The Wake

WINNER OF THE GORDON BURN PRIZE 2014SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE 2014'A resonant, eloquent ballad of English identity, pride and fierce independence. It is a thrilling story. Read it out loud. It is like nothing else' - Mark Rylance'My top book of the year so far. Just superb' - Eleanor Catton'A literary triumph' - Adam Thorpe, Guardian'It takes time and concentration, but it is effort repaid ... it forces you into another, more ancient way of seeing things' - John Self, Sunday TimesA post-apocalyptic novel set a thousand years ago, The Wake tells the story of Buccmaster of Holland, a free farmer of Lincolnshire, owner of three oxgangs - a man clinging to the Old Gods as the world changes drastically around him. After losing his sons at the Battle of Hastings and his wife and home to the invading Normans, Buccmaster begins to gather together a band of 'grene men', to take up arms and resist their brutal invaders.Written in what the author calls 'a shadow tongue' - a version of Old English updated so as to be understandable for the modern reader - The Wake is a landmark in historical fiction and looks set to become a modern classic.