by Hannah Kent
Any inconsistencies or fallibility found in my depiction of Irish folklore, folklife and fairy belief in this novel are my own, and should bear no reflection on those who so kindly sought to inform and support my work.
Thanks must also go to Seán O Donoghue from Salmon Leap Farm in Co. Kerry for showing me the old cillín on his property next to the original ‘Piper’s Grave’, and for allowing me to wander over his farm to see the Flesk. Thank you to Michael Leane for giving me a tour of the river, and for telling me of times past. Thank you to Chris and James Keane, and to James’s mother, Mary, for their hospitality and for so patiently letting me step on everyone’s toes at the ceilidh.
Thank you to the staff of Flinders University and my colleagues at Kill Your Darlings for their ongoing support. Thank you to the friends who shared their various stories and ideas with me, and who may recognise, in this novel, traces of past conversations.
I am indebted to the support and passion of my publishers, editors and early readers. Heartfelt thanks to the marvellous Alex Craig, Judy Clain, Paul Baggaley, Sophie Jonathan, Mathilda Imlah, Gillian Fitzgerald-Kelly, Natalie McCourt, Cate Paterson, Geordie Williamson and Ali Lavau. Thank you to my incredible agents: Pippa Masson at Curtis Brown Australia; Gordon Wise, Kate Cooper and colleagues at Curtis Brown UK; Dan Lazar at Writers House; and Jerry Kalajian at the Intellectual Property Group. It is an honour to work with you all.
Finally, love and gratitude to dearest Heidi, and to Pam, Alan and my sister, Briony, to whom this novel is dedicated.
About Hannah Kent
Hannah Kent is the co-founder of Australian literary journal Kill Your Darlings. In 2011, she won the inaugural Writing Australia Unpublished Manuscript Award for her debut novel, Burial Rites, the story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last person to be executed in Iceland. Since its publication in 2013, Burial Rites has been translated into nearly thirty languages and has received numerous awards and nominations.
Also by Hannah Kent
Burial Rites
Praise and accolades for Burial Rites
‘A story of swirling sagas, poetry, bitterness, claustrophobia . . . Holds an exhilaration that borders on the sublime.’ Sunday Telegraph
‘A debut of rare sophistication and beauty.’ Observer
‘A remarkably assured debut, takes a tale of crime and punishment in 1820s Iceland and through it opens a window, lit with hard brilliance, on an alien world.’ Independent, Fiction Books of the Year
‘Exceptional’ Sunday Express
‘With language flickering, sparkling and flashing like the northern lights . . . A magical exercise in artful literary fiction.’ Kirkus, starred review
‘Remarkable’ Sunday Times
‘Kent’s debut is assured, moving and incredibly well researched and written. It’s the perfect mix of literary and historical fiction, giving an insightful and empathetic look at a woman demonised in her lifetime.’ Bookseller, Books of the Year
‘A thrillingly accomplished debut with a powerful sense of place.’ Metro, Books of the Year
‘Rarely has a country’s starkness and extreme weather been rendered so exquisitely. The harshness of the landscape and the lifestyle of nineteenth-century Iceland, with its dank turf houses and meagre food supply, is as finely detailed as the heartbreak and tragedy of Agnes’ life . . . [A] haunting reading from a bright new talent.’ Booklist, starred review
‘This is a golden age both of historical fiction and of crime writing. A rare novel that combines both, this is one of the most gripping, intriguing and unique books that I’ve read this year.’ KATE MOSSE
‘So gripping I wanted to rush through the pages, but so beautifully written I wanted to linger over every sentence.’ MADELINE MILLER, Winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction
‘Burial Rites is an accomplished gem, its prose as crisp and sparkling as its northern setting.’ GERALDINE BROOKS
‘This compelling, ripped-from-real-life tale reminds me of Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace.’ KARIN SLAUGHTER
This is a work of fiction. Characters, institutions and organisations mentioned in this novel are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, used fictitiously without any intent to describe actual conduct.
First published 2016 in Picador by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
1 Market Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000
Copyright © Hannah Kent 2016
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.
This ebook may not include illustrations and/or photographs that may have been in the print edition.
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available
from the National Library of Australia
http://catalogue.nla.gov.au
EPUB format: 9781925483789
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Internal text design by Sandy Cull
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