Devotion

By: Hannah Kent

Narrated by: Emily Wheaton

'A glorious love story' – Sarah Winman, author of Still Life

'Extraordinarily daring . . . a remarkable novel, an almost visionary celebration of the death-defying power of the women’s love' - Sunday Times, Book of the Year

From a 19th-century Prussian village to the dusty plains of Australia, Devotion is a stunning story about the impossible lengths we go to for the ones we love, with a breathtaking twist. From the bestselling author of Burial Rites, Hannah Kent.

Hanne and Thea’s friendship is a miracle. Before, Hanne always felt apart from the local girls, but with Thea it all came easy. Suddenly she could imagine a future for herself, a happy one, by Thea’s side.

But when their tight-knit community embarks on a long and brutal journey to Australia, in search of new freedoms on old land, Hanne and Thea’s bond must find a way to survive the most impossible devastation.

Will their love prove too strong for even Nature to break?

Longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award

'Devotion had me constantly surprised, always entertained, and ultimately deeply moved' – Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters

'Exquisite . . . it's taken root in my heart' – Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies

'So beautiful and so raw . . . Impossibly good' – Evie Wyld, author of The Bass Rock

Critic reviews

Piercingly beautiful . . . [Hanne and Thea's] story is an elegy, freighted with loss and longing

Such a glorious love story. And the poetry of the landscape had, for me, a Whitmanesque sensibility. A mighty impassioned cry to love and the land (Sarah Winman, author of Still Life)

Hannah Kent’s latest novel is stunning - full of magic and adventure. I fell in love with language again reading it. So beautiful and so raw. Devotion is impossibly good (Evie Wyld, author of The Bass Rock)

With an extraordinarily daring twist halfway through its narrative Devotion is a remarkable novel, an almost visionary celebration of the death-defying power of the women’s love

There’s a mesmerising, transcendent reverence for love and the land in Hannah Kent’s exquisitely-wrought novel . . . Passionate and poetic, Devotion is a slow burn of a novel, full of grace and emotional gravitas

Devotion is rare and exquisite, both beautiful and muscular in its portrayal of love found and denied. It’s a story of love as a radical act, and a celebration of place and persistence. As we’ve come to expect from Kent, this is masterful storytelling with pull-no-punches stakes. It’s taken root in my heart (Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies)

Absolutely stunning. The writing, the characters and the twist were just perfect. Any Hannah Kent novel is guaranteed to be powerful, moving and so imaginative, but this was something else. It is a story that will stay with me. (Elizabeth Macneal, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doll Factory and Circus of Wonders)

A superb novel. A fantastic merging of exquisite lyrical writing and page-turning adventure. Devotion had me constantly surprised, always entertained, and ultimately deeply moved: it deserves to be a glittering success. (Emma Stonex, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Lamplighters)

Kent tells her heroine's burgeoning love story beautifully

[A] marvellous queer love story

A tale of the refiguring might of faithful hearts; of love that sustains and love that ruins; of exile and dominion

It is a love story, ardent and wholesome, and it drapes its reader in lush historical detail. Fans will find a lot to savour

A poetic story of friendship, nature and what it means to step into a new world - both physically and spiritually

Devotion, is nothing short of divine. Kent uses prose like a magician might use a wand. I could say so much about the depth and scope of this novel, its raw, powerful connection to nature and human emotion, and it still wouldn’t do it justice. Simply put, this is a beautiful book. A liturgy of love, full of grace and wonder. (Nydia Hetherington, author of A Girl Made of Air)

A rare gem of a book

This book is big-hearted and beautiful. The prose is graceful and elegant, and the unfolding of the story at its heart wonderfully done. The plot could easily have descended into sappy melodrama, but instead Hannah manages to present a love story that is incredibly fragile and at the same time strong as steel, extending beyond life and death. The underlying concept of not being seen added a unique and fascinating layer. The narration was excellent. I highly recommend this book.

Disappointing

After Burial Rites I could not wait to read another novel by Hannah Kent. Unfortunately the beauty of her writing and the soothing voice of the narrator could not make up for the genre that I do not particularly enjoy: mystic realism. The author herself classifies this as a 'queer love story' in interviews, but she does not mention that most of the love story occurs between the dead and the living in the mystic sphere. Not my cup of tea. I could not finish the book. I will read her other historical fiction novels though.