Book Club - Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites

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Back in 2013, when I was just a little baby radio producer starting out on Final Draft some incredible books came out. I’d like to say I read them all but that would be a lie.

Today’s book for book club has been on my radar since that time and so to inspire you all to dive deep into your to be read pile I’ve got Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites.

Back in 2013 Hannah Kent was a debut author and this would have been a short introduction. Now she is an international best selling, and multi award winning author. And it all started with Burial Rites.

In nineteenth century Iceland Agnes Magnusdottir stands accused of murder.

As she awaits her sentence; execution, she is sent to labor on the farm of the district officer. There she is nothing more than a murderess. The family are horrified that they must keep Agnes in their home and throughout the surrounding district Agnes is a curiosity; part freak show, part warning on the fate of sinners.

Only a young clergyman, sent to deliver Agnes' soul, sees her as someone more than the sum of the charges laid against her.

Burial Rites was an extremely well regarded book on its arrival a decade ago and it is immediately apparent why…

The book balances character development with the sort of knife edge tension you need to keep the pages turning. It is deceptive in this as the bulk of the action occurs on the farm, and within the turf homestead where Agnes has been sentenced to live out her final days. It is through the dripping of Agnes' story; her life and the events leading up to the murders, as well as the developing relationships between Agnes and her gaolers that we are driven to believe that there is more here than first appearances.

The Icelandic setting is intriguing and I confess I knew little going in. What is apparent is that Agnes has suffered for her sex and her lowly status in the community. The mistreatment we are shown is both distant in space and time but also familiar as Agnes is used by men who have power over her.

The developing relationship between Agnes and the priest, Toti, allows us to glimpse into Agnes’ humanity even as she prepares to die. The book asks questions of life and what it can be, challenging the petty cruelties visited on those who cannot defend against them.

Of course all this is subject to Kent’s ability to render these characters, so distant from our experience convincingly. Of this there can be no doubt. Told through shifting perspectives we come to know the various characters through their dealings and impressions of Agnes. The writing reinforces the lives and evokes the harsh conditions, taking us into the freezing winter of Agnes last season.

I’m so glad I finally picked up this book and highly recommend it to lovers of both Australian fiction and historical fiction alike.