Description

Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and a BBC Between the Covers Book Club pick!

‘Outstanding’ – Madeline Miller, author of Circe
‘Gripping, intriguing and unique’ – Kate Mosse, author of The Burning Chambers

Northern Iceland, 1829.
A woman condemned to death for murdering her lover.
A family forced to take her in.
A priest tasked with absolving her.

But all is not as it seems, and time is running out: winter is coming, and with it the execution date.
Only she can know the truth. This is Agnes’s story . . .

Based on actual events, Burial Rites by Hannah Kent is a dark, thrilling work of historical fiction, and a beautiful and gripping read.

‘One of the best Scandinavian crime novels I’ve read’ – Independent
‘Remarkable’ – Sunday Times
‘A must-read’ – Grazia
Shorlisted for the Guardian First Book Award
Shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Awards

One of the many extraordinary books featured in the Picador Collection.

Publisher Review

‘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 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 ‘A debut of rare sophistication and beauty – a simple but moving story, meticulously researched and hauntingly told.’ Observer ‘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 ‘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 * ‘Gorgeous and haunting, Burial Rites will touch your heart.’ Charlotte Rogan, author of The Lifeboat ‘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 ‘Haunting and beautiful’ Independent: 50 Best Beach Reads ‘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 ‘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 ‘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 Burial Rites is totally gripping & beautiful and has so much Nordic gloom that you feel frozen reading it. — India Knight In 19th-century Ireland, convicted killer Agnes Magnusdottir is sentenced to death for stabbing her lover, but still has the power to change lives. Kent brilliantly recreates a community surviving in an inhospitable climate, and conveys the ineluctable force of one woman’s personality on those around her. — Book of the Year * Financial Times * ‘An outstandingly good debut . . . I found myself spellbound . . . Kent has done a great deal of research and transformed its results into a work of art.’ Literary Review