father murdered somebody in a terrible fashion and Maud was the only witness. She’s never talked about it, or indeed talked about much, to anybody since. But now, in need of funds to restore this dilapidated, rotting house, Maud is prepared to reveal the horrible truth, to disclose the contents of her father’s journals, to wake up the demons.

Michelle Paver is a master of historical horror. Both Dark Matter and Thin Air, ghostly tales set in the 1930s, are must-reads and I couldn’t wait to read Wakenhyrst. This time, we travel back to the Edwardian period and, whereas before we were taken to the Arctic Winter and then into the Himalayas, we now find ourselves in the Suffolk fens, a remote swampland, disconnected from the rest of England. It is another of those places in which anything can happen, hidden from the outside world, and where superstition and fear of the dark can conquer reason.

The novel is book-ended by the 1960s but otherwise events take place in the first years of the 20th century and is divided between Maud’s own story and extracts from her father Edmund’s journal. It’s a structure that works so well as the personality of Edmund, and of Maud, develops before us. The contrast between Edmund’s words and his view of himself with the way in which Maud sees him and history judges him is striking. Wakenhyrst is, in fact, not so much of a horror tale, although it describes horrible things, but a psychological thriller set in a time and place when the unexpected or the unusual could be blamed on demons, witches and spirits that lurk in the fens. Edmund Stearne, an intellectual (in his eyes) with a fascination for medieval superstition, is an easy victim. There’s also another voice in the novel which adds to its mood, that of a medieval mystic, with whom Edmund becomes obsessed.

But alongside the horror of what Edmund perceives in the fens around him, that fills his house with a smell he hates as well as creatures that wriggle and scurry, there is Maud’s own nightmare and that has resulted from the reality of life in a remote house with a father such as Edmund Stearne. The themes resonate. The fate of unhappy wives doomed to bear child upon child, never given a rest by their lecherous, foul husbands, the disrespect and lack of care given to girl-children who are left uneducated and little more than servants. Then there are the servants themselves, especially the young women who become prey. Maud lives in a house of monsters very different from those that haunt Edmund and it’s to Maud’s story that we’re drawn. And we’re aware that so much of it would be typical through so much of history. Michelle Paver tells a compelling story and Maud is its worthy heroine.

I loved the sense of place that is created in Wakenhyrst. The fens are a character in their own right. Some hate them and others love them and almost become part of them. The descriptions are beautiful and the characters who live within them are brilliantly brought to life, dialect and all. Maud very much belongs to the fens and I loved the way in which her relationship to it, as well as to its animals and people, is portrayed. I visit the fens frequently myself, it’s a place I love to be, and I really enjoyed their place in this wonderful novel.

In Wakenhyrst, Michelle Paver has moved away from ghostly tales and instead placed us firmly in the Gothic. This book is steeped in atmosphere as well as the stench and slime of the fen itself, a place barely touched by the outside world, and it is beautifully written and deliciously, gorgeously creepy.

Other reviews
Dark Matter
Thin Air

An atmospheric, enthralling, and entertaining story that you cannot put down.
It starts slowly and the creepiness and the tension build up page after page.
I loved how the writer developed the story, the attention to the details and how the characters were fleshed out.
I loved Gothic novels and this one was very good.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Head of Zeus and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This did not work for me as it was so mediocre and I'm getting bored of reading Neo-Victorian fiction that has exactly the same plot as an earlier book. Maud was an interesting character but she was overshadowed by the other characters being more compelling and wanting to follow them instead. The diary elements were my favourite part but the framing of this was done slopely and could have been stronger. This is not a bad book by any means but this was just so average compared to other Neo-Victorian works that have done it earlier and better.

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.