Burial Rites

The BBC Between the Covers Book Club Pick

By: Hannah Kent

Narrated by: Morven Christie

Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

BBC Between the Covers Book Club pick!

Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who is charged with the brutal murder of her former master.

- The Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist

- The Guardian First Book Award Shortlist

- The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Awards Shortlist

Iceland, 1829 – Agnes Magnúsdóttir is condemned to death for her part in the murder of her lover.

Agnes is sent to wait out her final months on the farm of district officer Jón Jónsson, his wife and their two daughters. Horrified to have a convicted murderer in their midst, the family avoid contact with Agnes. Only Tóti, the young assistant priest appointed Agnes’s spiritual guardian, is compelled to try to understand her. As the year progresses and the hardships of rural life force the household to work side by side, Agnes’s story begins to emerge and with it the family’s terrible realization that all is not as they had assumed.

Based on actual events, Burial Rites is an astonishing and moving novel about the truths we claim to know and the ways in which we interpret what we’re told. In beautiful, cut-glass prose, Hannah Kent portrays Iceland’s formidable landscape, in which every day is a battle for survival, and asks, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?

Inspired by a true story, Burial Rites is perfect for fans of Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood and The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

©2013 Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd (P)2013 Hannah Kent

Critic reviews

"This dark 'love letter' to Iceland from a young Australian novelist tells of the final months of a convicted murderer, and is filled with a sublime, heart-racing imagery." (Sunday Telegraph)

“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 is a tormented tale of love and betrayal and divided loyalties recounted with heartfelt honesty… An exceptional debut.” (Sunday Express)

Beautiful, intoxicating read

An incredible historical transcription of beauty, strength, sadness, and courage that was hard to put down. Beautifully narrated by Morven Christie with excellent pronunciations and haunting tones. Hannah Kent’s descriptions get under your skin to feel as if you’re shivering next to the characters and laughing with the birds. Wonderful book.

Wonderful book, excited for the movie

Would you consider the audio edition of Burial Rites to be better than the print version?

I only listened to the audible version, but I loved the narration.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Agnes Magnúsdóttir !!

What does Morven Christie bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I loved her accent.

Truly a modern saga.

It's not a happy story, nor a pretty story, but it is very engaging. In the form of the Nordic sagas, it takes historical fact and builds a plausible character driven story. The volume of research that went into it gives even more validity to the writer's engrossing narrative.
I also have to say that the narrator was superb. Not only was her handling of the Icelandic names, phrases and places excellent, but she gave great emotional interpretation in the telling.
Overall, it was worth our time to listen to this one. If you don't like dark stories, you may want to pass, but if you like delving into the characters, this will be a satisfying choice.

Humane and haunting

I loved this book. It was a mystery and a historical novel at once, and a story about human kindness and grace. Elegant and deceptively simple.

Excellent read

Intelligent sensitive storytelling... I could not put it down. Narrated with the necessary understanding and sensitivity. Highly recommended.

Great Book

Captivating! I am glad that I listened to the audio. Trying to read and pronounce names and place would have bogged me down. Listening to the book with real pronunciation made it so much more realistic

Icelandic Shivers

Where does Burial Rites rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In upper 25

What was one of the most memorable moments of Burial Rites?

impossible to choose one moment above another

What about Morven Christie’s performance did you like?

Wonerful way of dealing with the short sentences of the book and her making the Icelandic names sound real

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Frozen Horror

Any additional comments?

The total subservience of women to men but their physical and mental strength in extraordinary tough conditions.

Gripping stuff

You will need a lot of emotional capital to make it through this book but it's totally worth it.

AMAZING

This was absolutely amazing, the audiobook gives the story the perfect sadness and desperation needed. It was a beautiful way of experience the story, as it was Agnes herself who was telling you her life. Although is narrated by only one person, the voice acquires perfectly all the characters, their personalities and moods. Spectacular performance by narrator!

The book is sad and horrifying, and it's harder to read knowing this was a true story. It's realistic, cold, lonely, dark and absolutely thrilling. It drowns you into Iceland, ravens, snow, black sand beaches. It's a story of love, of family, of feminism and women oppression, of justice (or the lack of it).

Once you ended, you get this feeling that this is a story to be told, to be remembered and to be shared. For Agnes!

100% recommend it.

Had this book in my library for a few years now...

I finally listened to Burial Rites, it has been in my library for a few years. I found it very moving, a reminder about women’s rights and how strong women get vilified. It is read extremely well, a strong story and I dont think anyone would call it slow or boring. Hannah Kent has retold this story in beautiful, honest and respectful way.