The Wake-Up Call by Beth O'Leary

Published 2023 · 99,747 words · about 5 hours at an average pace

How hard is The Wake-Up Call to read?

The Wake-Up Call scores 30 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it relatively accessible. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.

Vocabulary: 32 out of 100
O'Leary employs a contemporary vocabulary, accessible to a wide readership. While some British slang appears (e.g., "twat"), context readily clarifies meaning. This contrasts sharply with the archaic language of *Moby-Dick* or the invented words of *Finnegans Wake*.
Sentence structure: 38 out of 100
The novel features straightforward sentence structures with occasional dialogue-heavy passages. While sentences vary in length, they rarely contain complex embedded clauses. This style differs significantly from the lengthy, multi-layered sentences found in *The Golden Bowl*.
Abstraction: 30 out of 100
The narrative focuses on concrete events and character interactions within the setting of a hotel. Philosophical or theoretical discussions are absent, prioritizing plot and relationship dynamics. This contrasts with the existential themes explored in *Waiting for Godot*.
Information density: 33 out of 100
The book presents a manageable amount of information per page, focusing on plot progression and character development. Readers can easily follow the narrative without being overwhelmed by dense descriptions or complex concepts. This is unlike the information-rich pages of *War and Peace*.
Narrative indirection: 30 out of 100
The narrative largely presents events directly, with minimal need for readers to infer meaning. Character thoughts and motivations are often explicitly stated, reducing ambiguity. This contrasts with the narrative ambiguity of *Pedro Paramo*, where reality is uncertain.
Symbolic density: 20 out of 100
The novel contains few overt symbols or allegorical elements. While the setting of the hotel could be seen as symbolic of community, the narrative primarily functions on a literal level. This is unlike the dense symbolism found in *Moby-Dick*, where the whale represents multiple concepts.
Ironic distance: 30 out of 100
While the novel contains humorous moments and situational irony, there is little distance between the text's surface meaning and the author's intent. Readers are meant to sympathize with the characters and their struggles. This contrasts with the satirical irony of *The Sellout*.
Resolution withholding: 30 out of 100
The narrative moves towards a clear resolution of the central conflicts, providing closure for the characters' relationships and the hotel's future. While some ambiguity may remain, the ending offers a sense of completion. This is unlike the open-ended nature of *2666*.
Structural complexity: 30 out of 100
The novel follows a relatively linear timeline with minimal structural experimentation. While there are shifts in perspective, they are clearly delineated and easy to follow. This contrasts with the fragmented chronology of *Infinite Jest*.

How The Wake-Up Call is regarded

The Wake-Up Call holds a literary regard score of 12 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.

Where The Wake-Up Call sits in Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism

Placed by a full reading of the text (181 passages), not from reputation. Each verdict quotes the passage that earned it. On the axis from myth to irony, The Wake-Up Call scores 62 out of 100. A second mythos, romance, pulls at it with a weight of 0.15. About the map of stories.

Mode: Low Mimetic
“I just forgot. I’m a human being. Sue me.”
Symbol: Formal
Boxes and boxes of stuff. A rocking horse. A collection of broken teacups, once used for afternoon teas here.
Mythos: Normal Comedy iii (comedy iii)
You didn’t deserve that. Any of it. Because you never got that card—it went to the wrong person.
Genre: Novel + Romance
I have a confession to make, and I’m kind of nervous about it, which is why you’re getting it in your Christmas card.

Where the story of The Wake-Up Call takes place

  • A Dorset hotel, 2022-2023 (2022 to 2023), the main setting
  • Hotel Christmas party, December 2021 (prologue card)
  • Forest Manor Hotel, New Forest, Nov–Dec 2022
  • Rio de Janeiro beach, New Year's 2023–24 (epilogue) (2023 to 2024)

5 things that are true of The Wake-Up Call, with the passage for each

  1. The Tupperware box of lost rings that drives the plot holds five rings.

    There are five rings lying haphazardly on a folded piece of yellowing kitchen paper inside a Tupperware box.

  2. The first ring returned earns the hotel a reward of £15,000.

    Subject line: £15,000 reward from Eric Matterson?!?!

  3. One ring's 'owner' turns out to be a bigamist's wife, and the husband is arrested at the hotel.

    Bigamy is a serious crime, darling

  4. The hotel's social media account is found to have ninety thousand Instagram followers.

    You guys have ninety thousand Instagram followers?

  5. In the epilogue, Izzy proposes to Lucas in the sea at sunrise before discovering he has a ring ready.

    Will you marry me?

Scenes in The Wake-Up Call that Frye would name

27 sightings of Frye's terms in the text. The strongest:

Cognitio, untitled
You didn’t deserve that. Any of it. Because you never got that card—it went to the wrong person. The comic recognition that undoes the year-long misunderstanding and restores the lovers.
Anagnorisis, untitled
Louis . . . this wasn’t your Christmas card. Izzy discovers the card was misdelivered, which pivots her understanding of the whole year.
Agon, untitled
A bet. Whoever returns the next ring wins. The explicit contest framing the quest stage.
Anagnorisis, untitled
Very suddenly, I see the problem. I don’t hate Izzy Jenkins at all. Lucas's self-recognition that his hostility is love.
Alazon, untitled
I’m shooting my shot with Izzy today, you know Louis, the entitled investor-suitor, is the book's braggart and impostor.
Sparagmos, untitled
It’s because the ceiling has just fallen in on our heads. The hotel's body literally collapses on the two leads, opening the plot with a comic tearing-apart of the world.

Books that share these scenes with The Wake-Up Call

About the author

Beth O'Leary