Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Other Titles by Hannah Kent

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Winner of ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2014

In northern Iceland, 1829, Agnes Magnusdottir is condemned to death for her part in the brutal murder of two men.

Agnes is sent to wait on the farm of District Officer Jon Jonsson and his family, who are horrified and avoid Agnes. Only Toti, the young assistant reverend appointed as Agnes's spiritual guardian, is compelled to try to understand her. As the summer months fall away to winter, Agnes's story begins to emerge. And as the days to her execution draw closer, the question burns: did she or didn't she?

Based on a true story, Burial Rites is a deeply moving novel about freedom and the ways we will risk everything for love. In beautiful, cut-glass prose, Hannah Kent portrays Iceland's formidable landscape, and asks: how can one woman endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?

ISBN:: 9781743549551
Publication Date:: 08 / 03 / 2016
Pages:: 352
Dimensions:: 130 x 196mm

Compelling
A woman sentenced to death for murder, a reluctant family sheltering her, a young priest sent to save her soul. People thrust together under harrowing circumstances. Did she do it, or not? Is she likely to do it again? Only Agnes knows the truth and she's not talking. Fabulous multi award winning novel of Iceland in the 1800's based on a true story. Feel the cold in the dugout home, smell the wood smoke, taste the dried fish. Gripping, exceptional, totally compelling. - Maxine
Robina, 10/05/2016

Burial Rites
This is the story of Agnes; a woman convicted of a murder she may or may not have committed. The mysteries of her life are unravelled in this thrilling novel and chapter by chapter, her story is uncovered. Set in Iceland, 1829, Agnes arrives at her holding house and meets the Jonsson family to find her presence obviously unwanted. But as the Jonsson family learn more about her telling of the murder and more about the life of Agnes, they begin to wonder whether or not she is to blame for the gruesome murder of 2 men. Based on a true story, Burial Rites is a beautifully written novel with no detail left off the page. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys thrillers, fiction and a classical style of writing where the detail allows the imagination to run wild. This is a book I would read over and over again. - Elle.
QBD the bookshop, 10/05/2016