Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Burial Rites

by Hannah Kent

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2013 GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARD.

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

Agnes is sent to wait out her final months on the farm of district officer Jon Jonsson, his wife and their two daughters. Horrified to have a convicted murderer in their midst, the family avoid contact with Agnes. Only Toti, the young assistant priest appointed Agnes's spiritual guardian, is compelled to try to understand her. As the year progresses and the hardships of rural life force the household to work side by side, Agnes's story begins to emerge and with it the family's terrible realization that all is not as they had assumed.

Based on actual events, Burial Rites is an astonishing and moving novel about the truths we claim to know and the ways in which we interpret what we're told. In beautiful, cut-glass prose, Hannah Kent portrays Iceland's formidable landscape, in which 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?

Burial Rites is perfect for fans of Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood and The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan.

Reviewed by nannah on

4 of 5 stars

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Ouch. This one will make you cry. Ugly cry, too--none of them single and clean down-the-cheek tears.

Book content warnings:
cissexism
abuse

Burial Rites is based on the last arc of Agnes Magnúsdóttir's life, after she was charged with murder and sent to live with a reverend's family. It's part mystery (what really happened that night at her former master's house? Did she really kill him?) and part character drama, with slow-moving arcs that really make these historical people feel real.

Honestly, I wasn't too thrilled with this book until I hit the halfway point. I'm not altogether sure why. The writing was fine, the book was moving, it just didn't hook me. Then, about that time, I was caught and suddenly the writing was haunting, the passages gripped my heart, and I was in deep. Again, I can't explain this change. The notes I had around the beginning half consisted of "PoVs and dialogue sound stilted and awkward etc. etc. etc." and the second half, these notes changed to, "I love Agnes's PoV, everything is so lyrical and the writing is so haunting, etc. etc. etc." So I guess, if you feel less than enthralled during the first half, stick with it! It's worth the read, I promise you.

What I love most about this book is that it's one of those stories within a story. Much of the time, characters are explaining to others about things that happened before, but what they're saying is just as interesting as what's happening in the story's present time. And because of that, the plot consists of both the past events and the present.

There are also actual historical documents preceding each chapter, which reminds you that what you're reading more or less took place. Its frightening to read Agnes's PoV and then to see calm and indifferent (Real, by the way) people discussing her death in official papers or letters.

As much as I cried, and as much as I use the words "frightening" and stuff, I read this book into the night. It's beautiful.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 26 February, 2016: Finished reading
  • 26 February, 2016: Reviewed