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Burial Rites
ŷ Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Historical Fiction (2013)Charged with the brutal murder of two men, Agnes Magnusdóttir has been removed to her homeland's farthest reaches, to an isolated farm in northern Iceland, to await execution.
Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family on the farm at first avoids Agnes. Only óپ, a priest Agnes has chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. As the winter months pass and Agnes's death looms closer, the farmer's wife and daughters learn there is another side to the sensational tale they've heard--but will their new knowledge be enough to save Agnes?
Hannah Kent makes real the saga of a doomed young woman who in the early nineteenth century became the last person to be publicly beheaded in Iceland. Rich with lyricism and startling in its revelations, Burial Rites evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place as it poses a heartbreaking question: How can one woman hope to endure when her life depends on the stories told by others?
Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family on the farm at first avoids Agnes. Only óپ, a priest Agnes has chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. As the winter months pass and Agnes's death looms closer, the farmer's wife and daughters learn there is another side to the sensational tale they've heard--but will their new knowledge be enough to save Agnes?
Hannah Kent makes real the saga of a doomed young woman who in the early nineteenth century became the last person to be publicly beheaded in Iceland. Rich with lyricism and startling in its revelations, Burial Rites evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place as it poses a heartbreaking question: How can one woman hope to endure when her life depends on the stories told by others?
314 pages, Paperback
First published August 29, 2013
4,055 people are currently reading
148k people want to read
About the author
Hannah Kent
15books4,138followersHannah Kent's first novel, the international bestseller, Burial Rites (2013), was translated into 30 languages and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Guardian First Book Award. It won the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year, the Indie Awards Debut Fiction Book of the Year and the Victorian Premier's People's Choice Award, and was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
Hannah's second novel, The Good People was published in 2016 (ANZ) and 2017 (Feb, UK; Sept, North America). It was shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, the Indie Book Award for Fiction and the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year. It has been translated into 10 languages.
Hannah’s original feature film, Run Rabbit Run, will be directed by Daina Reid (The Handmaid’s Tale) and produced by Carver and XYZ Films. It was launched at the Cannes 2020 virtual market where STX Entertainment took world rights.
Hannah co-founded the Australian literary publication Kill Your Darlings, and is a Patron for World Vision Australia. She has written for The New York Times, The Saturday Paper, The Guardian, the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, Meanjin, Qantas Magazine and LitHub.
Hannah lives and works on Peramangk country near Adelaide, Australia.
Hannah's second novel, The Good People was published in 2016 (ANZ) and 2017 (Feb, UK; Sept, North America). It was shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, the Indie Book Award for Fiction and the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year. It has been translated into 10 languages.
Hannah’s original feature film, Run Rabbit Run, will be directed by Daina Reid (The Handmaid’s Tale) and produced by Carver and XYZ Films. It was launched at the Cannes 2020 virtual market where STX Entertainment took world rights.
Hannah co-founded the Australian literary publication Kill Your Darlings, and is a Patron for World Vision Australia. She has written for The New York Times, The Saturday Paper, The Guardian, the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, Meanjin, Qantas Magazine and LitHub.
Hannah lives and works on Peramangk country near Adelaide, Australia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 14,383 reviews
September 2, 2013
I cannot write a review that can do this book justice. This is what goes through my head:
* I am so happy I give few books five stars, because then when I run into a book this good my five star rating means something!
* You need a strong stomach for this book. I have warned you.
* Once you start you will not be able to read or do anything else.
* There is NO humor in this book. I always need humor, except NOT here. Don't ask me why! I just didn't need it. I was riveted from start to finish. I needed to understand the relationships that lie at the core of what happened. I was so focused on understanding the why, I didn't have any need for humor. Humor simply doesn't belong in this book. This is Nordic historical fiction of times long past - there is hunger and cold and darkness. That is the way it was. And people living in such difficult times did such twisted things.
* The book is NOT spooky, it is atmospheric.
* The writing! Similes, metaphors - they are all just perfect. Stunning writing.
* You will be moved. Jeez, at the end...... No, not just at the end, all the way through.
* And this is very important. Do not read this book. Please, if you possibly can, listen to it. The narration by Morven Christie is totally fantastic. The Icelandic is perfect. The tempo is slow and it must be slow, so you can think about what is being said, so you feel the doom and darkness of the events. This is an excellently written book AND excellently narrated. BOTH!
Phew, after this I don't want another Nordic drama for a long time. My emotions cannot take it. I have been through a wringer with this one.
I assume you have read the book description, so you know that this story is based on true events. There is a chapter at the end that explains all the research involved. The author closely follows what is known. There are different views of Agnes' behavior, but the author has totally convinced my of what her study of the facts have lead her to believe.
This is one of the best books I have read/listened to this year.
***
After half:
I have listened to half now. I still absolutely love it. It has love too. One of the few authors that can feed me a love story and please me immensely. I am convinced Agnes did not kill the man she is accused of killing. But history says she is beheaded for this reason. Remember this is Nordic historical fiction! Now I will say no more. I don't know what will happen in the rest of the book, so I cannot possibly give a spoiler.
You read this book for the marvelous atmosphere and the lines. Gorgeous lines! A superb writer.
****
After 6 chapters:
This book is beautifully written. Atmospheric. Nordic historical fiction at its best. The narration by Morven Christie is wonderful too. Don't read it, listen to it. I have only listened to 6 chapters, but there is no way this book can get anything but 5 stars.
Hannah Kent is Australian, mentored by ! This book is far better than any I have read by Geraldine Brooks, and I am not disparaging Brooks when I say that.
* I am so happy I give few books five stars, because then when I run into a book this good my five star rating means something!
* You need a strong stomach for this book. I have warned you.
* Once you start you will not be able to read or do anything else.
* There is NO humor in this book. I always need humor, except NOT here. Don't ask me why! I just didn't need it. I was riveted from start to finish. I needed to understand the relationships that lie at the core of what happened. I was so focused on understanding the why, I didn't have any need for humor. Humor simply doesn't belong in this book. This is Nordic historical fiction of times long past - there is hunger and cold and darkness. That is the way it was. And people living in such difficult times did such twisted things.
* The book is NOT spooky, it is atmospheric.
* The writing! Similes, metaphors - they are all just perfect. Stunning writing.
* You will be moved. Jeez, at the end...... No, not just at the end, all the way through.
* And this is very important. Do not read this book. Please, if you possibly can, listen to it. The narration by Morven Christie is totally fantastic. The Icelandic is perfect. The tempo is slow and it must be slow, so you can think about what is being said, so you feel the doom and darkness of the events. This is an excellently written book AND excellently narrated. BOTH!
Phew, after this I don't want another Nordic drama for a long time. My emotions cannot take it. I have been through a wringer with this one.
I assume you have read the book description, so you know that this story is based on true events. There is a chapter at the end that explains all the research involved. The author closely follows what is known. There are different views of Agnes' behavior, but the author has totally convinced my of what her study of the facts have lead her to believe.
This is one of the best books I have read/listened to this year.
***
After half:
I have listened to half now. I still absolutely love it. It has love too. One of the few authors that can feed me a love story and please me immensely. I am convinced Agnes did not kill the man she is accused of killing. But history says she is beheaded for this reason. Remember this is Nordic historical fiction! Now I will say no more. I don't know what will happen in the rest of the book, so I cannot possibly give a spoiler.
You read this book for the marvelous atmosphere and the lines. Gorgeous lines! A superb writer.
****
After 6 chapters:
This book is beautifully written. Atmospheric. Nordic historical fiction at its best. The narration by Morven Christie is wonderful too. Don't read it, listen to it. I have only listened to 6 chapters, but there is no way this book can get anything but 5 stars.
Hannah Kent is Australian, mentored by ! This book is far better than any I have read by Geraldine Brooks, and I am not disparaging Brooks when I say that.
June 9, 2023
Bleak but beautiful.
October 4, 2016
Five stars with bells on! It is rare to find a debut novel as sophisticated, beautiful, and gripping as this one. The desolation of the harsh Icelandic winter is felt in the very bones, it's so hauntingly descriptive. The feelings of despair & the depth of fear are such, that I was almost holding my breath at times. I resented any intrusion that halted my reading of this book, that's how gripping I found it. Hannah Kent has announced her arrival in the literary world with an absolute gem of a book, which just flows from first page to last . Stunning!
July 15, 2013
“They will say ‘Agnes� and see the spider, the witch caught in the webbing of her own fateful weaving. They might see the lamb circled by ravens, bleating for a lost mother. But they will not see me. I will not be there.�On 12 January, 1830, the last instance of capital punishment in Iceland occurred when Friðrik Sigurðsson and Agnes Magnúsdóttir were executed in Vatnsdalshólar in Húnavatnssýsla, for the murder of two men.
While often painted as “monstrous�, a cold-blooded murderer, a figure of Lady Macbeth style ruthlessness - the truth is that there is a dearth of factual information about Agnes Magnusdottir. While the instrument of her execution � a broad axe � has been preserved, little is known about the life of the woman sentenced to death, and publicly beheaded. (A third person was also convicted: Sigridur Gudmundsdottir, whose sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment).
“They said I must die. They said that I stole the breath from men, and now they must steal mine.�Burial Rites is the product of a ten year quest to uncover what remains of Agnes Magnusdottir’s life. Instigated by an exchange visit to Iceland after high school, Hannah Kent spent the ensuing years absorbed in intense archival research, examination of primary sources and retracing of Agnes� steps from her birth to her final resting place. Kent called the result a “speculative biography�, a weave of fact and fiction, and her own “dark love letter to Iceland.�
While Burial Rites presents the question of whether history has misrepresented Agnes, the novel does not necessarily demand sympathy for her. It does, however, offer a more empathetic, albeit ambiguous, portrayal of a woman condemned � and an attempt to understand what circumstances might have led to her conviction in a double murder.
The result is an exquisitely beautiful novel. Kent’s prose is rich and clear, rendering the melancholic, claustrophobic atmosphere of the Icelandic winter and Agnes� impending execution in evocative language. Agnes herself, awaiting death and exiled at the farm of a minor public servant, emerges from the pages vividly.
“Those who are not being dragged to their deaths cannot understand how the heart grows hard and sharp, until it is a nest of rocks with only an empty egg in it. I am barren; nothing will grow from me anymore. I am the dead fish drying in the cold air. I am the dead bird on the shore. I am dry, I am not certain I will bleed when they drag me out to meet the axe. No, I am still warm, my blood still howls in my veins like the wind itself, and it shakes the empty nest and asks where all the birds have gone, where have they gone?�Kent writes with a kind of graceful maturity, a depth of emotion that befits the subject matter. This a story about a woman facing her imminent death, a woman with one final opportunity to speak her truth, and Kent captures the desperation, isolation and grief of Agnes with stunning clarity. The book is interspersed with Agnes� inner monologues, and these sections are the most vivid; pouring forth in a steam of raw psychological pain and striking imagery.
Though she spent much of her life employed as a servant and a period of her childhood as an orphaned pauper thrown on the mercy of the parish, there is evidence to suggest that Agnes was also an intelligent and highly literate woman. And this is the version of Agnes that Kent chooses to portray; beneath the hard and icy veneer of a woman reviled and silenced, she is compelling, passionate and astute.
While living and working alongside ó ósson and his family, fragments of Agnes� story begin to emerge. As she confides in óپ, the young assistant priest commissioned to reconcile her to her fate and to God, Agnes� version of events takes shape as the remaining days of her life pass. Through this gradual unwinding, óپ and the family come to confront the idea that the truth may not be all that it seems. While we already know how Agnes� story ends, it’s this suggestion of dissonance between public opinion and her personal reality that fuel the novel’s tension. Burial Rites suggests that truth is open to interpretation, and is rarely as straightforward as commonly perceived. Fear, gossip and hatred twist the idea of Agnes into something horrifying and loathsome; an opinion no doubt perpetuated by the pervasive social, religious and sexual politics of the time.
To this end, Kent’s novel faithfully depicts life in 19th century Iceland, and is immersed in historical detail without the narrative being weighed down or bloated. It is clear that care has been taken to accurately represent the conditions of Agnes� world, to reconstruct the framework of her life with as much integrity as possible. The gaps in historical record, which Kent has fleshed out with fiction, fit seamlessly within the broader context of time and place, resulting in a story that respects its origins.
We cannot know the entirety of Agnes Magnusdottir’s story, but Burial Rites asks us to remember her, if not reconsider how history may have buried her own truth with her body. Knutur Oskarsson, who accommodated Hannah Kent during part of the writing and research of the novel, stated: “I do believe that the execution of Agnes is still an unhealed wound in Iceland, in the history of Iceland.�
Burial Rites is a respectful and moving acknowledgment of that wound; a reminder that Agnes Magnusdottir’s voice once existed, even if it was lost to time.
August 26, 2017
Well, this ain't Little House On The Prairie; and Toti, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.
Through Hannah Kent's research we are transported to the early 1800's of rural Icelandic farming life.
With her considerable talent for writing, more research and her imagination for speculative biography we are privy to the story of Agnes Magnusdottir. Iceland's last female convicted murderer, sentenced to public execution.
Agnes has suffered through a life of hardships. Through all that beset her, she remained a hard working woman, intelligent and worthy of anyone's friendship. Yet because of her status as a bastard child and nothing more than a pauper, friendships are virtually nonexistent. Iceland is a cold, cold environment.
Provided here is a link to an interview with Ms.Kent that I found interesting.
Hannah Kent discusses Burial Rites and speculative biography.
page 11/12
Toti receives a letter delivered by messenger
'"Tell Blondal that I will meet with Agness Magnusdottir."
"I'm to be her spiritual advisor."
The servant gaped at him, and then suddenly laughed. 'Good Lord," he muttered. "They pick a mouse to tame a cat."'
page 81
Agnes contemplations
"God has had His chance to free me, and for reasons known to Him alone, He has pinned me to ill fortune, and although I have struggled, I am run through and through with disaster; I am knifed to the hilt with fate."
page 87
Toti hears more about Natan Ketilsson.
'"He was a sorcerer." The old woman next to him had spoken. The family looked at her."
'"He was a sorcerer," she repeated. "And he got what was coming to him."
'"Natan Satan, that was his name. Nothing he did ever came from God.'"
page 103/104
Agnes/Toti conversation
"Agnas shook her head."To know what a person has done, and to know who a person is, are very different things."
Toti persisted."But, Agnes, actions speak louder than words."
"Actions lie," Agnes retorted quickly. "Sometimes people never stood a chance in the beginning, or they might have made a mistake. It's not fair. People claim to know you through the things you've done, and not by sitting down and listening to you speak for yourself. No matter how much you try to live a godly life, if you make a mistake in this valley, it's never forgotten. No matter if you tried to do what was best. No matter if your innermost self whispers, 'I am not as you say!'-- how other people think of you determines who you are.'"
page 192/193
Agnes contemplation .
"There is an urgency that comes with slaughter. Why not kill me here, now, on an unremarkable day? It is the waiting that cripples. The sheep scavenge for grass. Do these dumb animals know their fate? Rounded up and separated, they only have to wait one icy night in fear. I have been in the killing pen for months."
page 292
Excerpt from execution orders set out by the Secretary to His Royal Majesty, G.Johnson, Copenhagen, Denmark to Hunavatn District Commissioner Bjorn Blondal
4.d) "The selected executioner(Gudmundur Ketilsson) shall, at Your Honor's home and with secrecy and encouragement, be trained for the mission that he has been entrusted with. This will be done to ensure, as much as possible, that he, at this important moment, will not lose faith or control. The beheading must be carried out in one blow without any pain for the convicted. Gudmundur Ketilsson must only drink a very little dose of spirits."
Through Hannah Kent's research we are transported to the early 1800's of rural Icelandic farming life.
With her considerable talent for writing, more research and her imagination for speculative biography we are privy to the story of Agnes Magnusdottir. Iceland's last female convicted murderer, sentenced to public execution.
Agnes has suffered through a life of hardships. Through all that beset her, she remained a hard working woman, intelligent and worthy of anyone's friendship. Yet because of her status as a bastard child and nothing more than a pauper, friendships are virtually nonexistent. Iceland is a cold, cold environment.
Provided here is a link to an interview with Ms.Kent that I found interesting.
Hannah Kent discusses Burial Rites and speculative biography.
page 11/12
Toti receives a letter delivered by messenger
'"Tell Blondal that I will meet with Agness Magnusdottir."
"I'm to be her spiritual advisor."
The servant gaped at him, and then suddenly laughed. 'Good Lord," he muttered. "They pick a mouse to tame a cat."'
page 81
Agnes contemplations
"God has had His chance to free me, and for reasons known to Him alone, He has pinned me to ill fortune, and although I have struggled, I am run through and through with disaster; I am knifed to the hilt with fate."
page 87
Toti hears more about Natan Ketilsson.
'"He was a sorcerer." The old woman next to him had spoken. The family looked at her."
'"He was a sorcerer," she repeated. "And he got what was coming to him."
'"Natan Satan, that was his name. Nothing he did ever came from God.'"
page 103/104
Agnes/Toti conversation
"Agnas shook her head."To know what a person has done, and to know who a person is, are very different things."
Toti persisted."But, Agnes, actions speak louder than words."
"Actions lie," Agnes retorted quickly. "Sometimes people never stood a chance in the beginning, or they might have made a mistake. It's not fair. People claim to know you through the things you've done, and not by sitting down and listening to you speak for yourself. No matter how much you try to live a godly life, if you make a mistake in this valley, it's never forgotten. No matter if you tried to do what was best. No matter if your innermost self whispers, 'I am not as you say!'-- how other people think of you determines who you are.'"
page 192/193
Agnes contemplation .
"There is an urgency that comes with slaughter. Why not kill me here, now, on an unremarkable day? It is the waiting that cripples. The sheep scavenge for grass. Do these dumb animals know their fate? Rounded up and separated, they only have to wait one icy night in fear. I have been in the killing pen for months."
page 292
Excerpt from execution orders set out by the Secretary to His Royal Majesty, G.Johnson, Copenhagen, Denmark to Hunavatn District Commissioner Bjorn Blondal
4.d) "The selected executioner(Gudmundur Ketilsson) shall, at Your Honor's home and with secrecy and encouragement, be trained for the mission that he has been entrusted with. This will be done to ensure, as much as possible, that he, at this important moment, will not lose faith or control. The beheading must be carried out in one blow without any pain for the convicted. Gudmundur Ketilsson must only drink a very little dose of spirits."
January 7, 2017
The writing is magnificent and fragile from the first sentence.....
"They said I must die". They said that I stole the breath from men, and now they must steal mine.
A 'woman' waits her public execution in Iceland in 1829...faces her mortality.
Gloomy, distressing, haunting, and captivating.
Off the chart-debut-writing talent for Hannah Kent!!! Incredible story!!!!
"They said I must die". They said that I stole the breath from men, and now they must steal mine.
A 'woman' waits her public execution in Iceland in 1829...faces her mortality.
Gloomy, distressing, haunting, and captivating.
Off the chart-debut-writing talent for Hannah Kent!!! Incredible story!!!!
April 15, 2015
So haunting, so beautiful.
March 7, 2017
It is the early nineteenth century. Agnes Magnúsdóttir is charged with the murder of two men and is delivered to a small house on an isolated farm in northern Iceland, where she must tend to daily chores and seek spiritual guidance from a priest named Toti, while she awaits her execution.
They will see the whore, the madwoman, the murderess, the female dripping blood into the grass and laughing with her mouth choked with dirt. They will say "Agnes" and see the spider, the witch caught in the webbing of her own fateful weaving.
Burial Rites introduces readers to a setting not often explored in literary works. The harsh winters of Iceland and the life of a farmhand in the early eighteen hundreds is vividly portrayed, with special attention paid to the prevalence of odors and pungent aromas.
When his lips broke apart I could see that his teeth were rotting in his mouth. His breath was awful, but no worse than my own; I know I am rank. I am scabbed with dirt and the accumulated weeping of my body: blood, sweat, oil.
He had smelt her, then; the sharp pungency of a neglected body, of unwashed clothes and fresh sweat, dried blood and something else from between those spread legs. A stench peculiar to women.
This historical fiction novel explores the story of a woman who once existed but was poised to be forgotten to the passing of time. Agnes Magnúsdóttir is reputable for
The book begins with a helpful introduction on the pronunciation of Icelandic names, though they can still be difficult to wrap one's tongue around. Further confusion is added by the author's decision to use multiple variants of characters' names.
Lauga, also known as Sigurlaug.
Steina, also known as Steinvor.
Assistant Reverend Thorvadur ósson, also known as Assistant Reverend, also known as Reverend Toti, eventually - and mercifully - known as just Toti.
The story jumps from third person perspective to a first person narrative without preamble. This is initially jarring but easily overcome once readers know what to expect moving forward, though the shifting perspectives result in a fair amount of repetition as certain portions of the story are recounted to readers from various character viewpoints.
Agnes' story is undeniably sorrowful.
They have strapped me to the saddle like a corpse being taken to the burial ground. In their eyes I am already a dead woman, destined for the grave. My arms are tethered in front of me. As we ride this awful parade, the irons pinch my flesh until it bloodies in front of my eyes. I have come to expect harm now. Some of the watchmen at Stora-Berg compassed my body with small violences, chronicled their hatred towards me, a mark here, bruises, blossoming like star clusters under the sin, black and yellow smoke trapped under the membrane.
But there's no suspense to her story, because the outcome is already given away to readers who either know her history or make the unfortunate choice to read the book jacket before diving into the book. Characters remain relatively one dimensional throughout, the plot never builds in pacing and, given the inevitable outcome, there's a painful lack of suspense.
Lovely writing is employed to tell a somber but predictable tale in this debut novel.
They will see the whore, the madwoman, the murderess, the female dripping blood into the grass and laughing with her mouth choked with dirt. They will say "Agnes" and see the spider, the witch caught in the webbing of her own fateful weaving.
Burial Rites introduces readers to a setting not often explored in literary works. The harsh winters of Iceland and the life of a farmhand in the early eighteen hundreds is vividly portrayed, with special attention paid to the prevalence of odors and pungent aromas.
When his lips broke apart I could see that his teeth were rotting in his mouth. His breath was awful, but no worse than my own; I know I am rank. I am scabbed with dirt and the accumulated weeping of my body: blood, sweat, oil.
He had smelt her, then; the sharp pungency of a neglected body, of unwashed clothes and fresh sweat, dried blood and something else from between those spread legs. A stench peculiar to women.
This historical fiction novel explores the story of a woman who once existed but was poised to be forgotten to the passing of time. Agnes Magnúsdóttir is reputable for
The book begins with a helpful introduction on the pronunciation of Icelandic names, though they can still be difficult to wrap one's tongue around. Further confusion is added by the author's decision to use multiple variants of characters' names.
Lauga, also known as Sigurlaug.
Steina, also known as Steinvor.
Assistant Reverend Thorvadur ósson, also known as Assistant Reverend, also known as Reverend Toti, eventually - and mercifully - known as just Toti.
The story jumps from third person perspective to a first person narrative without preamble. This is initially jarring but easily overcome once readers know what to expect moving forward, though the shifting perspectives result in a fair amount of repetition as certain portions of the story are recounted to readers from various character viewpoints.
Agnes' story is undeniably sorrowful.
They have strapped me to the saddle like a corpse being taken to the burial ground. In their eyes I am already a dead woman, destined for the grave. My arms are tethered in front of me. As we ride this awful parade, the irons pinch my flesh until it bloodies in front of my eyes. I have come to expect harm now. Some of the watchmen at Stora-Berg compassed my body with small violences, chronicled their hatred towards me, a mark here, bruises, blossoming like star clusters under the sin, black and yellow smoke trapped under the membrane.
But there's no suspense to her story, because the outcome is already given away to readers who either know her history or make the unfortunate choice to read the book jacket before diving into the book. Characters remain relatively one dimensional throughout, the plot never builds in pacing and, given the inevitable outcome, there's a painful lack of suspense.
Lovely writing is employed to tell a somber but predictable tale in this debut novel.
July 11, 2020
”They said I must die. They said that I stole the breath from men, and now they must steal mine.�
I seem to have a talent to choose books with interesting opening lines and this one is no exception to the rule. Regardless of the intriguing start the most important question is always the following though: Was this as “exceptional� and “brilliant� as everyone claims it to be? Well, the answer is “yes� and “no�. If you’re looking for a fast-paced historical fiction you most certainly chose the wrong book. Nothing about “Burial Rites� is even moderately suspenseful or thrilling. This book is no “whodunit� with lots of action, it’s a slow and steady story about a woman convicted for murder.
”I remain quiet. I am determined to close myself to the world, to tighten my heart and hold on to what has not yet been stolen from me. I cannot let myself slip away. I will hold what I am inside, and keep my hands tight around all the things I have seen and heard, and felt.�
In my opinion this doesn’t make it a bad book though! Quite the contrary! Agnes’s story might have started out slowly but the longer you read, the more you get captivated by it. At first I just read it and went with the flow enjoying all the details about life on Iceland in 1829. It’s obvious the people who lived there (and probably also those who still live there) had a tough life and I could feel the cold creeping up on me whenever I picked up the book in order to continue with Agnes’s story. You can say what you want but I think Hannah Kent did a great job at capturing the soul and atmosphere of Iceland.
”God has had His chance to free me, and for reasons known to Him alone, He has pinned me to ill fortune, and although I have struggled, I am run through and through with disaster, I am knifed to the hilt with fate.�
Her writing style is beautiful and it fits the pacing of the book more than just perfectly. I loved how this didn’t just give us a glimpse at life on an island like Iceland but also taught us about the culture and habits of the people who live there. About their beliefs and the gossip that spreads like the flu in winter. I suppose in some ways life on an island is similar to life in a small town. Everyone knows everybody and rumours become common knowledge before you even know they exist.
”Who was she really? Probably not as people say she was, but she made mistakes and others made up their minds about her. People around here don’t let you forget your misdeeds. They think them the only things worth writing down.�
It was those rumours that were Agnes’s downfall and once she had a certain reputation people didn’t bother to get to know her properly. I mean even the family that had to take care of her until her execution only saw her as a criminal they had to house. Except for óپ, the Reverend, only Magret and Steina showed some compassion and a will to hear Agnes’s version of the story. Lauga flat out refused to even acknowledge her existence and Jon mostly saw her as a means to an end. As for everyone else: The hands at their farm didn’t want to have anything to do with her and öԻ岹 the person who was in charge of her life did nothing to save it.
”What will you have me do?�
“Return to God’s word. Forget Agnes’s. She has nothing that you need to hear, unless it is a confession.�
I swear, I hated him so much for treating Agnes like an animal and not even seeing her as a human being. He should have asked more questions, he should have listened to Agnes instead of brushing her off. That poor girl, no one wanted to listen to what she had to say and she was too devastated to be able to voice her story, at least at first. Chapter by chapter we find out the truth about what happened at Ilugastadir and it’s a sad truth that casts a negative light on Agnes’s former employer and the judicial system of Iceland.
”He was easy in his address, Reverend. He always knew what to say to people; what would make them feel good. And what would cut the deepest.�
Natan was a very complex character and I think he kind of played every person he ever knew. He seemed to be a really egoistic person and even though I know that both, Agnes and Sigga, were sort of in love with him I still think he didn’t deserve them. He was a bad man and even though he didn’t deserve to die the way he did, there is no denying that he was partly responsible for his own end. Natan was a charming bastard, if I ever saw one and poor Anges fell into his trap.
”But how can one help the shape of one’s hand?� I was laughing.
“By covering it with another’s, Agnes.�
The weight of his fingers on mine, like a bird landing on a branch. It was the drop of the match. I did not see that we were surrounded by tinder until I felt it burst into flames.
Of course this story is fictional and we’ll never know if the version Hannah Kent told us might have been the truth. The author held closely to the official documentation of the events and carefully wove them into her book though, and she did it so realistically that you have no trouble believing this could be the actual truth. ;-) The mean thing about this book is that it develops so slowly. You start to read it and continue and the more you read the more you want to know. You go with the flow and before you even know it you’re so invested in Agnes’s story that the ending destroys you. There is an entire book preparing the MC for her death and yet the reader isn’t prepared when it hits her/him like a brick! I won’t lie, I cried my eyes out because dang this hurt!!! T_T It was so heart-breaking, gut-wrenching and sickening! >_<
Conclusion:
Hannah Kent wrote an amazing story that will probably haunt me forever. I’ll never know if this got even close to the truth but I’ll always wonder, I’ll always doubt and I’ll never accept just one version of the truth. Thank you, Hannah, for reminding us that there are always two sides of a story and that what is written down doesn’t always have to be the only truth! =)
_________________________________
A few months ago "Burial Rites" was all over my feed and I got curious.
I’ve to admit that I haven’t read a historical fiction book for quite a while, but I’m always ready to go for one when it sounds interesting and well, this one certainly does!
Apparently this is based on a true story and plays in Northern Iceland.
I can only imagine how tough it must have been to house a convicted murderer... then again this is Iceland 1829. I suppose crimes didn’t happen all that often with so few people around.
The big question is: Is Agnes really the murderer?
Let’s read Agnes’s story and find out the truth.
I seem to have a talent to choose books with interesting opening lines and this one is no exception to the rule. Regardless of the intriguing start the most important question is always the following though: Was this as “exceptional� and “brilliant� as everyone claims it to be? Well, the answer is “yes� and “no�. If you’re looking for a fast-paced historical fiction you most certainly chose the wrong book. Nothing about “Burial Rites� is even moderately suspenseful or thrilling. This book is no “whodunit� with lots of action, it’s a slow and steady story about a woman convicted for murder.
”I remain quiet. I am determined to close myself to the world, to tighten my heart and hold on to what has not yet been stolen from me. I cannot let myself slip away. I will hold what I am inside, and keep my hands tight around all the things I have seen and heard, and felt.�
In my opinion this doesn’t make it a bad book though! Quite the contrary! Agnes’s story might have started out slowly but the longer you read, the more you get captivated by it. At first I just read it and went with the flow enjoying all the details about life on Iceland in 1829. It’s obvious the people who lived there (and probably also those who still live there) had a tough life and I could feel the cold creeping up on me whenever I picked up the book in order to continue with Agnes’s story. You can say what you want but I think Hannah Kent did a great job at capturing the soul and atmosphere of Iceland.
”God has had His chance to free me, and for reasons known to Him alone, He has pinned me to ill fortune, and although I have struggled, I am run through and through with disaster, I am knifed to the hilt with fate.�
Her writing style is beautiful and it fits the pacing of the book more than just perfectly. I loved how this didn’t just give us a glimpse at life on an island like Iceland but also taught us about the culture and habits of the people who live there. About their beliefs and the gossip that spreads like the flu in winter. I suppose in some ways life on an island is similar to life in a small town. Everyone knows everybody and rumours become common knowledge before you even know they exist.
”Who was she really? Probably not as people say she was, but she made mistakes and others made up their minds about her. People around here don’t let you forget your misdeeds. They think them the only things worth writing down.�
It was those rumours that were Agnes’s downfall and once she had a certain reputation people didn’t bother to get to know her properly. I mean even the family that had to take care of her until her execution only saw her as a criminal they had to house. Except for óپ, the Reverend, only Magret and Steina showed some compassion and a will to hear Agnes’s version of the story. Lauga flat out refused to even acknowledge her existence and Jon mostly saw her as a means to an end. As for everyone else: The hands at their farm didn’t want to have anything to do with her and öԻ岹 the person who was in charge of her life did nothing to save it.
”What will you have me do?�
“Return to God’s word. Forget Agnes’s. She has nothing that you need to hear, unless it is a confession.�
I swear, I hated him so much for treating Agnes like an animal and not even seeing her as a human being. He should have asked more questions, he should have listened to Agnes instead of brushing her off. That poor girl, no one wanted to listen to what she had to say and she was too devastated to be able to voice her story, at least at first. Chapter by chapter we find out the truth about what happened at Ilugastadir and it’s a sad truth that casts a negative light on Agnes’s former employer and the judicial system of Iceland.
”He was easy in his address, Reverend. He always knew what to say to people; what would make them feel good. And what would cut the deepest.�
Natan was a very complex character and I think he kind of played every person he ever knew. He seemed to be a really egoistic person and even though I know that both, Agnes and Sigga, were sort of in love with him I still think he didn’t deserve them. He was a bad man and even though he didn’t deserve to die the way he did, there is no denying that he was partly responsible for his own end. Natan was a charming bastard, if I ever saw one and poor Anges fell into his trap.
”But how can one help the shape of one’s hand?� I was laughing.
“By covering it with another’s, Agnes.�
The weight of his fingers on mine, like a bird landing on a branch. It was the drop of the match. I did not see that we were surrounded by tinder until I felt it burst into flames.
Of course this story is fictional and we’ll never know if the version Hannah Kent told us might have been the truth. The author held closely to the official documentation of the events and carefully wove them into her book though, and she did it so realistically that you have no trouble believing this could be the actual truth. ;-) The mean thing about this book is that it develops so slowly. You start to read it and continue and the more you read the more you want to know. You go with the flow and before you even know it you’re so invested in Agnes’s story that the ending destroys you. There is an entire book preparing the MC for her death and yet the reader isn’t prepared when it hits her/him like a brick! I won’t lie, I cried my eyes out because dang this hurt!!! T_T It was so heart-breaking, gut-wrenching and sickening! >_<
Conclusion:
Hannah Kent wrote an amazing story that will probably haunt me forever. I’ll never know if this got even close to the truth but I’ll always wonder, I’ll always doubt and I’ll never accept just one version of the truth. Thank you, Hannah, for reminding us that there are always two sides of a story and that what is written down doesn’t always have to be the only truth! =)
_________________________________
A few months ago "Burial Rites" was all over my feed and I got curious.
I’ve to admit that I haven’t read a historical fiction book for quite a while, but I’m always ready to go for one when it sounds interesting and well, this one certainly does!
Apparently this is based on a true story and plays in Northern Iceland.
I can only imagine how tough it must have been to house a convicted murderer... then again this is Iceland 1829. I suppose crimes didn’t happen all that often with so few people around.
The big question is: Is Agnes really the murderer?
Let’s read Agnes’s story and find out the truth.
January 7, 2023
A beautifully-written debut, offering an incredible and brutal story of death and survival in early-19th century Iceland. An easy five stars.
August 28, 2018
"They said I must die. They said that I stole the breath from men, and now they must steal mine. I imagine, then, that we are all candle flames, greasy-bright, fluttering in the darkness and the howl of the wind, and in the stillness of the room I hear footsteps, awful coming footsteps, coming to blow me out and send my life up away from me in a gray wreath of smoke."
The words of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, convicted for the murders of two men and awaiting execution in early nineteenth century Iceland, grip you immediately upon opening this novel. Hannah Kent’s writing is stunning and I was blown away to note that this was her debut! Iceland is on my bucket list. In fact, I toyed with the idea of a trip there last summer, but realistically this will remain on the list a bit longer � unless I stumble across a windfall in the near future. Burial Rites, however, swept me away and set me down right there this summer, well in advance of any planned adventure. Albeit, this journey was much more desolate and heartbreaking than any I could have imagined. The story was incredibly atmospheric, and I was wholly wrapped up in Agnes’s story and my discovery for the truth from start to finish.
"They will see the whore, the madwoman, the murderess, the female dripping blood into the grass and laughing with her mouth choked with dirt. They will say ‘Agnes� and see the spider, the witch caught in the webbing of her own fateful weaving. They might see the lamb circled by ravens, bleating for a lost mother. But they will not see me. I will not be there."
Oftentimes, we see what we expect to see in another, what we’ve been told to see. Can we look beyond the stories that we’ve heard and the preconceived notions of a person’s nature in order to reveal the true individual that lies beneath all the gossip and rumors? When Agnes is transferred to a farm in Kornsá to await her death sentence, she is placed under the care of poor but upstanding Christians, ó and Ѳé, and their two daughters, Steina and Lauga, who are tasked with ‘inspiring repentance� in the prisoner. For some yet unknown reason, Agnes has requested a new spiritual adviser, the Assistant Reverend Thorvardur, or óپ, who has been summoned to the farm as well. ó and Ѳé and their daughters are gripped with fear, suspicion and the weight of their responsibility. Reverend óپ is haunted by his own doubts as to whether or not he is the right religious mentor for the job. How to guide someone to the path of salvation when they do not want to speak of divine matters or penitence? But as óپ sits with Agnes and listens to her recount her life story, one of much hardship and immense grief, he comes to realize what should be his real duty to this forsaken soul. "I have come upon the conviction that it is not the stern voice of a priest delivering the threat of brimstone, but the gentle and inquiring tones of a friend that will best draw back the curtain to her soul�"
As the farmer’s family sits in the confines of their cramped badstofa, they, along with the reader, overhear the details of Agnes’s account as well. A different woman from what they initially presumed is gradually revealed. Agnes is a woman of intellect but low standing and few advantages who had finally found love with a man who was able to open up new worlds to her. One to whom she was able to freely speak of those things she had read about in the sagas and dreamed of during the dark, Icelandic nights. "We’d place words carefully together, piling them upon one another, leaving no spaces. We each created towers, two beacons, the like of which are built along roads to guide the way when the weather comes down. We saw one another through the fog, the suffocating repetition of life." Ah, but love can have its own form of vengeance, especially when that inevitable third or even fourth party intrudes itself on the scene, creating havoc for all involved.
My heart wept for Agnes. The ending took my breath away. I loved the way her history was peeled away one layer at a time until we finally felt we truly understood her and had all pieces of the puzzle in place. This book was based on a true story, and the author’s note at the end is fascinating. The amount of research that went into this novel is quite impressive. Throughout, we are given snippets of actual letters and documents relating to the case. This added a feeling of real authenticity to the story that I greatly appreciated. The prose is beautiful and lyrical, and the stark landscape will grab hold of you and make you feel as if you are right there reliving the events with Agnes. This book is highly recommended to fans of historical fiction and anyone that admires excellent writing.
"Memories shift like loose snow in a wind, or are a chorale of ghosts all talking over one another. There is only ever a sense that what is real to me is not real to others, and to share a memory with someone is to risk sullying my belief in what has truly happened."
Note: This novel made me reflect on another book that I truly loved and one that I believe is not as well-known as this. If you have read this one, then I highly recommend you try by . It is equally exquisite! It is one that I don't see widely read on ŷ and one I love to share with my friends here :)
The words of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, convicted for the murders of two men and awaiting execution in early nineteenth century Iceland, grip you immediately upon opening this novel. Hannah Kent’s writing is stunning and I was blown away to note that this was her debut! Iceland is on my bucket list. In fact, I toyed with the idea of a trip there last summer, but realistically this will remain on the list a bit longer � unless I stumble across a windfall in the near future. Burial Rites, however, swept me away and set me down right there this summer, well in advance of any planned adventure. Albeit, this journey was much more desolate and heartbreaking than any I could have imagined. The story was incredibly atmospheric, and I was wholly wrapped up in Agnes’s story and my discovery for the truth from start to finish.
"They will see the whore, the madwoman, the murderess, the female dripping blood into the grass and laughing with her mouth choked with dirt. They will say ‘Agnes� and see the spider, the witch caught in the webbing of her own fateful weaving. They might see the lamb circled by ravens, bleating for a lost mother. But they will not see me. I will not be there."
Oftentimes, we see what we expect to see in another, what we’ve been told to see. Can we look beyond the stories that we’ve heard and the preconceived notions of a person’s nature in order to reveal the true individual that lies beneath all the gossip and rumors? When Agnes is transferred to a farm in Kornsá to await her death sentence, she is placed under the care of poor but upstanding Christians, ó and Ѳé, and their two daughters, Steina and Lauga, who are tasked with ‘inspiring repentance� in the prisoner. For some yet unknown reason, Agnes has requested a new spiritual adviser, the Assistant Reverend Thorvardur, or óپ, who has been summoned to the farm as well. ó and Ѳé and their daughters are gripped with fear, suspicion and the weight of their responsibility. Reverend óپ is haunted by his own doubts as to whether or not he is the right religious mentor for the job. How to guide someone to the path of salvation when they do not want to speak of divine matters or penitence? But as óپ sits with Agnes and listens to her recount her life story, one of much hardship and immense grief, he comes to realize what should be his real duty to this forsaken soul. "I have come upon the conviction that it is not the stern voice of a priest delivering the threat of brimstone, but the gentle and inquiring tones of a friend that will best draw back the curtain to her soul�"
As the farmer’s family sits in the confines of their cramped badstofa, they, along with the reader, overhear the details of Agnes’s account as well. A different woman from what they initially presumed is gradually revealed. Agnes is a woman of intellect but low standing and few advantages who had finally found love with a man who was able to open up new worlds to her. One to whom she was able to freely speak of those things she had read about in the sagas and dreamed of during the dark, Icelandic nights. "We’d place words carefully together, piling them upon one another, leaving no spaces. We each created towers, two beacons, the like of which are built along roads to guide the way when the weather comes down. We saw one another through the fog, the suffocating repetition of life." Ah, but love can have its own form of vengeance, especially when that inevitable third or even fourth party intrudes itself on the scene, creating havoc for all involved.
My heart wept for Agnes. The ending took my breath away. I loved the way her history was peeled away one layer at a time until we finally felt we truly understood her and had all pieces of the puzzle in place. This book was based on a true story, and the author’s note at the end is fascinating. The amount of research that went into this novel is quite impressive. Throughout, we are given snippets of actual letters and documents relating to the case. This added a feeling of real authenticity to the story that I greatly appreciated. The prose is beautiful and lyrical, and the stark landscape will grab hold of you and make you feel as if you are right there reliving the events with Agnes. This book is highly recommended to fans of historical fiction and anyone that admires excellent writing.
"Memories shift like loose snow in a wind, or are a chorale of ghosts all talking over one another. There is only ever a sense that what is real to me is not real to others, and to share a memory with someone is to risk sullying my belief in what has truly happened."
Note: This novel made me reflect on another book that I truly loved and one that I believe is not as well-known as this. If you have read this one, then I highly recommend you try by . It is equally exquisite! It is one that I don't see widely read on ŷ and one I love to share with my friends here :)
December 8, 2016
"Το ύφος στο πρόσωπο του δεν ήταν χλευαστικό. Έδειχνε,όμως περιφρόνηση. Με περιφρονούσε - και το διασκέδαζε. Ένα ξαφνικό βάρος απελπισίας κι απώλειας έπεσε πάνω μου. Και οριστικά,αμετάκλητα,η θλίψη με έλιωσε. "
Αυτό το απόσπασμα του βιβλίου στη συγκεκριμένη στιγμή -έχοντας διαβάσει απο πριν την εξαθλιωμένη ζωή και το ξεγύμνωμα της ψυχής της Άγκνες με ωμές περιγραφές και σκηνικά να εκτυλίσσονται σε παγωμένα και άγρια μέρη της Ισλανδίας- με έκανε να αισθανθώ την κατάφορη αδικία,τον πόνο,την ερημιά και την εγκατάλειψη που αισθανόταν η ίδια πριν το φρικτό εκείνο βραδυ που έκλεψε την ανάσα άλλων ανθρώπων και τώρα πρέπει και αυτοί να κλέψουν τη δική της. Έπρεπε να πεθάνει.
Μια ιστορία γεμάτη συναρπαστικές περιγραφές που αφορούν το χρονικό ενός προαναγγελθέντος θανάτου αλλα κυρίως αποτυπώνονται με τρομερά ρεαλιστικό τροπο σχεδον άγριο- οι νοοτροπίες,τα συναισθήματα,οι δεισιδαιμονίες,οι κλίμακες ηθικών αξιών,οι σκληρές συνθήκες διαβίωσης των φτωχών ανθρώπων και γενικότερα οι θεοφοβουμενες οικογενειακές και οι επιφανειακές-επίπλαστες κοινωνικές δομές,στην Ισλανδια του 19ου αιώνα.
Όταν αρχίζει να μέτραει αντίστροφα η φρίκη του τέλους κανεις δεν ειναι ικανός,κανεις δεν προσπαθεί έστω και μάταια να τα βάλει με το κατεστημένο και να σταματήσει το ρολόι του θανάτου. Ακόμη και όσοι γνωρίζουν ή μπορούν να επικαλεστούν μια άλλη αλήθεια λιγότερο κατασκευασμένη και ψεύτικη.
Ακόμη και αυτοί που η παγωνιά του τόπου τους δεν έχει περάσει στην ψυχή τους ειναι απλοί μοιρολάτρες και συνένοχοι,σαν βοηθοί θανάτου!!
Καλή ανάγνωση!
Αυτό το απόσπασμα του βιβλίου στη συγκεκριμένη στιγμή -έχοντας διαβάσει απο πριν την εξαθλιωμένη ζωή και το ξεγύμνωμα της ψυχής της Άγκνες με ωμές περιγραφές και σκηνικά να εκτυλίσσονται σε παγωμένα και άγρια μέρη της Ισλανδίας- με έκανε να αισθανθώ την κατάφορη αδικία,τον πόνο,την ερημιά και την εγκατάλειψη που αισθανόταν η ίδια πριν το φρικτό εκείνο βραδυ που έκλεψε την ανάσα άλλων ανθρώπων και τώρα πρέπει και αυτοί να κλέψουν τη δική της. Έπρεπε να πεθάνει.
Μια ιστορία γεμάτη συναρπαστικές περιγραφές που αφορούν το χρονικό ενός προαναγγελθέντος θανάτου αλλα κυρίως αποτυπώνονται με τρομερά ρεαλιστικό τροπο σχεδον άγριο- οι νοοτροπίες,τα συναισθήματα,οι δεισιδαιμονίες,οι κλίμακες ηθικών αξιών,οι σκληρές συνθήκες διαβίωσης των φτωχών ανθρώπων και γενικότερα οι θεοφοβουμενες οικογενειακές και οι επιφανειακές-επίπλαστες κοινωνικές δομές,στην Ισλανδια του 19ου αιώνα.
Όταν αρχίζει να μέτραει αντίστροφα η φρίκη του τέλους κανεις δεν ειναι ικανός,κανεις δεν προσπαθεί έστω και μάταια να τα βάλει με το κατεστημένο και να σταματήσει το ρολόι του θανάτου. Ακόμη και όσοι γνωρίζουν ή μπορούν να επικαλεστούν μια άλλη αλήθεια λιγότερο κατασκευασμένη και ψεύτικη.
Ακόμη και αυτοί που η παγωνιά του τόπου τους δεν έχει περάσει στην ψυχή τους ειναι απλοί μοιρολάτρες και συνένοχοι,σαν βοηθοί θανάτου!!
Καλή ανάγνωση!
June 5, 2020
“What sort of woman kills men?�
In northern Iceland, 1829, Agnes Magnúsdóttir is condemned to death for her part in the brutal murder of two men.
Agnes is sent to wait out the time leading to her execution on the farm of District Officer ó ósson, his wife and their two daughters. Horrified to have a convicted murderess in their midst, the family avoids speaking with Agnes. Only óپ, the young assistant reverend appointed as Agnes' spiritual guardian, is compelled to try to understand her, as he attempts to salvage her soul. As the summer months fall away to winter and the hardships of rural life force the household to work side by side, Agnes' ill-fated tale of longing and betrayal 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 personal freedom: who we are seen to be versus who we believe ourselves to be, and the ways in which we will risk everything for love. In beautiful, cut-glass prose, Hannah Kent portrays Iceland's formidable landscape, where every day is a battle for survival, and asks, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?
That synopsis alone had me enchanted, so you can imagine how much I ended up loving the actual story written by Kent and narrated by the phenomenal Morven Christie. Speaking of, deciding to listen to the audiobook was one of the best ones decisions I made. It helped tremendously in learning how to correctly pronounce Icelandic names and places. And Christie's narration only added to the eerie and gloomy atmosphere of this book. She's purely brilliant in giving the characters their fitting voice, especially the one for Agnes Magnúsdóttir. I would come to anticipate her chapters purely for the fact that Morven Christie's gave her such a richly measured and distinctly calm voice. Plus, when I tried to pick up the book and read it by myself, it just didn't have the same haunting effect.
And if you're not convinced after reading this next passage...
“I remain quiet. I am determined to close myself to the world, to tighten my heart and hold on to what has not yet been stolen from me. I cannot let myself slip away. I will hold what I am inside, and keep my hands tight around all the things I have seen and heard, and felt. The poems composed as I washed and scythed and cooked until my hands were raw. The sagas I know by heart. I am sinking all I have left and going underwater. If I speak, it will be in bubbles of air. They will not be able to keep my words for themselves. They will see the whore, the madwoman, the murderess, the female dripping blood into the grass and laughing with her mouth choked with dirt. They will say ‘Agnes� and see the spider, the witch caught in the webbing of her own fateful weaving. They might see the lamb circled by ravens, bleating for a lost mother. But they will not see me. I will not be there.�
This piece, written with such haunting and hypnotizing detail, completely seized my heart. Which I quickly came to realize would occur more than once throughout Burial Rites. The imagery behind certain pieces in Kent's writing were so evocative, raw and hauntingly powerful, I was left in awe more than once.
And I was surprised, though I shouldn't have been, when I grew fond of Agnes Magnúsdóttir with each passing page. It was the little things I noticed that left me under her spell, such as:
� Her obsession with foresights, superstitions, omens and ravens. I loved this because it reminded me of my favorite magical realism story, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton:
“And creatures should be loved for their wisdom if they cannot be loved for kindness. As a child, I watched the ravens gather on the roof of Undirfell church, hoping to learn who was going to die. I sat on the wall, waiting for one to shake out his feathers, waiting to see which direction his beak turned. It happened once. A raven settled upon the wooden gable and jerked his beak towards the farm of Bakki, and a little boy drowned later that week, found swollen and grey downriver. The raven had known.�
� Speaking of magical realism, I was over the moon when I saw how seriously some characters took their dreams in here, because same!!
“‘Reverend,� she said quietly. ‘If I tell you something, will you promise to believe me?�
óپ felt his heart leap in his chest. ‘What is it you want to tell me, Agnes?�
‘Remember when you first visited me here, and you asked me why I had chosen you to be my priest, and I told you that it was because of an act of kindness, because you had helped me across the river?� Agnes cast a wary glance out to the group of people on the edge of the field. ‘I wasn’t lying,� she continued. ‘We did meet then. But what I didn’t tell you was that we had met before.�
óپ raised his eyebrows. ‘I’m sorry, Agnes. I don’t remember.�
‘You wouldn’t have. We met in a dream.’�
I said it once and I'll say it again: This is how you win over my heart in a flash.
� Also loved how Agnes didn't give a flying fuck:
“‘You called me a child,� óپ said.
‘I offended you.� She seemed disinterested.
‘I wasn’t offended,� óپ said, lying. ‘But you’re wrong, Agnes. Yes, I’m a young man, but I have spent three long years at the school of Bessastadir in the south, I speak Latin and Greek and Danish, and God has chosen me to shepherd you to redemption.�
Agnes looked at him, unblinking. ‘No. I chose you, Reverend.’�
* plays in the background, just like when Noora shredded William into absolute pieces with her words in .*
� And quickly circling back to the writing, some passages simply left my mind reeling with how seamlessly perfect, dark, and brutally honest they were.
Exhibit A:
“‘And do you remember her death very well?�
Agnes stopped knitting and looked around at the women again. They had fallen silent and were listening. ‘Do I remember?� she repeated, a little louder. ‘I wish I could forget it.� She unhooked her index finger from the thread of wool and brought it to her forehead. ‘In here,� she said, ‘I can turn to that day as though it were a page in a book. It’s written so deeply upon my mind I can almost taste the ink.�
Exhibit B:
“‘But, Agnes, actions speak louder than words.�
‘Actions lie,� Agnes retorted quickly. ‘Sometimes people never stood a chance in the beginning, or they might have made a mistake. When people start saying things like she must be a bad mother because of that mistake . . .�
When óپ said nothing in response she went on.
‘It’s not fair. People claim to know you through the things you’ve done, and not by sitting down and listening to you speak for yourself. No matter how much you try to live a godly life, if you make a mistake in this valley, it’s never forgotten. No matter if you tried to do what was best. No matter if your innermost self whispers, “I am not as you say!� � how other people think of you determines who you are.’�
If there's one thing that I'm sure of, it's that Hannah Kent can write like nobody’s business.
� On that note, I have to mention the memory Agnes was talking about in the first exhibit, because I cannot stop thinking about it ever since I read it. Agnes describing the death of her foster-mother during birth... it was painful and tragic and vivid, and I’m still speechless that it all occurred during a storm.
“‘It’s strange,� Agnes said, using her little finger to wind the wool about the needle head. ‘Most of the time when I think of when I was younger, everything is unclear. As though I were looking at things through smoked glass. But Inga’s death, and everything that came after it . . . I almost feel that it was yesterday.’�
I hardly released a breath while Agnesrecalled this memory. This whole chapter messed me up... AND NOW I CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT. Thosewere some masterful storytelling skills on the author's part.
� Side note: Iceland is one of my top places to visit, so I was beyond ecstatic to explore it through words. And the author did a beyond phenomenal job of bringing the place to life. Also, I loved getting to know a bit of history on the place and its customs. (P.S. of the places Kent wrote about was great to look into after reading.)
� And one last thing I want to discuss: that ending... I knew what was coming, but that didn't help ease the pain in the least when what happened, happened. My heart ached even more when we got to see Agnes growing closer to the members of the family at the farm of Kornsá. Ѳé in particular was like the mother figure she'd never had. And so their goodbyes consequently broke my heart into tiny little pieces.
“Ѳé� is reaching out to me and she takes my hand in hers, clasps my fingers so tightly that it hurts, it hurts.
‘You are not a monster,� she says. Her face is flushed and she bites her lip, she bites down. Her fingers, entwined with my own, are hot and greasy.
‘They’re going to kill me.� Who said that? Did I say that?
‘We’ll remember you, Agnes.� She presses my fingers more tightly, until I almost cry out from the pain, and then I am crying. I don’t want to be remembered, I want to be here!
‘Mé!�
‘I am right here, Agnes. You’ll be all right, my girl. My girl.�
MY GIRL. I had to stop myself from crying at this point. (Still, as I'm writing this.)
If one thing's for sure, this beautiful, all-consuming novel about family, secrets, and murder won't be leaving my mind for awhile.
Plus, listening to really got me further into the story.
Note: I'm an Amazon Affiliate. If you're interested in buying Burial Rites, just click on the image below to go through my link. I'll make a small commission!
In northern Iceland, 1829, Agnes Magnúsdóttir is condemned to death for her part in the brutal murder of two men.
Agnes is sent to wait out the time leading to her execution on the farm of District Officer ó ósson, his wife and their two daughters. Horrified to have a convicted murderess in their midst, the family avoids speaking with Agnes. Only óپ, the young assistant reverend appointed as Agnes' spiritual guardian, is compelled to try to understand her, as he attempts to salvage her soul. As the summer months fall away to winter and the hardships of rural life force the household to work side by side, Agnes' ill-fated tale of longing and betrayal 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 personal freedom: who we are seen to be versus who we believe ourselves to be, and the ways in which we will risk everything for love. In beautiful, cut-glass prose, Hannah Kent portrays Iceland's formidable landscape, where every day is a battle for survival, and asks, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?
That synopsis alone had me enchanted, so you can imagine how much I ended up loving the actual story written by Kent and narrated by the phenomenal Morven Christie. Speaking of, deciding to listen to the audiobook was one of the best ones decisions I made. It helped tremendously in learning how to correctly pronounce Icelandic names and places. And Christie's narration only added to the eerie and gloomy atmosphere of this book. She's purely brilliant in giving the characters their fitting voice, especially the one for Agnes Magnúsdóttir. I would come to anticipate her chapters purely for the fact that Morven Christie's gave her such a richly measured and distinctly calm voice. Plus, when I tried to pick up the book and read it by myself, it just didn't have the same haunting effect.
And if you're not convinced after reading this next passage...
“I remain quiet. I am determined to close myself to the world, to tighten my heart and hold on to what has not yet been stolen from me. I cannot let myself slip away. I will hold what I am inside, and keep my hands tight around all the things I have seen and heard, and felt. The poems composed as I washed and scythed and cooked until my hands were raw. The sagas I know by heart. I am sinking all I have left and going underwater. If I speak, it will be in bubbles of air. They will not be able to keep my words for themselves. They will see the whore, the madwoman, the murderess, the female dripping blood into the grass and laughing with her mouth choked with dirt. They will say ‘Agnes� and see the spider, the witch caught in the webbing of her own fateful weaving. They might see the lamb circled by ravens, bleating for a lost mother. But they will not see me. I will not be there.�
This piece, written with such haunting and hypnotizing detail, completely seized my heart. Which I quickly came to realize would occur more than once throughout Burial Rites. The imagery behind certain pieces in Kent's writing were so evocative, raw and hauntingly powerful, I was left in awe more than once.
And I was surprised, though I shouldn't have been, when I grew fond of Agnes Magnúsdóttir with each passing page. It was the little things I noticed that left me under her spell, such as:
� Her obsession with foresights, superstitions, omens and ravens. I loved this because it reminded me of my favorite magical realism story, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton:
“And creatures should be loved for their wisdom if they cannot be loved for kindness. As a child, I watched the ravens gather on the roof of Undirfell church, hoping to learn who was going to die. I sat on the wall, waiting for one to shake out his feathers, waiting to see which direction his beak turned. It happened once. A raven settled upon the wooden gable and jerked his beak towards the farm of Bakki, and a little boy drowned later that week, found swollen and grey downriver. The raven had known.�
� Speaking of magical realism, I was over the moon when I saw how seriously some characters took their dreams in here, because same!!
“‘Reverend,� she said quietly. ‘If I tell you something, will you promise to believe me?�
óپ felt his heart leap in his chest. ‘What is it you want to tell me, Agnes?�
‘Remember when you first visited me here, and you asked me why I had chosen you to be my priest, and I told you that it was because of an act of kindness, because you had helped me across the river?� Agnes cast a wary glance out to the group of people on the edge of the field. ‘I wasn’t lying,� she continued. ‘We did meet then. But what I didn’t tell you was that we had met before.�
óپ raised his eyebrows. ‘I’m sorry, Agnes. I don’t remember.�
‘You wouldn’t have. We met in a dream.’�
I said it once and I'll say it again: This is how you win over my heart in a flash.
� Also loved how Agnes didn't give a flying fuck:
“‘You called me a child,� óپ said.
‘I offended you.� She seemed disinterested.
‘I wasn’t offended,� óپ said, lying. ‘But you’re wrong, Agnes. Yes, I’m a young man, but I have spent three long years at the school of Bessastadir in the south, I speak Latin and Greek and Danish, and God has chosen me to shepherd you to redemption.�
Agnes looked at him, unblinking. ‘No. I chose you, Reverend.’�
* plays in the background, just like when Noora shredded William into absolute pieces with her words in .*
� And quickly circling back to the writing, some passages simply left my mind reeling with how seamlessly perfect, dark, and brutally honest they were.
Exhibit A:
“‘And do you remember her death very well?�
Agnes stopped knitting and looked around at the women again. They had fallen silent and were listening. ‘Do I remember?� she repeated, a little louder. ‘I wish I could forget it.� She unhooked her index finger from the thread of wool and brought it to her forehead. ‘In here,� she said, ‘I can turn to that day as though it were a page in a book. It’s written so deeply upon my mind I can almost taste the ink.�
Exhibit B:
“‘But, Agnes, actions speak louder than words.�
‘Actions lie,� Agnes retorted quickly. ‘Sometimes people never stood a chance in the beginning, or they might have made a mistake. When people start saying things like she must be a bad mother because of that mistake . . .�
When óپ said nothing in response she went on.
‘It’s not fair. People claim to know you through the things you’ve done, and not by sitting down and listening to you speak for yourself. No matter how much you try to live a godly life, if you make a mistake in this valley, it’s never forgotten. No matter if you tried to do what was best. No matter if your innermost self whispers, “I am not as you say!� � how other people think of you determines who you are.’�
If there's one thing that I'm sure of, it's that Hannah Kent can write like nobody’s business.
� On that note, I have to mention the memory Agnes was talking about in the first exhibit, because I cannot stop thinking about it ever since I read it. Agnes describing the death of her foster-mother during birth... it was painful and tragic and vivid, and I’m still speechless that it all occurred during a storm.
“‘It’s strange,� Agnes said, using her little finger to wind the wool about the needle head. ‘Most of the time when I think of when I was younger, everything is unclear. As though I were looking at things through smoked glass. But Inga’s death, and everything that came after it . . . I almost feel that it was yesterday.’�
I hardly released a breath while Agnesrecalled this memory. This whole chapter messed me up... AND NOW I CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT. Thosewere some masterful storytelling skills on the author's part.
� Side note: Iceland is one of my top places to visit, so I was beyond ecstatic to explore it through words. And the author did a beyond phenomenal job of bringing the place to life. Also, I loved getting to know a bit of history on the place and its customs. (P.S. of the places Kent wrote about was great to look into after reading.)
� And one last thing I want to discuss: that ending... I knew what was coming, but that didn't help ease the pain in the least when what happened, happened. My heart ached even more when we got to see Agnes growing closer to the members of the family at the farm of Kornsá. Ѳé in particular was like the mother figure she'd never had. And so their goodbyes consequently broke my heart into tiny little pieces.
“Ѳé� is reaching out to me and she takes my hand in hers, clasps my fingers so tightly that it hurts, it hurts.
‘You are not a monster,� she says. Her face is flushed and she bites her lip, she bites down. Her fingers, entwined with my own, are hot and greasy.
‘They’re going to kill me.� Who said that? Did I say that?
‘We’ll remember you, Agnes.� She presses my fingers more tightly, until I almost cry out from the pain, and then I am crying. I don’t want to be remembered, I want to be here!
‘Mé!�
‘I am right here, Agnes. You’ll be all right, my girl. My girl.�
MY GIRL. I had to stop myself from crying at this point. (Still, as I'm writing this.)
If one thing's for sure, this beautiful, all-consuming novel about family, secrets, and murder won't be leaving my mind for awhile.
Plus, listening to really got me further into the story.
Note: I'm an Amazon Affiliate. If you're interested in buying Burial Rites, just click on the image below to go through my link. I'll make a small commission!
September 9, 2014
I have literally just closed the covers on this book and my heart feels heavy. A novel based on true events and characters, Burial Rites tells the story of Agnes Magnusdottir; a woman condemned to death for the murder of her employer.
This was a haunting read; from the eerie prose, dripping in darkness, to the ravens that constantly circle the farms, waiting for a sign of vulnerability from the animals.
Hannah Kent creates the atmosphere of rural Iceland in the 1800's with flawless accuracy. I could feel the chill in my bones from the winter winds, and the tiny bits of heat from the kitchen that drift into the rooms as Agnes tells her story to Reverend Toti.
And though these characters lived hundreds of years ago, they felt extraordinarily alive to me. Agnes, the family who hold her prior to her execution, the ghosts of her life before the murder and of course, the young Assistant Reverend who is given the task of preparing Agnes for her death.
This was good. Very good.
This was a haunting read; from the eerie prose, dripping in darkness, to the ravens that constantly circle the farms, waiting for a sign of vulnerability from the animals.
Hannah Kent creates the atmosphere of rural Iceland in the 1800's with flawless accuracy. I could feel the chill in my bones from the winter winds, and the tiny bits of heat from the kitchen that drift into the rooms as Agnes tells her story to Reverend Toti.
And though these characters lived hundreds of years ago, they felt extraordinarily alive to me. Agnes, the family who hold her prior to her execution, the ghosts of her life before the murder and of course, the young Assistant Reverend who is given the task of preparing Agnes for her death.
This was good. Very good.
November 4, 2016
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent is a 2013 Little, Brown and Company publication.
This story is mind-boggling and perhaps a little overwhelming at times.
As the blurb states, this story is inspired by true events that took place in Iceland in 1829-30.
Agnes, is convicted of murdering two people, one of whom was her lover, then sentenced to be executed by beheading.
She is sent to live out the remainder of her days on an isolated farm with a family forced to take her in because of a lack of prisons, and who are mortified, and even terrified, of having her under their roof.
Also, in tow is a young priest, Toti, who Agnes chose, specifically, to be her spiritual guide as she faces her imminent death.
This book came to my attention recently, and although I knew it would end badly, the book has achieved so many accolades, I decided to give it a try anyway.
I’m so glad I did. The author did an incredible job of fictionalizing Agnes� story, capturing the bleak and barren Icelandic terrain and atmosphere, while aptly describing the stark living conditions, and superstitions of the day.
I thought I had emotionally prepared myself for what was to come, but I wasn’t expecting such an amazing story, which humanizes Agnes, and allows the full story to emerge, while Agnes works on the farm and eventually carves a niche for herself with the family who so reluctantly took her in.
Toti is also a terrific character, so open minded with Agnes, who listened to her with a sympathetic ear, not all together convinced of her guilt.
In the end, despite the lack of reprieve for Agnes, she’s able to hold her head up, to feel supported, comforted, and is at least spiritually exonerated by her priest and by others who surrounded her in those final harrowing days.
So, all my emotional preparedness was for naught. I ended up swallowing a huge lump in my throat, and felt nearly gutted by the time I turned the final page.
This book is obviously well researched and is exceptionally well written. Although the story is very sad, and the atmosphere is often heavy and depressing, the ending is still touching and uplifting in its way. Although, I do enjoy historical fiction, this is not the type of book I typically chose, but I am glad I stumbled across it and gave it a chance.
This is a riveting novel historical fiction fans will not want to miss.
This story is mind-boggling and perhaps a little overwhelming at times.
As the blurb states, this story is inspired by true events that took place in Iceland in 1829-30.
Agnes, is convicted of murdering two people, one of whom was her lover, then sentenced to be executed by beheading.
She is sent to live out the remainder of her days on an isolated farm with a family forced to take her in because of a lack of prisons, and who are mortified, and even terrified, of having her under their roof.
Also, in tow is a young priest, Toti, who Agnes chose, specifically, to be her spiritual guide as she faces her imminent death.
This book came to my attention recently, and although I knew it would end badly, the book has achieved so many accolades, I decided to give it a try anyway.
I’m so glad I did. The author did an incredible job of fictionalizing Agnes� story, capturing the bleak and barren Icelandic terrain and atmosphere, while aptly describing the stark living conditions, and superstitions of the day.
I thought I had emotionally prepared myself for what was to come, but I wasn’t expecting such an amazing story, which humanizes Agnes, and allows the full story to emerge, while Agnes works on the farm and eventually carves a niche for herself with the family who so reluctantly took her in.
Toti is also a terrific character, so open minded with Agnes, who listened to her with a sympathetic ear, not all together convinced of her guilt.
In the end, despite the lack of reprieve for Agnes, she’s able to hold her head up, to feel supported, comforted, and is at least spiritually exonerated by her priest and by others who surrounded her in those final harrowing days.
So, all my emotional preparedness was for naught. I ended up swallowing a huge lump in my throat, and felt nearly gutted by the time I turned the final page.
This book is obviously well researched and is exceptionally well written. Although the story is very sad, and the atmosphere is often heavy and depressing, the ending is still touching and uplifting in its way. Although, I do enjoy historical fiction, this is not the type of book I typically chose, but I am glad I stumbled across it and gave it a chance.
This is a riveting novel historical fiction fans will not want to miss.
June 15, 2020
‘they said i must die. they said that i stole the breath from the men, and now they must steal mine.�
on 12 january 1830, agnes magnúsdóttir was beheaded for her accused and convicted involvement in the murder of two men. she was the last person to be executed in iceland. this is her story. �
her hauntingly beautiful story. this book is such a good reminder that knowing what someone has done, and knowing who someone is, are two completely separate things. i appreciated the care with which this story was told. yes, its a work of historical fiction, but i felt like i learned more about agnes than i could ever have from any sort of biography.
and the writing in this was outstanding. every word transported me to the northern tip of iceland, during those bleak winter months whilst agnes awaited her tragic fate. the raw emotion, from not only agnes but those around her, made me feel like i was standing right beside her at the execution site. reading this book was a chilling, but really intriguing, experience. and such an insightful glimpse into what was an unfortunate moment in history all those years ago.
� 4.5 stars
on 12 january 1830, agnes magnúsdóttir was beheaded for her accused and convicted involvement in the murder of two men. she was the last person to be executed in iceland. this is her story. �
her hauntingly beautiful story. this book is such a good reminder that knowing what someone has done, and knowing who someone is, are two completely separate things. i appreciated the care with which this story was told. yes, its a work of historical fiction, but i felt like i learned more about agnes than i could ever have from any sort of biography.
and the writing in this was outstanding. every word transported me to the northern tip of iceland, during those bleak winter months whilst agnes awaited her tragic fate. the raw emotion, from not only agnes but those around her, made me feel like i was standing right beside her at the execution site. reading this book was a chilling, but really intriguing, experience. and such an insightful glimpse into what was an unfortunate moment in history all those years ago.
� 4.5 stars
December 4, 2013
I loved the sense of time and place, the details of life in rural 19th century Iceland. But I thought the characterisation was too easy, too obvious. Kent states in the notes that she wanted to provide a more ambiguous portrayal of Agnus, who has historically been branded as evil. But Agnus from this book is too good, too normal. Her situation is bad, but her character is one a modern reader can easily sympathise with. She is intelligent, a hard worker, attractive in an interesting way (but not in a mainstream way), society treats her badly but she battles on. There is really no ambiguity, Agnus is a good person facing bad circumstances. There are hints that Agnus chooses what facts to reveal, suggesting she may be manipulative, but nothing is done with this. At the end, there is a detail in her version of the crime that doesn't fit with what we're told by Blondal at the start. A hint that she is lying perhaps. But the author doesn't actually paint a picture of a conflicted, complicated person.
Kent's desire to give this historical figure a fair go, to see her in the best possible light, only extends to Agnus's character. The other two convicted of the same crime are caricatures, Siggy the pretty, dumb girl and Fridrick, the rough crim. Characters like the District Commissioner Blondal, the reverend and his father, the father and daughters at Kornsa, are only slightly more than stereotypes. Margret is more 'filled in' and interesting.
In my humble opinion, the writing is self conscious, overly lyrical. Figures of speech feel forced sometimes, although imaginative. The use of symbols is again forced (eg ravens).
It's an enjoyable read. But if you're looking for something insightful, unique, brilliant, this is not it.
Kent's desire to give this historical figure a fair go, to see her in the best possible light, only extends to Agnus's character. The other two convicted of the same crime are caricatures, Siggy the pretty, dumb girl and Fridrick, the rough crim. Characters like the District Commissioner Blondal, the reverend and his father, the father and daughters at Kornsa, are only slightly more than stereotypes. Margret is more 'filled in' and interesting.
In my humble opinion, the writing is self conscious, overly lyrical. Figures of speech feel forced sometimes, although imaginative. The use of symbols is again forced (eg ravens).
It's an enjoyable read. But if you're looking for something insightful, unique, brilliant, this is not it.
November 8, 2017
Outstanding debut novel by Kent. I thought this was wonderfully written and the story captivating. I did not mind the change in voice. I found it enriched the story and was not confusing. This novel is based on a true story set in Iceland. A story of Agnes, a woman charged with the murder (along with 2 other servants) of her former employer.
After being imprisoned and beaten she is sent to live with a family while waiting for her execution. Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes but slowly warm up to her. Agnes is visited by a priest whom she has requested to be her spiritual guardian. He allows her to tell her story in hopes of making her time left tolerable and in an attempt to understand her and her life. As her execution date gets closer, the farmer's wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they've heard.
Beautifully written. Highly recommend.
See more of my reviews at
After being imprisoned and beaten she is sent to live with a family while waiting for her execution. Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes but slowly warm up to her. Agnes is visited by a priest whom she has requested to be her spiritual guardian. He allows her to tell her story in hopes of making her time left tolerable and in an attempt to understand her and her life. As her execution date gets closer, the farmer's wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they've heard.
Beautifully written. Highly recommend.
See more of my reviews at
December 13, 2019
Burial Rites, shortlisted for the Bailey's prize in 2013, is a wonderfully haunting debut novel by Australian Hannah Kent.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this well written 1820s tale of Agnes Magnusdottier, convicted murderer of 2 men, who is sent to Northern Iceland to await her execution. This well researched factual novel tells her story of the relationships developed while living on an isolated farm. The unfolding and changing attitude of the farmer's wife, Margret, from being horrified to acceptance of a convict living with her family is beautifully written. The author's prose reads like poetry.
This is a story of 2 dying women, living in a bleak environment and their endurance.
Highly recommend.
5 out of 5 stars.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this well written 1820s tale of Agnes Magnusdottier, convicted murderer of 2 men, who is sent to Northern Iceland to await her execution. This well researched factual novel tells her story of the relationships developed while living on an isolated farm. The unfolding and changing attitude of the farmer's wife, Margret, from being horrified to acceptance of a convict living with her family is beautifully written. The author's prose reads like poetry.
This is a story of 2 dying women, living in a bleak environment and their endurance.
Highly recommend.
5 out of 5 stars.
April 9, 2017
Just finished reading Burial Rites for the 3rd time (Book Club Choice) and its still manages to pack a punch third time around. This is one of my 10 ten favourite books as it is just so well written and so atmospheric.
Burial Rites is the extraordinary haunting debut novel by Hannah Kent an Australian Writer. This book is set in Iceland in 1829 and tells the story of Agnes Magnusdottir who was found guilty of murdering her employer as he slept. She was condemned to death. She was the last person to be public executed in Iceland and this book is based on true events.
I read an interview with the author and she spent two years researching this story and the back round information to this story benefits greatly from this research as not only do we learn the what happened to Agnes we learn about a place, its peoples the customs and traditions or the time, their religious beliefs and the beautiful and harrowing landscape is described so well that you get a wonderful sense of time and place from Kent's writing. This is something I appreciate in a story as it enhances the book and the reader learns something about a place and time with which they may not be familiar.
Kent's powerful and beautiful prose takes a story that could have been depressing and gives it a wonderful haunting feel to it and reminded me of the feeling I had when I read Wuthering Heights. I loved the tone of the story and as I listened to this as an audio book, the narration was perfect for the story and really made an excellent audio book. I especially enjoyed the pronunciation of surnames of people and places in the story and the explanation that was at the beginning of the book. I am not a big fan of audio books as I much prefer to read a book but the narrator really was excellent. I will probably buy the paperback version someday just to read it again.
I loved how the author gives you the story from different points of view and you find yourself immersed in Agnes telling of her story as imagined by the author. I think I can see how Hannah Kent was so taken with Agnes and the events of 1829.
Burial rites is a thought provoking and deeply moving story and I would highly recommend it but it may not please everybody as it is not an uplifting story and some may find it rather dark.
It made a terrific book club read as plenty to discuss and very thought provoking.
I have also read by and rated it 3 stars.
Burial Rites is the extraordinary haunting debut novel by Hannah Kent an Australian Writer. This book is set in Iceland in 1829 and tells the story of Agnes Magnusdottir who was found guilty of murdering her employer as he slept. She was condemned to death. She was the last person to be public executed in Iceland and this book is based on true events.
I read an interview with the author and she spent two years researching this story and the back round information to this story benefits greatly from this research as not only do we learn the what happened to Agnes we learn about a place, its peoples the customs and traditions or the time, their religious beliefs and the beautiful and harrowing landscape is described so well that you get a wonderful sense of time and place from Kent's writing. This is something I appreciate in a story as it enhances the book and the reader learns something about a place and time with which they may not be familiar.
Kent's powerful and beautiful prose takes a story that could have been depressing and gives it a wonderful haunting feel to it and reminded me of the feeling I had when I read Wuthering Heights. I loved the tone of the story and as I listened to this as an audio book, the narration was perfect for the story and really made an excellent audio book. I especially enjoyed the pronunciation of surnames of people and places in the story and the explanation that was at the beginning of the book. I am not a big fan of audio books as I much prefer to read a book but the narrator really was excellent. I will probably buy the paperback version someday just to read it again.
I loved how the author gives you the story from different points of view and you find yourself immersed in Agnes telling of her story as imagined by the author. I think I can see how Hannah Kent was so taken with Agnes and the events of 1829.
Burial rites is a thought provoking and deeply moving story and I would highly recommend it but it may not please everybody as it is not an uplifting story and some may find it rather dark.
It made a terrific book club read as plenty to discuss and very thought provoking.
I have also read by and rated it 3 stars.
September 29, 2020
Latest news I've seen - Feb 2018
Another UPDATE Iceland is revisiting the circumstances of the trial. Fascinating stuff! Have a look.
UPDATE On 16 August 2017, the author added a video about the book to her website:
The video itself is here:
5�+
“Rósa’s poetry kindled the shavings of my soul, and lit me up from within.�
Hannah Kent writes about a dark, forbidding time in an unforgiving landscape, but she shines her light into the shadows and into the hearts of some of the most remarkable people you’re likely to meet in literature. I loved it. Loved the writing, the story, the freezing, blizzards.
“You, Agnes Magnúsdóttir, have been sentenced to death. You, Agnes. Agnes. They don’t know me. I remain quiet. I am determined to close myself to the world, to tighten my heart and hold on to what has not yet been stolen from me. I cannot let myself slip away.�
Agnes and a young couple have been found guilty of murder, and she has been kept locked up alone in a stinking, freezing cell, treated as something of a witch. She is skilled with herbs and potions from working with the man she's accused of murdering.
“I’ve been half-frozen for so long, it is as though the winter has set up home in my marrow.�
But when she remembers the beauty of an Icelandic summer, we understand what keeps the people there.
“And I close my eyes and I imagine the valley in the long days of summer, the sun warming the bones of the earth until the swans flock to the lake, and the clouds lifting to reveal the height of the sky: bright, bright blue, so bright you could weep.�
She’s eventually dragged outdoors in bitter cold rain to be taken to stay on a farm until her execution. The open air is a relief in spite of the weather.
“And it was raining. How can I say what it was like to breathe again? I felt newborn. I staggered in the light of the world and took deep gulps of fresh sea air. It was late in the day: the wet mouth of the afternoon was full on my face. My soul blossomed in that brief moment as they led me out of doors. I fell, my skirts in the mud, and I turned my face upwards as if in prayer. I could have wept from the relief of light.�
She’s taken to a farm family, who are reluctant to take her in, but the father is a minor officer of some sort and must accept this assignment. The wife is obviously ill with a lung disease, the two daughters are nearly adults, and the parents are worried Agnes is dangerous, so at first they chain her to a bed.
The state decides the condemned prisoners should be given religious instruction in order to repent and prepare to meet their fates, and Agnes has requested a particular young assistant priest who was once kind to her. He is an awkward, earnest young fellow who doesn’t remember her, and he’s completely unready but is determined to try. On one of his first visits
�. . . he was pleased that he’d managed to remember to say ‘spiritual comfort�. It sounded paternalistic, and self-assured, as though he was in a lofty state of spiritual certainty: a state he felt he should be in, but had a vague, discomfiting sense that he was not.�
The point of view varies but is never confusing. Agnes trusts us with her story in the first person, but because of past experience with the courts, she doesn’t reveal everything to the kindly reverend.
“They did not let me say what happened in my own way, but took my memories of Illugastadir, of Natan, and wrought them into something sinister; they wrested my statement of that night and made me seem malevolent. Everything I said was taken from me and altered until the story wasn’t my own.
. . .
It’s a silent memory, and one, like the others, I can’t quite trust. Memories shift like loose snow in a wind, or are a chorale of ghosts all talking over one another. There is only ever a sense that what is real to me is not real to others, and to share a memory with someone is to risk sullying my belief in what has truly happened.�
Gradually, Agnes describes her life as a bastard and pauper in early 1800s Iceland � a life that would have broken a lesser person. The young priest is horrified but feels it’s more important to let her talk rather than try to preach to her. We learn more from her musings than she tells him, partly because of what she said her words being twisted, but also because she realises how sensitive and innocent he is and that he seems to genuinely care about her.
I found the day-to-day life of the farm fascinating, the details about catching and salting fish, smoking mutton, using every little piece of the sheep (as Native Americans were famous for using every bit of buffalo). And the storeroom � the place where food was kept frozen all winter, and in one case, the dead body of a mother and baby that have to wait for summer burial!
Influencing everything is the land - Iceland itself. Long winters, a lot of freezing rain and wet, muddy clothes to clean and dry by a dung or peat fire. A window could have been a bit of stretched fish skin or sheep’s bladder. Hardly weather protection. Roof and walls were probably turf, which kept dropping dirt and grass into the rooms.
“Only the wind speaks and it will not talk sense, it screams like the widow of the world and will not wait for a reply.�
There is no thought of escape � well, only a fleeting one.
“I would only be trading one death sentence for another. Up in the highlands blizzards howl like the widows of fishermen and the wind blisters the skin off your face. Winter comes like a punch in the dark. The uninhabited places are as cruel as any executioner.�
I am glad Hannah Kent was an exchange student in Iceland and was so captivated by the sagas and history that she threw herself into the research necessary to produce a work like this. It is nothing short of astounding.
She has added some interesting photos about the story and the location, but the badstofa (living/sleeping room) depicted is a far cry from the book’s turf room from which all the boards had been removed. There are a couple here that look very like a loft in a Norwegian log cabin I loved.
Another UPDATE Iceland is revisiting the circumstances of the trial. Fascinating stuff! Have a look.
UPDATE On 16 August 2017, the author added a video about the book to her website:
The video itself is here:
5�+
“Rósa’s poetry kindled the shavings of my soul, and lit me up from within.�
Hannah Kent writes about a dark, forbidding time in an unforgiving landscape, but she shines her light into the shadows and into the hearts of some of the most remarkable people you’re likely to meet in literature. I loved it. Loved the writing, the story, the freezing, blizzards.
“You, Agnes Magnúsdóttir, have been sentenced to death. You, Agnes. Agnes. They don’t know me. I remain quiet. I am determined to close myself to the world, to tighten my heart and hold on to what has not yet been stolen from me. I cannot let myself slip away.�
Agnes and a young couple have been found guilty of murder, and she has been kept locked up alone in a stinking, freezing cell, treated as something of a witch. She is skilled with herbs and potions from working with the man she's accused of murdering.
“I’ve been half-frozen for so long, it is as though the winter has set up home in my marrow.�
But when she remembers the beauty of an Icelandic summer, we understand what keeps the people there.
“And I close my eyes and I imagine the valley in the long days of summer, the sun warming the bones of the earth until the swans flock to the lake, and the clouds lifting to reveal the height of the sky: bright, bright blue, so bright you could weep.�
She’s eventually dragged outdoors in bitter cold rain to be taken to stay on a farm until her execution. The open air is a relief in spite of the weather.
“And it was raining. How can I say what it was like to breathe again? I felt newborn. I staggered in the light of the world and took deep gulps of fresh sea air. It was late in the day: the wet mouth of the afternoon was full on my face. My soul blossomed in that brief moment as they led me out of doors. I fell, my skirts in the mud, and I turned my face upwards as if in prayer. I could have wept from the relief of light.�
She’s taken to a farm family, who are reluctant to take her in, but the father is a minor officer of some sort and must accept this assignment. The wife is obviously ill with a lung disease, the two daughters are nearly adults, and the parents are worried Agnes is dangerous, so at first they chain her to a bed.
The state decides the condemned prisoners should be given religious instruction in order to repent and prepare to meet their fates, and Agnes has requested a particular young assistant priest who was once kind to her. He is an awkward, earnest young fellow who doesn’t remember her, and he’s completely unready but is determined to try. On one of his first visits
�. . . he was pleased that he’d managed to remember to say ‘spiritual comfort�. It sounded paternalistic, and self-assured, as though he was in a lofty state of spiritual certainty: a state he felt he should be in, but had a vague, discomfiting sense that he was not.�
The point of view varies but is never confusing. Agnes trusts us with her story in the first person, but because of past experience with the courts, she doesn’t reveal everything to the kindly reverend.
“They did not let me say what happened in my own way, but took my memories of Illugastadir, of Natan, and wrought them into something sinister; they wrested my statement of that night and made me seem malevolent. Everything I said was taken from me and altered until the story wasn’t my own.
. . .
It’s a silent memory, and one, like the others, I can’t quite trust. Memories shift like loose snow in a wind, or are a chorale of ghosts all talking over one another. There is only ever a sense that what is real to me is not real to others, and to share a memory with someone is to risk sullying my belief in what has truly happened.�
Gradually, Agnes describes her life as a bastard and pauper in early 1800s Iceland � a life that would have broken a lesser person. The young priest is horrified but feels it’s more important to let her talk rather than try to preach to her. We learn more from her musings than she tells him, partly because of what she said her words being twisted, but also because she realises how sensitive and innocent he is and that he seems to genuinely care about her.
I found the day-to-day life of the farm fascinating, the details about catching and salting fish, smoking mutton, using every little piece of the sheep (as Native Americans were famous for using every bit of buffalo). And the storeroom � the place where food was kept frozen all winter, and in one case, the dead body of a mother and baby that have to wait for summer burial!
Influencing everything is the land - Iceland itself. Long winters, a lot of freezing rain and wet, muddy clothes to clean and dry by a dung or peat fire. A window could have been a bit of stretched fish skin or sheep’s bladder. Hardly weather protection. Roof and walls were probably turf, which kept dropping dirt and grass into the rooms.
“Only the wind speaks and it will not talk sense, it screams like the widow of the world and will not wait for a reply.�
There is no thought of escape � well, only a fleeting one.
“I would only be trading one death sentence for another. Up in the highlands blizzards howl like the widows of fishermen and the wind blisters the skin off your face. Winter comes like a punch in the dark. The uninhabited places are as cruel as any executioner.�
I am glad Hannah Kent was an exchange student in Iceland and was so captivated by the sagas and history that she threw herself into the research necessary to produce a work like this. It is nothing short of astounding.
She has added some interesting photos about the story and the location, but the badstofa (living/sleeping room) depicted is a far cry from the book’s turf room from which all the boards had been removed. There are a couple here that look very like a loft in a Norwegian log cabin I loved.
February 17, 2017
In 1829, Jon Jonsson is tasked with housing condemned murderer Agnes Magnusdottir at his family farm while she awaits her execution. Margret, Jon’s wife, has steeled herself and their two daughters to support Jon in his unenviable position. She is unprepared for the moment her resolve softens when she meets the prisoner for the first time.
�The criminal wore what seem to be a servant’s common working dress of roughly woven wool, but one so badly stained and caked with dirt that the original blue dye was hardly discernible under the brown grease that spread across the neckline and arms. A thick weight of dried mud pulled the fabric awkwardly from the woman’s body. Her faded stockings were soaked through, sunk around the ankles, and one torn, exposing a slice of pale skin. […] Her hair was uncovered by a cap and matted with grease. […] There was a yellow bruise that spread from her chin down the side of her neck.�
The young Assistant Reverend Thorvardur (Toti) Jonsson has the role of Agnes’s spiritual advisor to help her prepare for her death and meeting with her creator. While, at first, Toti feels totally unequal to the task, his growing knowledge of Agnes and her life spurs him on with confidence. Both he, and the Jonsdottir family will learn of Agnes’s early life as a ward of the parish, then a lifetime spent always in servitude. Her help around the farm and her humble words will force them all to change their initial reactions to the prisoner.
Kent’s description of the 1800s Icelandic rural area will whisk you away from your current time and place and plant you firmly in the harsh yet beautiful countryside. The short summer, the haymaking season, collecting the berries and herbs, the planting season and the long, severe winters; these all come to life with the astounding eloquence of Ms Kent.
Literary awards for : International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award Nominee for Shortlist (2015), Guardian First Book Award Nominee (2013), Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) for Literary Fiction (2014), ŷ Choice Nominee for Historical Fiction (2013), Women's Prize for Fiction Nominee (2014)
Specsavers National Book Award Nominee for International Author of the Year (2014)
For my part, ’s debut novel is Highly Recommended, truly a 5� read.
�The criminal wore what seem to be a servant’s common working dress of roughly woven wool, but one so badly stained and caked with dirt that the original blue dye was hardly discernible under the brown grease that spread across the neckline and arms. A thick weight of dried mud pulled the fabric awkwardly from the woman’s body. Her faded stockings were soaked through, sunk around the ankles, and one torn, exposing a slice of pale skin. […] Her hair was uncovered by a cap and matted with grease. […] There was a yellow bruise that spread from her chin down the side of her neck.�
The young Assistant Reverend Thorvardur (Toti) Jonsson has the role of Agnes’s spiritual advisor to help her prepare for her death and meeting with her creator. While, at first, Toti feels totally unequal to the task, his growing knowledge of Agnes and her life spurs him on with confidence. Both he, and the Jonsdottir family will learn of Agnes’s early life as a ward of the parish, then a lifetime spent always in servitude. Her help around the farm and her humble words will force them all to change their initial reactions to the prisoner.
Kent’s description of the 1800s Icelandic rural area will whisk you away from your current time and place and plant you firmly in the harsh yet beautiful countryside. The short summer, the haymaking season, collecting the berries and herbs, the planting season and the long, severe winters; these all come to life with the astounding eloquence of Ms Kent.
Literary awards for : International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award Nominee for Shortlist (2015), Guardian First Book Award Nominee (2013), Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) for Literary Fiction (2014), ŷ Choice Nominee for Historical Fiction (2013), Women's Prize for Fiction Nominee (2014)
Specsavers National Book Award Nominee for International Author of the Year (2014)
For my part, ’s debut novel is Highly Recommended, truly a 5� read.
September 30, 2018
Fredrik Sugurdsson, Sigridur (Sigga) Gudmundsdóttir, and Agnes Magnúsdóttir have been sentenced to death for the murders of Natan Ketilsson and éٳܰ ósson. They are initially imprisoned and then are literally “farmed out� to families in the surrounding areas to work until such time as their death sentence is to be enacted.
Agnes is found guilty of accessory to murder, arson, and conspiracy to murder. She ends up billeted with ó ósson, the District Officer of Vatnsdalur, his wife Ѳé, and their daughters Steinvör (Steina) ósdóttir and Sigurlaug (Lauga) ósdóttir at Kornsá, in the valley of Vatnsdalur.
This is by order of the District Commissioner Björn Audunsson öԻ岹 of Hvammur who also notifies Assistant Reverend Thorvardur ósson (óپ) that Agnes has requested him as her spiritual advisor during her imprisonment. óپ discovers from Agnes that she requested his service because of a kindness she remembers him offering her many years before.
óپ is supposed to pray with her every day and make every attempt to bring Agnes closer to God before her life ends. However, he finds her unresponsive and he is floundering until he begins to encourage her to speak of her life and how she arrived at her present dire situation. Even then, it is difficult to break through:
”Memories shift like loose snow in a wind, or are a chorale of ghosts all talking over one another. There is only ever a sense that what is real to me is not real to others and to share a memory with someone is to risk sullying my belief in what has truly happened.�
Eventually, the relations warm between herself and the family who is tasked with keeping her occupied until a date of execution is set. As Agnes and óپ sit together at one end of the room and she begins to share her story, the family is only about 5 feet away and they listen to the stories, too.
This is a deeply sad and tragic story that ranges between Agnes� birth in 1795 and her death in 1829 � when hers is the last execution to be performed in Iceland. The story of her life is filled with poverty, despair, betrayal, and sorrow. Yet it is also a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit despite all that man and nature can contrive to break it.
I didn’t fall into this story immediately, but when it took over my thoughts and emotions, it did so completely � without my awareness of how deeply submerged I was. I have been haunted by the story from that elusive time forward, and I have no doubt that these people will stay in my mind and heart for a long time to come.
As I join others who have read and been touched by this novel, I recommend that anyone who has yet to read this amazing book do so as soon as they can.
Agnes is found guilty of accessory to murder, arson, and conspiracy to murder. She ends up billeted with ó ósson, the District Officer of Vatnsdalur, his wife Ѳé, and their daughters Steinvör (Steina) ósdóttir and Sigurlaug (Lauga) ósdóttir at Kornsá, in the valley of Vatnsdalur.
This is by order of the District Commissioner Björn Audunsson öԻ岹 of Hvammur who also notifies Assistant Reverend Thorvardur ósson (óپ) that Agnes has requested him as her spiritual advisor during her imprisonment. óپ discovers from Agnes that she requested his service because of a kindness she remembers him offering her many years before.
óپ is supposed to pray with her every day and make every attempt to bring Agnes closer to God before her life ends. However, he finds her unresponsive and he is floundering until he begins to encourage her to speak of her life and how she arrived at her present dire situation. Even then, it is difficult to break through:
”Memories shift like loose snow in a wind, or are a chorale of ghosts all talking over one another. There is only ever a sense that what is real to me is not real to others and to share a memory with someone is to risk sullying my belief in what has truly happened.�
Eventually, the relations warm between herself and the family who is tasked with keeping her occupied until a date of execution is set. As Agnes and óپ sit together at one end of the room and she begins to share her story, the family is only about 5 feet away and they listen to the stories, too.
This is a deeply sad and tragic story that ranges between Agnes� birth in 1795 and her death in 1829 � when hers is the last execution to be performed in Iceland. The story of her life is filled with poverty, despair, betrayal, and sorrow. Yet it is also a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit despite all that man and nature can contrive to break it.
I didn’t fall into this story immediately, but when it took over my thoughts and emotions, it did so completely � without my awareness of how deeply submerged I was. I have been haunted by the story from that elusive time forward, and I have no doubt that these people will stay in my mind and heart for a long time to come.
As I join others who have read and been touched by this novel, I recommend that anyone who has yet to read this amazing book do so as soon as they can.
May 28, 2018
I give up!!! DNF at 180 pages.
Monkey brain can't handle this. It's far too slow. The writing is nice, and I underlined a lot of parts that I liked, but NOTHING happens except in flashbacks, and even those are slow. Maybe I'll revisit it one day but it's just not the time for me to be reading such dense, slow prose right now
Monkey brain can't handle this. It's far too slow. The writing is nice, and I underlined a lot of parts that I liked, but NOTHING happens except in flashbacks, and even those are slow. Maybe I'll revisit it one day but it's just not the time for me to be reading such dense, slow prose right now
April 14, 2017
'I am run through and through with disaster; I am knifed to the hilt with fate.'
Poor Agnes! This was a very well told story: evocative descriptions of the landscape, the farmers of Iceland and their tough life style...
I have read a lot of historical fiction, but never one set in this time and place, so the details of Icelandic farming in the 1800s were fascinating. Brutal conditions and yet (said from the comfort of my centrally heated home and with my on line food order on its way) there would be something satisfying about a life filled with the tasks of survival and self sufficiency...the benefits of living where the eider ducks nest; where the seals congregate (seal skin shoes); the bonus of a whale beached on a neighbour's shore ;slaughter day, where it's all hands on deck to utilise every part of the sheep; the seasonal and unceasing work to provide for your family.
And then of course, the story we hear of Agnes' unfortunate life and involvement in a double murder and resulting execution. I felt particularly sorry for this woman, who had never really had any friends or family, had lived as a pauper, foster child, maid without any meaningful or lasting relationships- who ironically and poignantly connects with the family who house her until her execution.
Recommended.
Poor Agnes! This was a very well told story: evocative descriptions of the landscape, the farmers of Iceland and their tough life style...
I have read a lot of historical fiction, but never one set in this time and place, so the details of Icelandic farming in the 1800s were fascinating. Brutal conditions and yet (said from the comfort of my centrally heated home and with my on line food order on its way) there would be something satisfying about a life filled with the tasks of survival and self sufficiency...the benefits of living where the eider ducks nest; where the seals congregate (seal skin shoes); the bonus of a whale beached on a neighbour's shore ;slaughter day, where it's all hands on deck to utilise every part of the sheep; the seasonal and unceasing work to provide for your family.
And then of course, the story we hear of Agnes' unfortunate life and involvement in a double murder and resulting execution. I felt particularly sorry for this woman, who had never really had any friends or family, had lived as a pauper, foster child, maid without any meaningful or lasting relationships- who ironically and poignantly connects with the family who house her until her execution.
Recommended.
November 25, 2018
Burial Rites is definitely a winter novel. Set in Iceland in the 1800’s, the overwhelming atmosphere is cold, dark and bleak. Isolated farms huddle in vast frozen landscapes and rural life is hard.
Much research has gone into creating a realistic setting and the novel is based on a true, well documented story.
Agnes, a woman in her thirties has been condemned to death for her part in the horrific murder of two men. She is sent to the home of a minor official and his family, to be held whilst she awaits execution. A young priest is sent to help her find god and repent before her fate is sealed.
Agnes� relationship with the priest and the host family forms a large part of the novel as does the gradual disclosing of the events leading up to the violent crime.
Despite the dark and claustrophobic setting, Burial Rites is truly gripping. The narrative moves fast and this literary novel is beautifully written.
A seriously excellent book!
Much research has gone into creating a realistic setting and the novel is based on a true, well documented story.
Agnes, a woman in her thirties has been condemned to death for her part in the horrific murder of two men. She is sent to the home of a minor official and his family, to be held whilst she awaits execution. A young priest is sent to help her find god and repent before her fate is sealed.
Agnes� relationship with the priest and the host family forms a large part of the novel as does the gradual disclosing of the events leading up to the violent crime.
Despite the dark and claustrophobic setting, Burial Rites is truly gripping. The narrative moves fast and this literary novel is beautifully written.
A seriously excellent book!
September 20, 2020
Burial Rites is a chilling fictional account of the period leading up to and including the final months in the life of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last woman to be executed in Iceland, on January 12th 1830. Agnes and two others were found guilty and condemned to death in the murder of Natan Ketilsson, a talented Healer of little (no) moral character and his cohort, Petur Jonsson, a convicted criminal on “free foot�.
Setting aside the depressing notion of capital punishment and the tragic background of the condemned Agnes, the graphic descriptions of how the frontier population in the region lived from hand to mouth in the harshest of conditions will surely quell any romantic notions of the period and place that a reader may foster in his or her imagination. I reckon the his-es might find it only slightly more palatable than the hers-es, since, as you can imagine, the impoverished peasant women were also routinely raped - and not just by their Masters.
The story begins with an exchange of letters where a brief background is described. Agnes, the condemned murderess, is hauled out of a jail cell where she was being detained until after her trial. There is a shocking description of her physical (and mental) state. Manacled and thrown over a saddle, she was transported to the home of the District Officer Jon Jonsson where she was thrust, unwanted and feared. Her hair was a gnarled, matted mess. Her body and ragged clothes were encrusted with dirt, blood, feces, urine, and crawling with lice. She is dumped at the house before a prematurely wizened, consumptive wife of Jon. Although repulsed and terrified, she is so shocked by the state of the prisoner that she immediately drags her off to be washed and scrubbed � taking her clothes to be burned and fitting her with hand-offs from a previous servant. That singular gesture made by the prickly hag Margret, did foreshadow the ending of the book for me.
Servants � sounds hoity toity? I can assure you it is not. To my view, practically the only things that separate the human frontiersman from animals in this book is their ability to use their hands and intellect to gather, prepare, and preserve their food, weave, and knit. The servants are little more than indentured slaves whose lives and fates are at the mercy with their masters, who are only slightly better-off than themselves. The house where they lived was made of earth. The planks that once covered their walls had long been sold off, so the walls and the ceiling crumbled into their lives and their food, and the damp into their lungs. The fire was fueled mostly by dung and the stench of the fire and the slaughtered animals being prepared and preserved was overwhelming, even for the people who lived within (not to mention to this overly sensitive reader).
It is impossible not to feel great sympathy for Agnes and for all that she had suffered in her short lifetime. On the other hand, cynic that I am, I sensed some ambiguity in the author’s account of what actually went down the night that Natan and Petur were murdered. This was somewhat substantiated in the Author’s note describing her research and some conflicting descriptions of Agnes� character. The book is deeply atmospheric but a little dragging in the storyline � I thought it could have been shorter. It also took me a while to follow the alternating narrations by Agnes the condemned, Toti, the Assistant Reverend Torvardur Jonsson, chosen to assist Agnes in her spiritual redemption, and Margret, mother to Steina and Lauga and wife of Jon Jonsson the District Officer of Vatnsdalur where Agnes was to live in the months leading up to her execution.
The story of Agnes and the events leading up to the murder of Natan and Petur were (too) slowly revealed in her own ruminations and in her conversations with Toti and Margret. There is much prejudice and cruelty described in this book, yet, by the end of the story there is also stirring compassion.
Setting aside the depressing notion of capital punishment and the tragic background of the condemned Agnes, the graphic descriptions of how the frontier population in the region lived from hand to mouth in the harshest of conditions will surely quell any romantic notions of the period and place that a reader may foster in his or her imagination. I reckon the his-es might find it only slightly more palatable than the hers-es, since, as you can imagine, the impoverished peasant women were also routinely raped - and not just by their Masters.
The story begins with an exchange of letters where a brief background is described. Agnes, the condemned murderess, is hauled out of a jail cell where she was being detained until after her trial. There is a shocking description of her physical (and mental) state. Manacled and thrown over a saddle, she was transported to the home of the District Officer Jon Jonsson where she was thrust, unwanted and feared. Her hair was a gnarled, matted mess. Her body and ragged clothes were encrusted with dirt, blood, feces, urine, and crawling with lice. She is dumped at the house before a prematurely wizened, consumptive wife of Jon. Although repulsed and terrified, she is so shocked by the state of the prisoner that she immediately drags her off to be washed and scrubbed � taking her clothes to be burned and fitting her with hand-offs from a previous servant. That singular gesture made by the prickly hag Margret, did foreshadow the ending of the book for me.
Servants � sounds hoity toity? I can assure you it is not. To my view, practically the only things that separate the human frontiersman from animals in this book is their ability to use their hands and intellect to gather, prepare, and preserve their food, weave, and knit. The servants are little more than indentured slaves whose lives and fates are at the mercy with their masters, who are only slightly better-off than themselves. The house where they lived was made of earth. The planks that once covered their walls had long been sold off, so the walls and the ceiling crumbled into their lives and their food, and the damp into their lungs. The fire was fueled mostly by dung and the stench of the fire and the slaughtered animals being prepared and preserved was overwhelming, even for the people who lived within (not to mention to this overly sensitive reader).
It is impossible not to feel great sympathy for Agnes and for all that she had suffered in her short lifetime. On the other hand, cynic that I am, I sensed some ambiguity in the author’s account of what actually went down the night that Natan and Petur were murdered. This was somewhat substantiated in the Author’s note describing her research and some conflicting descriptions of Agnes� character. The book is deeply atmospheric but a little dragging in the storyline � I thought it could have been shorter. It also took me a while to follow the alternating narrations by Agnes the condemned, Toti, the Assistant Reverend Torvardur Jonsson, chosen to assist Agnes in her spiritual redemption, and Margret, mother to Steina and Lauga and wife of Jon Jonsson the District Officer of Vatnsdalur where Agnes was to live in the months leading up to her execution.
The story of Agnes and the events leading up to the murder of Natan and Petur were (too) slowly revealed in her own ruminations and in her conversations with Toti and Margret. There is much prejudice and cruelty described in this book, yet, by the end of the story there is also stirring compassion.
February 13, 2021
So LOVED this debut novel which I read several years ago! Based on a true story which occurred in Iceland, the author guides us into the lives of several characters and successfully had me sympathizing with the main character. Her setting descriptions were bleak and desolate, totally matching the tone of the story. This book definitely made it onto my Favorites bookshelf!
July 15, 2018
Tenía ciertos reparos en este libro por la sobreexposición que ha tenido en las redes estos últimos años. Pero, afortunadamente, ha sido burtal. Simplemente brutal.
La autora nos narra de una manera maravillosa un episodio real ocurrido entre 1927 y 1929 en Islandia. Agnes es acusada de asesinato y condenada a muerte, junto a otras dos personas. Esta sentencia requirirá la aprobación del Tribunal Supremo de Copenhague para llevarla cabo.
El libro resulta terriblemente adictivo. No podía parar de leer. Necesitaba descubrir la verdad y el desenlace.
Me impactó mucho la gran crítica que se hace a la sociedad de esa época. Como un rumor pasaba de boca en boca a convertirse en una realidad y como una persona era señalada y juzgada solo por su origen. En cierto momento, un personaje dice: "Una mujer que piensa no es fiar" y creo que es el resumen perfecto del porqué de este libro. Del porqué de la situación de Agnes y el de tantas otras mujeres a lo largo de la historia. Lo dicho, es un libro imprescindible. Fama y éxito totalmente merecidos.
La autora nos narra de una manera maravillosa un episodio real ocurrido entre 1927 y 1929 en Islandia. Agnes es acusada de asesinato y condenada a muerte, junto a otras dos personas. Esta sentencia requirirá la aprobación del Tribunal Supremo de Copenhague para llevarla cabo.
El libro resulta terriblemente adictivo. No podía parar de leer. Necesitaba descubrir la verdad y el desenlace.
Me impactó mucho la gran crítica que se hace a la sociedad de esa época. Como un rumor pasaba de boca en boca a convertirse en una realidad y como una persona era señalada y juzgada solo por su origen. En cierto momento, un personaje dice: "Una mujer que piensa no es fiar" y creo que es el resumen perfecto del porqué de este libro. Del porqué de la situación de Agnes y el de tantas otras mujeres a lo largo de la historia. Lo dicho, es un libro imprescindible. Fama y éxito totalmente merecidos.
May 21, 2014
Brrr! This wintry novel about a woman accused in the 1828 murders of two men in northern Iceland was filled with shiver-inducing descriptions of the harsh, yet beautiful, rural landscape. Even though I was reading this on a warm summer day, the chilly language made me think about reaching for a shawl.
Hannah Kent, who is from Australia, says she became interested in the true story of Agnes Magnusdottir when she traveled to Iceland in 2003. Agnes was the last person in the country to be executed. She was beheaded in 1830 for her role in the murders of Natan Ketilsson and Petur Jonsson. Kent researched the facts of the case and has written a compelling version of what might have happened while Agnes was awaiting her execution.
Kent's prose is lovely and so descriptive that you feel as if you are in that remote Icelandic village. The novel is a bit slow to start, but picks up when Agnes is transferred to a farmer's home to await her fate, and a compassionate reverend starts to visit her. Agnes is reticent at first, but eventually opens up and discusses her past and her relationship with the murdered men.
"I remain quiet. I am determined to close myself to the world, to tighten my heart and hold what has not yet been stolen from me. I cannot let myself slip away. I will hold what I am inside, and keep my hands tight around all the things I have seen and heard, and felt. The poems composed as I washed and scythed and cooked until my hands were raw. The sagas I know by heart. I am sinking all I have left and going underwater. If I speak, it will be in bubbles of air. They will not be able to keep my words for themselves. They will see the whore, the madwoman, the murderess, the female dripping blood into the grass and laughing with her mouth choked with dirt. They will say 'Agnes' and see the spider, the witch caught in the webbing of her own fateful weaving. They might see the lamb circled by ravens, bleating for a lost mother. But they will not see me. I will not be there."
While overall I liked the book, one of my complaints was that Kent would switch between third-person and Agnes' first-person perspective, and some of the changes were so jarring and abrupt (with no visible page break) that I sometimes had to backtrack and reread paragraphs to make sense of what I was reading. This is Kent's first novel, and this kind of structural messiness should have been fixed by an editor. I think the whole story could have been efficiently told from third person, OR the shifts between the perspectives should have been telegraphed better. Kent does get credit for including a pronunciation guide for Icelandic letters at the beginning of the book, which was helpful.
But this feels like quibbling in what was a mostly enjoyable read. I liked the relationship between Agnes and the reverend, and how the feelings of the farmer's family, which were at first hostile to hosting a prisoner, slowly changed over time as Agnes proved herself a useful worker. I also liked the glimpse into the workings of a 19th-century village and the differences between the homes of the poor farmers and those of the wealthy commissioner. I would recommend "Burial Rites" to fans of historical fiction or anyone who would appreciate this "dark love letter" to Iceland.
Hannah Kent, who is from Australia, says she became interested in the true story of Agnes Magnusdottir when she traveled to Iceland in 2003. Agnes was the last person in the country to be executed. She was beheaded in 1830 for her role in the murders of Natan Ketilsson and Petur Jonsson. Kent researched the facts of the case and has written a compelling version of what might have happened while Agnes was awaiting her execution.
Kent's prose is lovely and so descriptive that you feel as if you are in that remote Icelandic village. The novel is a bit slow to start, but picks up when Agnes is transferred to a farmer's home to await her fate, and a compassionate reverend starts to visit her. Agnes is reticent at first, but eventually opens up and discusses her past and her relationship with the murdered men.
"I remain quiet. I am determined to close myself to the world, to tighten my heart and hold what has not yet been stolen from me. I cannot let myself slip away. I will hold what I am inside, and keep my hands tight around all the things I have seen and heard, and felt. The poems composed as I washed and scythed and cooked until my hands were raw. The sagas I know by heart. I am sinking all I have left and going underwater. If I speak, it will be in bubbles of air. They will not be able to keep my words for themselves. They will see the whore, the madwoman, the murderess, the female dripping blood into the grass and laughing with her mouth choked with dirt. They will say 'Agnes' and see the spider, the witch caught in the webbing of her own fateful weaving. They might see the lamb circled by ravens, bleating for a lost mother. But they will not see me. I will not be there."
While overall I liked the book, one of my complaints was that Kent would switch between third-person and Agnes' first-person perspective, and some of the changes were so jarring and abrupt (with no visible page break) that I sometimes had to backtrack and reread paragraphs to make sense of what I was reading. This is Kent's first novel, and this kind of structural messiness should have been fixed by an editor. I think the whole story could have been efficiently told from third person, OR the shifts between the perspectives should have been telegraphed better. Kent does get credit for including a pronunciation guide for Icelandic letters at the beginning of the book, which was helpful.
But this feels like quibbling in what was a mostly enjoyable read. I liked the relationship between Agnes and the reverend, and how the feelings of the farmer's family, which were at first hostile to hosting a prisoner, slowly changed over time as Agnes proved herself a useful worker. I also liked the glimpse into the workings of a 19th-century village and the differences between the homes of the poor farmers and those of the wealthy commissioner. I would recommend "Burial Rites" to fans of historical fiction or anyone who would appreciate this "dark love letter" to Iceland.
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