Books

The Puma

Daniel Wiles

‘Daniel Wiles connects us viscerally to the past we have buried the history we choose to ignore’ Hilary Mantel

1950s, Chile. Bernardo has journeyed to his childhood home, tucked deep into the Patagonian wilderness – though it seems little more than a shack to his young son, James. The place is nothing like England, where James was born. The land is harsh. Unyielding.

Then Bernardo sees it. Short and lean and striking. The puma, with its huge paws on the earth. What will a father do to ensure his family’s survival? And what might he become when survival is no longer an option?

Thrilling and powerfully atmospheric, The Puma is a novel about fathers and sons, and our desperate attempts to tame the wilderness of the past.

Hardback

ISBN: 9781800753686

Published: February 12, 2026

Ebook

ISBN: 9781800753693

Published: February 12, 2026

Category:
Fiction

Reviews for The Puma

‘Stick with the wandering storyline and this unwieldy, yet powerful, novel morphs into a phantasmagoric nightmare of fatherhood, as the shattering domestic crisis at its core slowly crystallises into view’ – Daily Mail

Praise for Mercia’s Take:

‘Energy and passion fuels this harsh and beautiful first novel; Daniel Wiles connects us viscerally to the past we have buried the history we choose to ignore’ – Hilary Mantel

‘Read this novel and marvel at its language, dark and gleaming as obsidian. Daniel Wiles channels the Southern Gothic into the vernacular of the Black Country and unearths from the past a tale of desperation that speaks to our current damnation. A striking debut’ – Paul Lynch

‘Feverishly compulsive … Narrated with spectacular economy, in a thudding, rhythmic staccato studded with local vernacular, the book deftly folds themes of pride, masculinity and ecological ruin into its central story: the visceral vengeance quest that ensues after a fellow miner makes off with Michael’s life-changing haul of gold’ – The Observer, 10 best debut novelists of 2022

‘Unsettling and heart-wrenching, this debut marks Wiles as a formidable talent’ – Antonia Senior, The Times

Author

Daniel Wiles

Daniel Wiles is from Walsall in the West Midlands. He recently completed the Prose MA at UEA, where he was the recipient of the Booker Prize Foundation Scholarship. Mercia’s Take is his first novel.