Burial Rites

'A story of swirling sagas, poetry, bitterness, claustrophobia . . . through the long countdown towards Agnes's fate, it is Kent's heart-racing imagery that lingers . . . even the bleakness of Agnes's end, its gut-churning fear, holds an exhilaration that borders on the sublime.' Sunday Telegraph 'A remarkable achievement . . . Burial Rites will stand comparison with Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace and Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang.' * Sunday Times * One of the most gripping, intriguing and unique books I've read this year . . . A novel that bristles with beautiful description, that lays bare the harshness of women's lives of the period and considers the nature of justice -- Kate Mosse 'So gripping I wanted to rush through the pages, but so beautifully written I wanted to linger over every sentence. Outstanding.' Madeline Miller, Orange Prize-winning author of The Song of Achilles 'Gorgeous and haunting, Burial Rites will touch your heart.' Charlotte Rogan, author of The Lifeboat 'The debut that everyone's talking about' Guardian 'A debut of rare sophistication and beauty - a simple but moving story, meticulously researched and hauntingly told.' Observer 'Startlingly vivid . . . This is a tormented tale of love and betrayal and divided loyalties recounted with heartfelt honesty . . . An exceptional debut.' Sunday Express 'Hannah's rendering of Agnes Magnusdottir is as vivid and authentic as Mailer's Gary Gilmore . . . She has resurrected her heroine with grace and skill; her writing style is innately lyrical . . . An amazing book. I was completely engrossed all the way through, and heartbroken at its end.' Donal Ryan, Man Booker longlisted author of The Spinning Heart 'Haunting . . . startlingly vivid . . . This is a tormented tale of love and betrayal and divided loyalties recounted with heartfelt honesty . . . An exceptional debut.' Eithne Farry, Sunday Express 'Remarkable . . . extraordinary . . . Burial Rites is thought-provoking and often deeply moving . . . Beautifully written, this is a novel that will draw you in and touch your heart. Agnes will stay with you long after the last page has been turned.' Daily Express 'This dark thriller from Hannah Kent is a must-read . . . Gripping.' Grazia 'Haunting and beautiful' Independent: 50 Best Beach Reads 'An intriguing scenario' Mail on Sunday 'A beautifully written and haunting story.' Kate Mosse, Mail on Sunday Event magazine 'Burial Rites is beautiful and compelling . . . it's the announcement of a writer to watch.' Guardian 'Kent is an Australian, but her beautiful first novel has the extraordinary setting of Iceland in the 1820s . . . a wonderfully strange and haunting story.' The Times 'One of the best "Scandinavian" crime novels I have read . . . this powerful book has the stark and tragic trajectory of the sagas . . . Hannah Kent's prose is extraordinarily terse and precise as she tells the story from several different viewpoints . . . and the cruelty of human beings is described with vivid intensity. Yet the beauty and fascination of this way of life is movingly portrayed, as is the spirit of its highly literate people. Kent's immersion in Icelandic lore seems total, though she came from the other side of the world. Great stories are universal.' Independent 'Spell-binding and moving, it's the kind of novel that gets under your skin, moves your blood, your heart.' Megan Abbott, author of The End of Everything and Dare Me A taut, atmospheric tale, compellingly told * Irish Independent * 'This compelling, ripped-from-real-life tale reminds me of Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace' Karin Slaughter, best-selling author of Kisscut 'Hannah Kent has crafted a genre all her own. Burial Rites is both a compelling thriller and a profound meditation on a mythic landscape.' Annabel Lyon, author of The Golden Mean 'A compelling read, heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure.' Anne Berry, author of The Hungry Ghosts 'A haunting, accomplished debut.' Psychologie

Hannah Kent's first novel, Burial Rites, has been translated into over thirty languages and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize), the Guardian First Book Award and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. In Australia it won the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year and the Indie Awards Debut Fiction Book of the Year, amongst others. Her second novel, The Good People, was also translated into many languages and shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize.