Description

‘A modern gothic triumph. Spectacularly well-observed, profoundly disquieting and utterly riveting. Like all Evie Wyld’s work it is startlingly insightful about psychological and physical abuse. It is a haunting, masterful novel.’ -Max Porter

Surging out of the sea, the Bass Rock has for centuries watched over the lives that pass under its shadow on the Scottish mainland. And across the centuries the fates of three women are linked: to this place, to each other.

In the early 1700s, Sarah, accused of being a witch, flees for her life.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Ruth navigates a new house, a new husband and the strange waters of the local community.

Six decades later, the house stands empty. Viv, mourning the death of her father, catalogues Ruth’s belongings and discovers her place in the past – and perhaps a way forward.

Each woman’s choices are circumscribed, in ways big and small, by the men in their lives. But in sisterhood there is the hope of survival and new life. Intricately crafted and compulsively readable, The Bass Rock burns bright with anger and love.

*A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE TELEGRAPH, NEW STATESMAN AND GUARDIAN*

Publisher Review

Evie Wyld...[is] one of our most distinctive and vital voices. -- Stephanie Cross * Daily Mail, *Books to Look Our For in 2020* * A bewitching and atmospheric novel, laced with dread. It reveals the haunted house of society, with its echoes of damaged and extinguished lives, but is also illuminated by beautiful observation about people, and their capacity for both violence and empathy. -- James Scudamore Amazingly good. The Bass Rock will fill the air around you with angry ghosts and you will be glad in their company. -- Adam Foulds Evie Wyld's vivid, visceral writing has long been in a class of its own - and as beautiful as it is terrifying, as moral as it is furious, The Bass Rock is her at her unflinching best. -- Melissa Harrison I savoured this wonderful novel; it is so extraordinarily clear-eyed and vivid, sharply disturbing yet deeply compassionate. What an amazing achievement. A dark, gristly marvel of a novel. The Bass Rock held me in thrall from cover to cover. Evie Wyld is a gothic genius: her narrative of the violence inflicted on women throughout the centuries and the seething, female anger left in its wake left me with a deep sense of disquiet that will doubtless remain for years to come. -- Hannah Kent The Bass Rock is a multi-generational modern gothic triumph. It is spectacularly well-observed, profoundly disquieting and utterly riveting. Like all Evie Wyld's work it is startlingly insightful about psychological and physical abuse. It is a haunting, masterful novel. -- Max Porter Wyld is the most stupendous of writers, daring, heartfelt, explosive. The Bass Rock reminds us of all her power and brilliance, it thrums with an anger it is impossible not to feel. -- Daisy Johnson Vividly told and compelling... The Bass Rock is... beautifully written and powered by blistering force and righteous anger. -- Alice O'Keefe * Bookseller * A multilayered masterpiece; vivid, chilling, leaping jubilantly through space and time, it's a jaw dropping novel that confirms Wyld as one of our most gifted young writers. -- Alex Preston * Observer *