The Wake

A post-apocalyptic novel set a thousand years ago, Paul Kingsnorth’s account of the resistance to the Norman invasion is a landmark in modern fiction.Set in the three years after the Norman invasion of 1066, The Wake tells the story of a man from the Lincolnshire Fens who, with a fractured band of guerrilla fighters, takes up arms against the invaders. It is a post-apocalyptic story of the brutal shattering of lives, a tale of lost gods and haunted visions, narrated by a man bearing witness to the end of his world. Written in what the author describes as “a shadow tongue”—a version of Old English updated so as to be understandable to the modern reader—The Wake renders the inner life of an Anglo-Saxon man with an accuracy and immediacy rare in historical fiction"It is no surprise that The Wake was long-listed for the Booker Prize in 2014 and has received praise from the likes of Philip Pullman, Eleanor Catton, and Geoff Dyer, among others. He has taken what could have been a thoroughly predictable novel and turned it on its head, delivering surprise after surprise. The novel becomes a meditation on what men are capable of as they are forced to watch their world fall apart around them. Powerless, damaged, and damned, Buccmaster of Holland is an unsettling character and his story is as disturbingly human as they come." - Katy Bowman, The Washington Independent Review Of BooksPaul Kingsnorth is, to date, the only member of the Booker Prize fraternity also to be a member of the Lani tribe of western Papua New Guinea. Kingsnorth's tribal status was endowed as a result of his campaigning on behalf of the provinces of Papua and West Papua to secede from Indonesia. Campaigning is his métier: as a younger man, he was involved with road protest groups and was arrested for chaining himself to a bridge. He has worked for Greenpeace, OpenDemocracy and EarthAction and in 2001 was named one of Britain’s ‘top ten troublemakers’ by In the aftermath of the Norman Invasion of 1066, William the Conqueror was uncompromising and brutal. English society was broken apart, its systems turned on their head. What is little known is that a fractured network of guerrilla fighters took up arms against the French occupiers. In The Wake , a postapocalyptic novel set a thousand years in the past, Paul Kingsnorth brings this dire scenario back to us through the eyes of the unforgettable Buccmaster, a proud landowner bearing witness to the end of his world. Accompanied by a band of like-minded men, Buccmaster is determined to seek revenge on the invaders. But as the men travel across the scorched English landscape, Buccmaster becomes increasingly unhinged by the immensity of his loss, and their path forward becomes increasingly unclear. Written in what the author describes as a shadow tonguea version of Old English updated so as to be understandable to the modern reader The Wake renders the inner life of an Anglo-Saxon man with an accuracy and immediacy rare in historical fiction. To enter Buccmasters world is to feel powerfully the sheer strangeness of the past. A tale of lost gods and haunted visions, The Wake is both a sensational, gripping story and a major literary achievement. Everyone Knows The Date Of The Battle Of Hastings. Far Fewer People Know What Happened Next...set In The Three Years After The Norman Invasion, The Wake Tells The Story Of A Fractured Band Of Guerilla Fighters Who Take Up Arms Against The Invaders. Carefully Hung On The Known Historical Facts About The Almost Forgotten War Of Resistance That Spread Across England In The Decade After 1066, It Is A Story Of The Brutal Shattering Of Lives, A Tale Of Lost Gods And Haunted Visions, Narrated By A Man Of The Lincolnshire Fens Bearing Witness To The End Of His World. Written In What The Author Describes As 'a Shadow Tongue' - A Version Of Old English Updated So As To Be Understandable For The Modern Reader - The Wake Renders The Inner Life Of An Anglo-saxon Man With An Accuracy And Immediacy Rare In Historical Fiction. To Enter Buccmaster's World Is To Feel Powerfully The Sheer Strangeness Of The Past. Paul Kingsnorth. ... It Is Written Instead In What Might Be Called A Shadow Tongue - A Pseudo-language By Combining Some Of Its Vocabulary And Syntax With The English We Speak Today--page 353. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 361-364). "Everyone knows the date of the Battle of Hastings. Far fewer people know what happened next ... Set in the three years after the Norman invasion, The Wake tells the story of a fractured band of guerilla fighters who take up arms against the invaders. Carefully hung on the known historical facts about the almost forgotten war of resistance that spread across England in the decade after 1066, it is a story of the brutal shattering of lives, a tale of lost gods and haunted visions, narrated by a man of the Lincolnshire fens bearing witness to the end of his world. Written in what the author describes as 'a shadow tongue' -- a version of Old English updated so as to be understandable for the modern reader -- The Wake renders the inner life of an Anglo-Saxon man with an accuracy and immediacy rare in historical fiction. To enter Buccmaster's world is to feel powerfully the sheer strangeness of the past"--Provided by publisher Winner of the Gordon Burn Prize 2014 and The Bookseller Industry Book of the Year Award 2015. Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Folio Prize and shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize.A 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', who take up arms to resist their brutal invaders. Written in 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. 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.