“Burial Rites” by Hannah Kent – The Death of a Universe

Though recent comedy attempts may have led some to believe that Greenland is covered in ice and Iceland is covered in grass, the truth is that each of them actually deserve their names. Iceland is, as its name would suggest, quite a hostile place in reason of all the ice and snow to be found there. 

Nevertheless, humans have managed to adapt themselves to virtually all kinds of conditions, and they have settled the small country for a long time now. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent takes place in the backdrop of 1829 Iceland, and it re-tells an important and fascinating moment known mostly to those who live there: the life of the last person to be executed in Iceland, Agnes Magnusdottir. 

We get a re-telling of her story best characterized as a combination of facts and a bit of a novelization. More precisely, we witness her final days as she is housed by a family on their farm while awaiting her destiny to be set.

At first, to be frank, I did not think that the last few days of a woman about to be executed could be transplanted with efficiency into a full-scale novel. Thankfully, I was quite wrong on that front as Kent knows how to entertain the reader, providing us with a combination of sumptuous landscape descriptions, informative historical facts, piercing insight into the characters’ minds, and a heart-wrenching story driven by mystery and emotions. 

Yes, Kent did use her imagination to fill in some gaps and blanks in the story, but rest assured that for the most part, it remains quite accurate and loyal to the events which transpired.

Without a doubt, the character of Agnes steals the show in this one, with her strong and quiet demeanor, attempting to retain all of her dignity in these last harrowing moments in front of her. 

However, apart from exploring specific characters, the author also touches (perhaps inevitably) on larger themes which are still very current, with the main one, in my opinion, being the question as to what justice really is, and whether we truly know how to administer it.

Like I said before, the mystery in the story is also an important element which helps to keep it going. Agnes’ trials are presented as story, and in it she bonds with the priest she chose as her spiritual guide, who himself is interested in the truth and discovering the type of woman Agnes truly is. 

Before long, we are led to believe that there is more to the intrigue than is initially thought, and we are then forced to read on knowing what will come, shrieking at the horror of having one’s fate left in the hands of volatile people.

All in all, Burial Rites is a moving novel that will have you bursting with emotions upon finishing it. Unless you cannot stand slower stories with a more introspective side to them, I definitely recommend you pick this up.

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Hannah Kent Personal site Hannah Kent is a writer of Australian descent and is currently in the process of obtaining a PhD at Flinders University. In 2011, she was awarded the Writing Australia Unpublished Manuscript Award for her literary journal Kill Your Darlings, and her debut novel was Burial Rites.