The Bass Rock

The Bass Rock

‘A rising star of British fiction’ Sunday Telegraph

Summary

'A modern gothic triumph' Max Porter

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 by the men in their lives. But in sisterhood there is the hope of survival and new life...

WINNER OF THE STELLA PRIZE
_____

PRAISE FOR THE BASS ROCK:
'Daring, heartfelt, explosive' Daisy Johnson
'A vividly imagined portrait' Sunday Times
'Dark, disturbing and very sophisticated' William Boyd
'Wonderfully subtle and magnificently savage' Claire Fuller



Reviews

  • Like Ali Smith’s novels crossed with the TV series Fleabag… [The Bass Rock is] a vividly imagined portrait… There’s much to admire in its little miracles of observation… [Evie Wyld] knows how to maintain suspense, what to withhold and when to reveal it — right up to the spine-chilling last line.
    Johanna Thomas-Corr, Sunday Times

About the author

Evie Wyld

Evie Wyld is the award-winning author of four novels and one graphic novel. She has won the Betty Trask Award, Miles Franklin Award, John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, Encore Award, Jerwood Fiction Prize and the European Union Prize. In 2013 she was included in Granta’s once-a-decade list of Best of Young British Novelists. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and runs an independent bookshop in Peckham called Review.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more