This is the brilliant literary debut which has been inspired by a true story - the story of the final days of a young women accused of murder in Iceland in 1829.
This novel is set in Iceland's stark and beautiful landscape, Hannah Kent brings to life the vivid story of Agnes who has been charged with the brutal murder of her former master and is sent to an isolated farm to await her execution. Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family try at first to avoid Agnes. Only the priest Agnes has chosen, Toti has the access to the women who have chosen him to be her spiritual guardian seeks to try to understand the women and her story. As Agnes's execution date looms and edges closer, the farmers ' wife and the families ' daughters learn that there is another side to the sensational story and the gossip which they have heard.
This story is reverting and rich with the lyricism which is associated with Iceland, Burial Rites evokes the dramatic existence in the location and time that most of us can only imagine. It also tries to answer the burning questions of how can a woman hope to endure her life when it all depends on the stories which have been told by others.
OMG, I could not put this down, I have always loved historical fictions which is embedded in true stories of the past. This was a heart-rendering story which shows how gossip and story telling can twist a person's history until it has been distorted so far from the truth that you hardly know what the truth is any more. Let me say that this is not a FUN story to read and it left me in a book hangover which didn't leave me in a state where i could face another book for a couple of days until i had digested the book and all the feelings that it had left me with. I found the first 40% of the book hard to get into and once i had got past this point i had to read the rest of it in one sitting and i think this was due to (partly) to the immersive writing style and the building nature of the story. It was not hard to give this book a high 4 stars and this was something that i normally wouldn't read as i am a fantasy lover, however saying that i was glad that i took the jump and immersed myself into the story. I have not found a debut novel from an author which i have loved as much as this one. I would 100% recommend this to lovers of historical fiction based of true life stories.
To get your copy of this stunning novel, please click the following link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Burial-Rites
