Picador Burial Rites

Absolutely loved this book. Yes it's dark, yes it's not uplifting or happy or heart-warming. It's about a woman sentenced to death for murder in Iceland.What it is is beautiful, captivating, immersive and intriguing. Kent's writing style pulls you in and holds you there to the point where her description of the wild Icelandic landscape will leave you feeling chilly. Protagonist Agnes is a hard nut to crack, but as her story absorbs you more and more it's easy to forget why she is in the position she's in...Look forward to reading more from this author. A wonderful debut.

An exceptionally atmospheric novel which captures the harsh lifestyle, history, unique landscape and social injustice of Iceland at the time. Mercifully, this is not about the trial (of the last woman to be executed in Iceland), but cleverly weaves factual documents into the well-paced and well-drawn story. While fictionalised, there is great credibility in the way the author tells the tale and she manages that rare thing: to make the reader fully engaged and caring about the heroine. She also has a light, but razor-sharp, touch with her descriptions which took my breath away at times ("the children were as thin as tide marks") and knows how to turn on the emotional scenes.(Going to be made into a film and a tourist tour is being planned around this book.)

This book was rubbish. I read only about 30 pages. Skimmed through the rest.It's a true story yes, which has been hijacked in some way.I was imagining a full historical account based fully on evidence & research from the past & present. Giving various perspectives from various sources.This book is too fictional in that it fictionalises / imagines the scenes around the (true) events eg it describes what Agnes and other characters were wearing , thinking at the time , and the food, their homes, their appearances - mostly all superfluous to me & so irritating.It seems to go between a 3rd person narrator describing scenes which the author has imagined happening.... and genuine excerpts from the time....and then the author imagining what key characters were thinking & writing in their 'person'..I wanted the real truth based on good research. I wanted to know about Iceland during that time , the wider impact, the (real) views of those involved more wildely. I was not interested in a dramatised version of what may have happened. So gutted. Far too many liberties taken. Had heard great things about this book and have been to the area of the execution in Iceland/ that peninsula.A dumbed down version of a startling true story. I wanted a detached narrator telling the tale not creating her own version. So much embellished detail & so much reality missing.

"As they say, blíndur er bóklaus maður. Blind is a man without a book."This is a very special book. It tells the story of Agnes, the last person in Iceland to be executed, and tries to imagines her personality and what lies behind her involvement in the murder of two men. The darkness, the poverty, and yet the beauty of cold days in Iceland spent in modest farms are very vividly described. The relationships between the characters and their feelings are believable.I took one star away just because I found some parts, where Agnes tells her story to the Reverend Tóti, a bit tiring in their layers: "He told me that she told him..."

***4.5 stars***Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution.Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only Tóti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes's death looms, the farmer's wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they've heard.I purchased this book a while ago and as is the way of things with my reviewing schedule I have only just managed to pick it up - inspired by the fact that it appears on the Bailey's Prize Longlist in amongst some other terrific novels.This is a beautifully written book, bringing into stark focus the bleak landscape and hard living conditions in the Iceland of the day and telling a fictional yet well researched account of a real life murder. Utterly compelling and often heartbreaking, this is a must read for Historical fiction fans and fans of intriguing stories with a real human twist.Agnes is fascinating - as we learn more about her life and the horrific events that have brought her to where she is, awaiting her death, you will be right in the heart of the storm and desperate for her to find some way out. As a snapshot of the life and laws of the time this is compelling stuff - some wonderful prose and a terrific feeling of authenticity throughout will keep you right in the moment.I was transported to another time and another place during the reading of this one, it was an emotional and inspiring reading journey in a lot of ways and comes highly recommended from me.Can't wait to see what this author brings us next.Happy Reading Folks!