The Bellwether Revivals

Product Description

Part Secret History, part Brideshead Revisited for the 21st century, The Bellwether Revivals is a page-turning, romantic, eerie tale of genius and, possibly, madness; a stunning debut for fans of Sarah Waters, Donna Tartt, and Lauren Goff.

The Bellwether Revivals opens and closes with bodies. The story of whose bodies and how they come to be spread about an elegant house on the river near Cambridge is told by Oscar, a young, bright working class man who has fallen in love with an upper-class Cambridge student, Iris, and thereby become entangled with a group of close friends, led by Iris's charismatic, brilliant, possibly dangerous brother. For Eden Bellwether believes he can heal -- and perhaps more -- through the power of music.

In this masterful debut, we too are seduced by this gilded group of young people, entranced by Eden's powerful personality and his obvious talent as a musician, and caught off guard by the strangeness of Iris and Eden's parents. And we find ourselves utterly unsure as to whether Eden Bellweather is a saviour or a villain, and whether Oscar will be able to solve this mystery in time to save himself, if not everyone else.

Review

“Benjamin Wood's debut novel, The Bellwether Revivals, draws readers in, much as Eden's organ draws Oscar, a young nursing-home care assistant, into King's College Chapel, at Cambridge. It doesn't matter that Oscar is an atheist. Before he knows it, he's sat through an entire service – just as the reader has stayed up all night, seduced by Wood's vivid prose, swept up in a crescendo of suspense. . . .”
—Globe and Mail

“This meaty and satisfying psychological thriller is an impressive literary debut. . . . Wood finds a way to keep [his plot] fresh and interesting, even as much of the action unfolds in an old and ominous estate. . . . Wood also powerfully conveys the transformational qualities of music, essential to fully realizing Eden's character. . . . An entertaining read.”
—Winnipeg Free Press

“The text hints at the plot lines and stylistic whirls of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited and W. Somerset Maugham’s The Magician and other memorable British fiction from the first half of the last century. . . . [Wood] can write lovely prose and is able to maintain a page-turning narrative pace.”
—Toronto Star

“Wood creates intriguing characters and situations that are difficult to resist. The ultimate resolution of this fast-paced novel is equally mesmerizing.”
—Chatelaine

“When Wood allows Oscar, the voice of the novel, to wander the history-saturated city [of Cambridge] the novel soars. . . . Cambridge itself is the antagonist and allurement of subtlest force in Oscar’s life, and the stellar character of The Bellwether Revivals.”
—National Post

“Eden Bellwether is one of the most intriguing and disturbing literary characters I've come across -- and he's what makes Benjamin Wood's The Bellwether Revivalssuch a page-turner. . . . This is a stunner of a debut novel, and Wood creates a palpable sense of dread and foreboding throughout. Though he deals with weighty subjects such as the religion vs science debate, psychology, and the power of music, the plot never suffers, moving along at a brisk pace.”
—CityTV (citytv.com Friday bookclub)

“Accomplished, atmospheric, and suspenseful . . . . Wood’s prose attains the high level of craft we expect from literary novels.”
—Quill & Quire

“It’s impossible not to think of Donna Tartt when you read Benjamin Wood’s debut novel. . . . The Bellwether Revivals is a very good first novel . . . classically told.”
—January magazine

“An intellectual and eerie novel . . . part psychological thriller, part philosophical coming-of-age grand saga.”
—Vancouver Sun

“In this multi-themed and far-reaching novel, the dichotomies of reason and superstition, sanity and madness, science and faith, are given close and sustained attention.”
—The Guardian

“A powerful read that explores the conflicts that arise between logic, religio