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Michael Stewart
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Ill Will Paperback – January 29, 2019

by Michael Stewart (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 71 ratings
See all formats and editions

‘An astonishing novel’ The Independent

I am William Lee: brute; liar, and graveside thief.

But you will know me by another name.

Heathcliff has left Wuthering Heights, and is travelling across the moors to Liverpool in search of his past.

Along the way, he saves Emily, the foul-mouthed daughter of a Highwayman, from a whipping, and the pair journey on together.

Roaming from graveyard to graveyard, making a living from Emily’s apparent ability to commune with the dead, the pair lie, cheat and scheme their way across the North of England.

And towards the terrible misdeeds – and untold riches – that will one day send Heathcliff home to Wuthering Heights.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    336 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    HQ
  4. Publication date
    January 29, 2019
  5. Dimensions
    5.06 x 0.81 x 7.8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0008316066
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0008316068
  8. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Stewart is a multi-award winning writer, born and brought up in Salford, who moved to Yorkshire in 1995 and is now based in Bradford. He has written several full length stage plays, one of which, Karry Owky, was joint winner of the King’s Cross Award for New Writing. His debut novel, King Crow, was published in January 2011. It won the Guardian’s Not-the-Booker Award and has been selected as a recommended read for World Book Night.

He works as a is senior lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Huddersfield, where he is the director of the Huddersfield Literature Festival.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HQ (January 29, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0008316066
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0008316068
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.5 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.06 x 0.81 x 7.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 71 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Michael Stewart

Michael Stewart

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Michael Stewart is a multi-award winning writer, born and brought up in Salford, who moved to Yorkshire in 1995 and is now based in Bradford. He has written several full length stage plays, one of which, Karry Owky, was joint winner of the King’s Cross Award for New Writing, as well as securing work in radio and television.

He was the winner of the BBC Alfred Bradley Award in 2003 and his plays have been performed in Bradford, Leeds, Manchester, London, and extensively throughout the country. His radio play Excluded was shortlisted for the Imison Award 2008.

He was writer in residence at Theatre in the Mill in Bradford, and is now Head of Creative Writing at the University of Huddersfield, where he is the editor of Grist Books. www.hud.ac.uk/grist

His fiction has been published widely in anthologies and magazines, including Route, Leaf Books, Brand Magazine, Riptide and The Reader. His debut novel, King Crow, was published in January 2011 by Bluemoose Books. It is the winner of the Guardian’s Not-the-Booker Award and has been selected as a recommended read for World Book Night. His other books include, Café Assassin (novel), Mr Jolly (short fiction), Couples (poetry). His latest novel is Ill Will: The Untold Story of Heathcliff. Published by HarperCollins, it is available in paperback, hardback, as an e-book and also audiobook. It has been optioned by Kudos Films. Walking the Invisible, also published by HarperCollins, is a hybrid memoir and the landscapes that inspired the Brontës. It is available in paperback, hardback, e-book and audiobook. Four Letter Words (short fiction) is published by Wrecking Ball Press.

www.michael-stewart.org.uk

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
71 global ratings

Top review from the United States

Pamela
2.0 out of 5 stars Not as purported to be
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2019
Verified Purchase
Was so excited to read this but the further I got into it the more disappointed I became. It was a slow read and came to an abrupt end. Very disappointed.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

B. Scott
5.0 out of 5 stars Wuthering Hell!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 21, 2023
Verified Purchase
Not usually a lover of spin-off' books, prequels or sequels of the great classics of literature, I started to read this with a degree of scepticism, expecting deep disappointment at the turn of every page. Not so.

Michael Stewart knows what he's doing. Yes, this is a BRUTAL story, and Heathcliff is a brutal, some could say an inhuman, protagonist. Just as he is in 'Wuthering Heights', as Emily Brontë created him. He's nobody's idea of a 'Hero', except in the eyes of countless Hollywood directors and the people who watch the resulting fims with avidity but have obviously never bothered to read the novel, because it doesn't fit in with their received perception of heroism. Or because it's too difficult to grapple with.

The original Heathcliff was brutalised as a child, brutalised throughout his formative years, and learned to accept such treatment as the 'norm'. And give it back, measure for measure, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The abused becoming the abuser. There is hardly a single person in 'Wuthering Heights' who doesn't feel the lash of hatred and revenge, not merely Hindley, but Edgar Linton, Isabella Linton-Heathcliff, young Linton Heathcliff, Catherine Earnshaw, Cathy Linton, even Hareton Earnshaw. The servants, Joseph and Nelly Dean get off lightly by comparison, but even the dopey narrator, Lockwood, comes in for a rough time. This is not a love story. Certainly not in any traditional sense of the word.

I reckon Michael Stewart has done a sterling job, here. Those who rated it low on the star scale need to go back to source and read or re-read 'Wuthering Heights' with their eyes and their minds wide open and their bums off the plush seats in the cinema.

Then try this book, 'Ill Will' again.
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Susie Jane
4.0 out of 5 stars Good
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 29, 2023
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed reading this. A good book about what Emily Brontë's character Heathcliff may have done during those years he spent away from Wuthering Heights.
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Hannahwoodland
5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating insight
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2018
Verified Purchase
Never has a character divided opinion as much as Heathcliffe.Was he a hero or villain? This story focuses on what happens to him in his missing years.
Michael Stewart's take on him is a fascinating one,showing a character full of passion,rage and bitterness,and a lot of determination.
The book has been very well researched historically, and is clearly written by someone who knows and loves the moorland of West Yorkshire. The descriptions are wonderful.
I think it is a must read for lovers of Wuthering Heights,and even if this portrayal of Heathcliffe doesn't match 'your' Heathcliffe, it is a great book none the less.
Very much recommended
3 people found this helpful
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Claire O'Callaghan
5.0 out of 5 stars The road to Heathcliff’s past
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2018
Verified Purchase
Loved this book. Michael Stewart’s imaginative rendering of Heathcliff’s ‘missing years’ is action-packed while still being moving. Stewart’s take on the racial ambiguity in Emily Brontë’s novel is well-thought out and historically canny. He knows his Brontë, his history and his geography. The book doesn’t shy away from the violence in Brontë’s novel and, in fact, follows Emily’s lead but with far greater detail. While that aspect of the novel may not be for everyone, it’s an echo of the already violent world that appears in Wuthering Heights. If reimagining the Victorians is your thing, this is one to read.
3 people found this helpful
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Susannah Jupp
5.0 out of 5 stars Enigma
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 16, 2019
Verified Purchase
I simply couldn't leave this book alone. Michael Stewart has written a quite possible background for the eternally fascinating anti - hero Heathcliff.
In an era when life was hellish for the poor, and hygiene lacked a lot to be desired Heathcliff's life is difficult to start with and becomes more of a struggle as time continues.
As for little Emily, she has (if possible) a tougher time in life than Heathcliff'. Who needs to be the orphaned child of a highwayman in Georgian England?
One person found this helpful
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