The Wake (novel)

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The Wake
The Wake (novel).jpg
First edition
Author Paul Kingsnorth
Country United Kingdom
Language Anglish
SeriesBuckmaster trilogy
Genre Historical fiction
Set in The Lincolnshire Fens during the Norman Invasion
PublisherUnbound Digital
Publication date
April 30, 2015 (2015-04-30)
Pages384
Awards
ISBN 978-1-908-71786-3
Website unbound.com/books/the-wake OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The Wake is a 2014 debut novel by British author Paul Kingsnorth. [1] Written in an "imaginary language", a kind of hybrid between Old English and Modern English, [2] [3] it tells of "Buccmaster of Holland", [3] an Anglo-Saxon freeman forced to come to terms with the effects of the Norman Invasion of 1066, during which his wife and sons were killed. [4] He begins a guerrilla war against the Norman invaders in the Lincolnshire Fens. [3] [5]

Kingsnorth financed the work through crowdfunding on the platform Unbound. After not receiving support through a mainstream publisher, he did not initially expect a large response to his work. [6] However, the book was longlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize [7] and won the 2014 Gordon Burn Prize. [8] The film rights were acquired by the actor and director Mark Rylance, [6] [9] who also read a section of the book in 2014 at the Hay Festival. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 Wagner, Erica (30 June 2016). "The constant gardener". New Statesman. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  2. Maloney, Jennifer (27 August 2015). "The Wake Poses Readers a Novel Challenge". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Thorpe, Adam (2 April 2014). "The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth review 'A literary triumph'". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  4. Sethi, Anita (10 May 2015). "The Wake review – Paul Kingsnorth's innovative, 'shadow language' novel". The Guardian . Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  5. McBride, Eimear (27 August 2014). "1066 and all that: Eimear McBride on The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth". New Statesman . Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  6. 1 2 Shapiro, Ari (27 August 2015). "The Wake is an Unlikely Hit In An Imaginary Language". NPR . Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  7. "The Wake — Paul Kingsnorth". Man Booker Prize. 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  8. "Mark Rylance-backed novel wins £5,000 literary prize". BBC News Online . 30 November 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  9. "Mark Rylance film option is latest coup for crowd-funded novel, The Wake". The Guardian. 3 November 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2015.