Hannah Kent's Burial Rites
Based on the true story of the last woman executed in Iceland, this novel centers on an accused murderess in 1829, who's sent to live with a local official and his family while she awaits her execution. She tells her story to a young local priest (and to the sympathetic matriarch who's housing her). Really well-done atmosphere, though some of the characters weren't as well developed as I might have liked, and I'm still not sure what to think about murderer Agnes. But I will say that, for all the complaints I've had about historical based-on-a-true-story novels, this one actually passes muster. It's a bit slow, but totally nails feeling of the long winter in the frozen North. B/B+.
__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in September.
No comments:
Post a Comment