Hay Festival Book Club – Dark Matter
Michelle Paver in conversation with Danny Robins
– Free Online
A terrifying 1930s ghost story set in the haunting wilderness of the far north.
Clouds of war are gathering over a fogbound London. Twenty-eight year old Jack is poor, lonely and desperate to change his life. So when he’s offered the chance to be the wireless operator on an Arctic expedition, he jumps at it. Spirits are high as the ship leaves Norway: five men and eight huskies, crossing the Barents Sea by the light of the midnight sun. At last they reach the remote, uninhabited bay where they will camp for the next year. Gruhuken.
But the Arctic summer is brief. As night returns to claim the land, Jack feels a creeping unease. One by one, his companions are forced to leave. He faces a stark choice. Stay or go. Soon he will see the last of the sun, as the polar night engulfs the camp in months of darkness. Soon he will reach the point of no return – when the sea will freeze, making escape impossible. And Gruhuken is not uninhabited. Jack is not alone. Something walks there in the dark.
Read it? Let us know what you think on TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram using #HFBookClub.
Further reading
Michelle Paver: a life in writing https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/aug/24/michelle-paver-life-in-writing
Michelle Paver's top 5 Gothic thrillers https://www.bigissue.com/culture/books/michelle-pavers-top-5-gothic-thrillers/
About the author
Michelle Paver is a British novelist and children's writer, best known for her fantasy series Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, set in pre-agricultural Stone Age Europe. Michelle Paver was born in Nyasaland (now Malawi) in central Africa. Her mother was Belgian (Flemish) and her South African father ran a newspaper, The Nyasaland Times. Her family settled in Wimbledon, England when she was three. She was educated at the Wimbledon High School. After reading biochemistry at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, she became a partner in a City of London law firm. Her father's death in 1996 prompted her to take a one-year sabbatical, in which she travelled and wrote her first book, Without Charity. Soon after her return, she resigned from legal practice to concentrate on writing.
About Hay Festival Book Club
Timeless titles to offer you a break from the day to day. Can't decide what to read next? Follow your curiosity and join Hay Festival on a journey to imagine the world anew through great literature. Unconstrained by genre or form these are our monthly picks of great books worth reading (or re-reading) right now.
Throughout the month, we'll share interesting links and articles relating to our selection on social media using #HFBookClub and invite you all to get involved with your questions and comments. Each selection will also be marked with a free online event.
If you'd like to recommend a book for consideration, get in touch via bookclub@hayfestival.org.
Happy reading!
Supported by Unwin Charitable Trust.
Compre el libro para esta actividad
Dark Matter
January 1937. Clouds of war are gathering over a fogbound London. Twenty-eight year old Jack is poor, lonely and desperate to change his life. So when he's offered the chance to join an Arctic expedition, he jumps at it. Spirits are high as the ship leaves Norway: five men and eight huskies, crossing the Barents Sea by the light of the midnight sun. At last they reach the remote, uninhabited bay where they will camp for the next year. Gruhuken.
But the Arctic summer is brief. As night returns to claim the land, Jack feels a creeping unease. One by one, his companions are forced to leave. He faces a stark choice. Stay or go. Soon he will see the last of the sun, as the polar night engulfs the camp in months of darkness. Soon he will reach the point of no return - when the sea will freeze, making escape impossible.
And Gruhuken is not uninhabited. Jack is not alone. Something walks there in the dark...
