The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones

Jack Wolf's extraordinary 18th-century story does exactly what it says on the cover. It's a tale, in the grandest sense of the word. It's raw, at times even extreme. It explores elegantly the eternal dialogue between the head and bones. And it's quite startlingly, and beautifully, bloody ... Jack Wolf delivers his tale with passion, precision and poetry. Those of strong stomach and vivid imagination will find glittering delights in here

Lloyd Shepherd, Guardian

This gloriously over-egged pudding of a first novel is set in 1750, and crammed with chunks of history, philosophy and folklore ... Wolf is a superb storyteller who sucks the reader into his fascinating imagination

Kate Saunders, The Times

This moving tale of metamorphosis and blurred identity, otherness and liminality ... An extraordinarily controlled and artful book

Suzi Feay, Financial Times

Sadist, frequenter of brothels, afflicted by delusions and murderous intentions, Tristan Hart is among the most striking and memorable anti-heroes to have appeared in recent British fiction

Jonathan Barnes, Times Literary Supplement

This tale of a conflicted medical man opens in 1750 and evokes historical fiction such as Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Andrew Miller’s Ingenious Pain, and Peter Ackroyd’s Hawksmoor. The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones, Jack Wolf’s debut novel, can stand alongside these modern classics ... This is an extraordinarily controlled and artful book

Suzy Feay, Financial Times

Lovers of gruesome Grand Guignol will be delighted by Jack Wolf’s debut, which relocates a Jekyll-and-Hyde story of a medic with a split-personality to the 18th century... Wolf’s sure hand with Hart’s arcane voice and intelligent control of material including medical history and strange folklore results in a thrilling tale of transgression

Tina Jackson, Metro

frequently thought-provoking ... We are often unsure if something is actually happening or whether it is a figment of Tristan's mind ... considerable literary talent on display

Jonathan Wright, Herald

An extravagant, eccentric and wonderfully written first novel

Saga Magazine

This clever roller-coaster ride will challenge your reasoning, shake your senses and keep you awake at night

We Love this Book

There is so much amazing stuff in this book. It’s written in the style of the period, which could come off a bit twee or tiresome, but is actually triumphant. I wanted to climb inside the book and have a look around … It’s a gory, violent, visceral book – there’s no concession to the squeamish. It’s also gloriously weaves the rational, scientific thoughts of the eighteenth century with the supernatural and superstitious. It wasn’t all enlightenment; there was plenty of shade too, which is captured so well here. It is crazy to think this is a first novel. Jack Wolf is a bloody good writer

And Then I Read a Book

The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones

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