Sleeper's Wake by Alistair Morgan

Sleeper's Wake

Alistair Morgan

John Wraith awakes from a coma to find his wife and child were killed in the accident that has left him both physically and emotionally scarred. He escapes to a remote holiday home on the South African coast, but whilst there he collides dramatically with another grief-stricken family. The spare style of writing lends further emotional intensity to John's grief, and although disturbing, I found it a very compelling and unusual read.

Extract
'We will also need some proof of death. Do you have a certificate?'
'The proof of my wife's death is that she is no longer here. She is not at home in bed. She is not at work. She is not out shopping. She is not anywhere. What is left of her body is rotting in the ground!'
The two women freeze. A man who was standing at my side quickly backs away. The taller woman blushes, opens her mouth and begins to say something, but I cut her off: 'If you like I can take you to her grave. Would that help? Or would you like to have her exhumed just to be sure? Tell me! Tell me why it is so easy for her life to be cancelled, but not her fucking gym membership!'
Parallels
  • Disgrace by J M Coetzee
  • White Lightning by Justin Cartwright
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Violence
Explicit sexual content