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Wake

A heartrending story of three women and the journey of the Unknown Warrior

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About this listen

Five Days in November, 1920:
As the body of the Unknown Soldier makes its way home from the fields of Northern France, three women are dealing with loss in their own way: Hettie, who dances for sixpence a waltz at the Hammersmith Palais; Evelyn, who toils at a job in the pensions office, and Ada, a housewife who is beset by visions of her dead son. One day a young man comes to her door. He carries with him a wartime mystery that will bind these women together and will both mend and tear their hearts.

A portrait of three intertwining lives caught at the faultline between empire and modernity, Wake captures the beginnings of a new era, and the day the mood of the nation changed for ever

 Biographical Fiction Family Life Genre Fiction War & Military World Literature Fiction Heartfelt

Critic reviews

A compelling and emotionally charged debut about the painful aftermath of war and the ways - small, brave or commonplace - that keep us going. It touches feelings we know, and settings - dance halls, war front, queues outside the grocer - that we don't. I loved it. (Rachel Joyce, author of THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY)
A tender and timely novel, full of compassion and quiet insight. The author gives us a moving and original glimpse into the haunted peace after the Great War, her characters drawn by the gravity of the unmarked, the unknown and perhaps, finally, the unhoped for. (Chris Cleave, author of THE OTHER HAND)
Wake is powerful and humane; a novel that charms and beguiles. Anna Hope's characters are so real; flawed and searching, and her prose so natural, one almost forgets how very great a story she is telling. (Sadie Jones, author of THE OUTCAST)
Superb ... beautifully crafted
A moving novel about the aftershock of the 1914-1918 conflict. ... unlikely many will prove better than Anna Hope's Wake
Absorbing and timely
Wise and insightful
A hit, we think!
Impressive and poignant ... moving and rewarding
Poignant ... stays long in the memory
All stars
Most relevant
I have read some of the other reviews which I feel are less than generous regarding the fact that Anna Hope is reading her own story and therefore the reading is somewhat monotone. I think that given the subject of the story it would be hard for anyone to be joyful.

The story is set in the aftermath of the 1st World War when a whole generation of young men have been decimated and the women of the country are trying to come to terms with the loss of their sons, husbands, fiancés and indeed their futures.

Surviving men are also changed. Physically in many cases, but emotionally and psychologically almost certainly, and they too have to rewrite their own futures limited by the horrors of war.

The story concentrates on five days in November 1920 when the body of the unknown soldier is returning from France to be placed in the tomb at the Cenotaph. The body is to become a symbol of all the sons, husbands and fiancés which have been lost, either who cannot be identified at all, or whose bodies remain in France and cannot be reached by their own families.

It tells the story of three of the women who are linked by tragedy but who don't know each other. The story is poignant and beautiful and brought to life for me the era of my grandmother, who was 18 at the end of the First World War, and who I thought about often throughout the telling of the story.

I think this is a novel which will stay with me for a long time. I loved it in a sad way, it was haunting, well written and I shall listen to it again at some time in the future when I think I will probably identify even more depths to the story.

Beautiful and compelling story

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Where does Wake rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

its a great book, very well read. the characters are so well drawn that you feel their loss. the descriptions are clear and you begin to understand what the world post WW1 must have been like.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Wake?

the end when they all go to London to see the procession of the Unknown Warrior. the description of the crowds all being dressed in black and how the men all took off their hats as a mark of respect. very powerful stuff.

What about Anna Hope’s performance did you like?

she read the book as she meant it to come across. I found it confusing that there were no breaks when changing from one character to another, and felt a bit lost but only to start with. it allowed you to understand that these story lines were all running at the same time. I wonder if it looks different in print?

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

you will weep by the end, beware

you will become involved, learn and weep

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A brilliant story with so many threads all intertwined, a great book about how conflict touches so many lives in different ways,

Poignant and Moving

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A stunning story of the pain left over in the wake of war. A must.

Truly Beautiful

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Where does Wake rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Near the top for a number of things

What was one of the most memorable moments of Wake?

Ada's inability to articulate her feelings to her husband after seeing the medium

What does Anna Hope bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Perfect pace

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not sure I could cope with all that emotion in one go

Any additional comments?

A history lesson to make you feel so many unspoken emotions

A book to break your heart

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