Where the Dead Wait

Atria Books

Company type	Imprint
Industry	Publishing
Headquarters	United Kingdom
Area served	United Kingdom
Parent	Simon & Schuster

Where the Dead Wait is a 2023 novel by English writer Ally Wilkes that blends elements of historical fiction and supernatural horror. This marks her second published work, released in December 2023 in the United Kingdom by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Initially, the book was titled What Passes Through during its development phase.

Set against the backdrop of the nineteenth-century Arctic, Where the Dead Wait continues Wilkes's exploration of polar expeditions, following her debut novel, All the White Spaces (2022), which took place in early twentieth-century Antarctica.

Plot summary

The story unfolds across two separate periods within the Arctic Ocean. In 1869, William Day commands the vessel The Reckoning, tasked with navigating the Northwest Passage. After the captain succumbs to scurvy, Day takes over leadership. When the ship becomes icebound and supplies dwindle, Day and his crew face starvation and resort to cannibalism. Although they are eventually rescued, Day returns to London disgraced for losing his ship and permitting cannibalism; he becomes the subject of satirical cartoons labeled "Eat-Em-Fresh Day".

In 1882, acting on directives from the British Admiralty, Day captains The Resolution on a mission to locate Jesse Stevens, his former subordinate who disappeared during an Arctic expedition. Jesse’s wife Olive, who possesses psychic abilities, joins as a passenger to assist in the search through séances. Plagued by nightmares and harboring a secret affection for Stevens, Day begins to witness supernatural sightings of him throughout their journey.

Background

Wilkes has long been fascinated by early polar exploration, drawn to stories of endurance and human arrogance from an era when travel meant venturing into uncharted realms. While working on her first novel, All the White Spaces, which is set in Antarctica, she decided to create a companion piece situated in the Arctic.

She commenced writing What Passes Through in 2019, approximately three years prior to the release of All the White Spaces. By mid-2022, after multiple revisions, the manuscript was finalized for publication but underwent a title change to Where the Dead Wait to better engage potential readers.

The novel addresses the effects of colonialism on Arctic regions and indigenous communities. Wilkes collaborated with a sensitivity reader knowledgeable about historical interactions between Inuit peoples and Europeans. She openly recognized her standpoint as a white British author while striving to shed light on these complex issues.

Critical reception

A starred critique from Publishers Weekly described Where the Dead Wait as "a breathtaking achievement," commending Wilkes’s skillful management of dual timelines alongside vivid depictions of both external environments and internal psychological states that culminate in a compelling climax.

Becky Spratford at Library Journal highlighted the novel’s gradual pacing enriched with intricate portrayals of ships, characters, and icy landscapes. She observed how these elements mirror both the crew’s dire circumstances and their obsessive drive that fuels mounting dread. Spratford recommended it for readers who appreciate works by Alma Katsu and S. A. Barnes’ Dead Silence, particularly due to its intense psychological horror and themes of isolation.

Conversely, Kirkus Reviews noted that while the opening—characterized by raw prose and escalating suspense—showed promise, it eventually gave way to a repetitive narrative that dulled impact and concluded predictably. Similarly, John Slayton from the New York Journal of Books praised the intricately interwoven dual timelines but critiqued the plot for lacking depth and becoming monotonous. He also felt that character development was insufficient, with too much emphasis on Day’s past and fixation on Stevens, relying heavily on cannibalism-related horror tropes.

See also

• List of LGBT-themed speculative fiction
• List of LGBT characters in modern written fiction

External links

• Where the Dead Wait available at Simon & Schuster
• Where the Dead Wait listed on FantasticFiction