The Wakes

‘Warm, funny, profound’ — SALLY HEPWORTH

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'Tender, moving and wise’ — LIANE MORIARTY

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‘A truly exceptional novel’ — KELLY RIMMER

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‘THE WAKES is a celebration of what it means to be alive’ — JOANNA NELL

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‘So warm and poignant and sweetly funny. I loved it’ — JACQUELINE MALEY

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‘Warm, funny, profound’ — SALLY HEPWORTH ✴ 'Tender, moving and wise’ — LIANE MORIARTY ✴ ‘A truly exceptional novel’ — KELLY RIMMER ✴ ‘THE WAKES is a celebration of what it means to be alive’ — JOANNA NELL ✴ ‘So warm and poignant and sweetly funny. I loved it’ — JACQUELINE MALEY ✴

The Wakes is a bittersweet and irresistibly readable novel that perfectly blends laugh-aloud humour with poignant reflections on life and death and what really matters.

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THE WAKES:

This is a story about Clare, Louisa and Chris. And sometimes Paul, and less often, Beth. It is most certainly not about frittatas (a terrible concession), and more to do with lemon tart (a perfect contrast of textures).

It is about what to do when your husband tells you that he doesn't love you anymore. And what to do when your wife leaves you after too many rounds of IVF. It's about helping your new friend with her funeral catering business, and discovering that, sometimes, the most unlikely of pairings are the very, very best. It is about food that is outrageously good and comforting to sad people. And, for once, not being sensible, and throwing away everything you know.

Catering, like life, doesn't always go according to plan, and as Clare, Louisa and Chris's stories become more intertwined, they will learn that life will always manage to break in to remind you of just how good it can be.

This is a book about living. After all, the thing about death is that it makes life important.

A heartfelt, funny and uplifting debut about two failing marriages, two strangers falling in love, two friends embarking on a catering business - and the four funerals that connect them all

‘A truly delightful debut novel about life, death . . . and chicken sandwiches. I ate up every delicious word’

— LIANE MORIARTY | Author

‘Some books grab hold of you and won’t let go ...

The Wakes is an unforgettable story of hope and regret, of love lost and friendship found, and of understanding how the past and present are always intertwined’

— SOPHIE GREEN | Author

‘An utter delight. I can’t wait for everyone to read it.

I couldn’t believe it was a debut’

— SALLY HEPWORTH | Author

‘I adored this novel.

It’s charming, poignant and moving but also very funny and left me full of the joys of this hard yet beautiful business of being alive’

— CATHY RENTZENBRINK | Author

‘Dianne Yarwood explores the messiness of middle age with warmth, humanity and wry humour, as well as fiction’s most delicious lemon tarts!

I’d eat this book if I could’

— JOANNA NELL | Author

‘The Wakes skilfully illuminates the breadth of the human experience through the eyes of a suite of perfectly imperfect characters.

This novel is rich with wisdom, love, humour and a sparkling joy – that unique kind of story that can make you sob and chuckle in the very same scene’

— KELLY RIMMER | Author

‘An absolute delight . . . immensely human and warm and satisfying’

— SHELLEY BURR | Author

‘Utterly wonderful! The kind of book where you want to stay in that world long after it’s finished.

Such a brilliant mix of gentle humour and devastating sadness. My favourite kind of poignant read’

— KAYTE NUNN | Author

PRODUCT DETAILS:

Print ISBN: 9780733648021
eBook ISBN: 9780733648045
AudioBook ISBN: 9780733648038
Publisher: Hachette Australia Books & Phoenix Books UK
AU & NZ On Sale: 1 March 2023
UK On Sale: 13 April 2023
Pages: 304
Print : $32.99 | eBook : RRP $12.99 | Audiobook $34.99