Books
by Hannah Kent
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Burial Rites |
Australian Kent fell in love with Iceland as an exchange student and this novel radiates her profound feelings for the land and its historical inhabitants. Building on contemporary records, Kent imagines the story of Agnes Magnusdottir, executed in 1830 for stabbing her lover. Agnes's story gradually emerges during the months of her imprisonment on a remote farm, the people and their survival in extreme conditions as potently and poetically evoked as Agnes herself. Absolutely haunting.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 74 Autumn 2013) |
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The Good People |
Nóra, newly widowed, cares for her disabled grandson but this is 19 C rural Ireland where folklore and superstition are rife, crops are failing, livestock are dying, people whisper - is he really a changeling? With her maid Mary, she turns to Nance who has healing powers and knowledge of the old ways. If they go to the river will they get her real grandson back? A compelling and heartbreaking story based on true events.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 108 Spring 2023) |
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