Wakenhyrst is rather longer than Paver's first two adult books, and there is more to get your teeth into with this one - more characters, more threads to the story, and a much longer timeline. I dipped in and out of the print version for this one, but listened in entirety to the audio book, which is beautifully narrated by Juanita McMahon and is completely captivating. Having loved her previous two books for adults, Dark Matter (incidentally, one of the scariest books I have ever read!) and Thin Air, I was really looking forward to diving into Wakenhyrst her darkly Gothic thriller about murderous obsession and one girl's longing to fly free. I am a big fan of the dark and twisty writings of Michelle Paver. Maud is the only one who stands between her father and the destruction of her beloved fen.and the life of the young man she loves. These thoughts grow, as strange things begin to happen at Wakenhyrst, which he is positive are tied to both The Book of Alice Pyett and his past sins, and he is convinced that he has been chosen to capture a demon by God.īy reading her father's translation of Pyett's book, and scouring his personal journals, Maud comes to believe that her father is gradually losing his mind, but no one will believe her. Guthlaf's, he comes across the face of a demon hidden in the overgrown churchyard, which is part of a much larger painting named The Doom, and he becomes obsessed with the thought that dark forces are hidden in The Fen. When Maud's father arranges for some restoration work to begin at the local church, St.

Although she has had to take on the responsibilities of running the house so young, she is a very capable and intelligent girl, in fact, by far the most clever out of her and her brothers - but her strict and domineering father has little time for her, as a female - especially since she is plain - although he does find a use for her as a secretary, helping him to record his research findings into the mystical religious tract The Book of Alice Pyett.

Maud, the eldest of the children in the house, is lonely since she lost her mother at a young age, a woman worn out by the constant demands of childbearing on her frail frame.

In Edwardian Suffolk, Wakenhyrst manor stands in an isolated corner of The Fens - a magical wilderness that hides dark secrets in its murky depths.

Wakenhyrst novel