The Wake
- 365 pages
- 13 hours of reading
After his sons are killed at the Battle of Hastings and his family and farm are destroyed by the Norman invaders, Buccmaster leads a group of fighters on a quest of revenge.
This saga, set in a post-apocalyptic world a millennium ago, follows a man resisting drastic change. The author revitalizes history using a 'shadow tongue,' an Old English adapted for contemporary readers. The series explores themes of loss, resistance, and the preservation of old ways against invasion and devastation. It's a compelling historical fiction that delves into the lives of ordinary people during times of immense upheaval.
After his sons are killed at the Battle of Hastings and his family and farm are destroyed by the Norman invaders, Buccmaster leads a group of fighters on a quest of revenge.
Originally published: London: Faber & Faber, 2016.
'Like Robert Macfarlane re-written by Cormac McCarthy.' Telegraph'Beckett doing Beowulf.' London Review of Books One thousand years from now, the sole inhabitants of a small island - a group no larger than an extended family - are living in a post-civilised world.