The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth

Published: 2014, unbound

Genre: Fiction

Themes: historical, norman invasion, fens, fighting

My rating (out of 5): ❤❤❤❤❤

I have finished reading The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth and it was worth the effort.  

This is a book written in a made up language based on old English.  At first glance it seemed to read like Chaucer's Prologue from the Canterbury Tales, and I almost abandoned it without getting further than the first page.  Luckily, Mark Rylance's recommendation stopped me.

I kept thinking that Mark Rylance wouldn't encourage me to read something that I wouldn't get something out of so, with my thumb in the glossary, I pressed on.  The first few pages were slow going as I got my head round the rhythm of the language, but its surprising how quickly you become used to it and start to read at a normal pace.

The tale is set in England just after the Norman invasion of 1066, and the main character, Buccmaster of Holland, sees a 'haeric star' [hairy star or comet] that appears to be an omen of something bad to come.  Something bad certainly does come, and what happens next is all based on facts, but the history is bought to life by the power of the simplistic language.

The Normans have invaded England, and Christianity is on the rise, so Buckmaster of Holland and a small band of men set out to form an army that will take England back to the old ways and restore order to the land.  The group spend a lot of time travelling on foot through the forests and the story tells how they survive and encourage others to join them.  

Buckmaster of Holland comes from the flat marshy Fenland, and he believes a great and ancient army lies beneath the waters just waiting to be called to action.  At the beginning of the book this a presented as a spiritual belief passed on to him by his grandfather, but as the story progresses it becomes an obsession bordering on madness.  The writing is blunt and consequently brings home the brutality of the time.  Even if this was not written in the invented language, this particular period of history may not be appealing to many, but I found that it got into my mind to the point that I was even using some of the words in my head.

By the time I got to the end of the book I felt a sense of pride and achievement that I had stuck with it and hadn't missed out on this gem of a book.  It won't be everybody's cup of tea, but there are a lot of people who rate it very highly.  Me included.