Wake /weik/ 1. Emerge or cause to emerge from sleep 2. Ritual for the dead 3. Consequence or aftermath This debut incorporates all of its title’s definitions masterfully. The Unknown Warrior was exhumed from a scarred battlefield in France on 7th November 1920 and arrived at the Cenotaph five days later, on 11th. ‘Wake’ spans those five days, and gives searing perspectives of the Great War in retrospect, from a sister, a mother, and a lover trying to live in its shadow. This novel packs an emotional punch, but it is also luminously vibrant with observations of London’s social history. It has some of the freshest, finest descriptive phrasing that I’ve come across in a long while. The writing is sublime and absorbing, and as I was swayed between our three protagonists, there was a switching rhythm like a faltering heartbeat, and a sense of being waltzed throughout the pages. Evocative, arresting, and assured – This is one of the finest WW1 novels I’ve read, and I cannot wait to read more from Anna Hope.

An absurdly perfect cover, a highly-marketed World War One centenary product, yet another creative writing course clone: I really expected to hate this book. Instead, I loved it so much that I read it twice. This is a beautifully written novel, emotionally true and hauntingly intense without ever falling into the mawkishness or cliché I was expecting of it (i.e the cover, the hype). There is a depth to the characters, not only the main protagonists but equally the lesser ones. There is an assuredness to the historical background. The structure, with its three interwoven stories and the intertwined background narrative of the unknown soldier's journey from France to Westminster Abbey, is handled beautifully - and the links between all the narratives resolved quite naturally. The quality of the phrasing is, at times, superb, and the writing is crisp, sparse and sometimes very beautiful. The historical backdrop - the Great War itself and the burial of the Unknown Warrior - were dealt with confidently, and the research felt solid and reliable enough for me to trust to the author in the telling of this part of the tale. The book is not perfect, however: the occasional over-use and mis-use of period idiom and a small handful of period detail errors jarred slightly at times (oh, for the days of smaller marketing budgets and better editors...). The final paragraph or two were a little clunky, perhaps - though I was happy not to have everything overly tidied up at the end. None of these little hiccups, however, are significant enough for this book to deserve anything less than five stars. This is a wonderful novel, a real pleasure to read - and a greater pleasure to read a second time. Well done to Anna Hope on a very impressive debut.

This is a moving, evocative and powerful debut made by Hope about a subject that will no doubt be the basis of many more novels to be published over the next year. Make sure you read this first - you will not be disappointed! The way in which Hope juxtaposes the account of The Unknown Soldier against the emotional journeys of women entwined by war is very clever and refreshing in it's originality. This is definitely going on my list of must-reads for anybody looking for something new and powerful to read in 2014!

Wake /weik/ 1. Emerge or cause to emerge from sleep 2. Ritual for the dead 3. Consequence or aftermath This debut incorporates all of its title’s definitions masterfully. The Unknown Warrior was exhumed from a scarred battlefield in France on 7th November 1920 and arrived at the Cenotaph five days later, on 11th. ‘Wake’ spans those five days, and gives searing perspectives of the Great War in retrospect, from a sister, a mother, and a lover trying to live in its shadow. This novel packs an emotional punch, but it is also luminously vibrant with observations of London’s social history. It has some of the freshest, finest descriptive phrasing that I’ve come across in a long while. The writing is sublime and absorbing, and as I was swayed between our three protagonists, there was a switching rhythm like a faltering heartbeat, and a sense of being waltzed throughout the pages. Evocative, arresting, and assured – This is one of the finest WW1 novels I’ve read, and I cannot wait to read more from Anna Hope.

This is a moving and tender portrayal of the choice of the Unknown Warrior in 1920. It is an unusual way to view the impact of the First World War, and is highly effective. The novel follows the choice of the body from the battlefields of France and Belgium and it's journey to the Cenotaph; alongside the stories of three women, a sister, a lover and a mother. Each one has had their life shattered by what happened to their men during the war. The stories manage to come together both in conclusion and, as it turns out, in the trenches themselves. Parts of the story moved me to tears, I found the fragments following the journey made by the Unknown Warrior especially moving. This is a beautifully written book, and one which stands out among the recent crop of First World War novels in the run up to the anniversary next year.