BOOK REVIEW: Burial Rites by Hannah Kent ★★★★☆

Charged with the brutal murder of two men, Agnes Magnusdóttir has been removed to her homeland's farthest reaches, to an isolated farm in northern Iceland, to await execution. Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family on the farm at first avoids Agnes. Only Tóti, a priest Agnes has chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. As the winter months pass and Agnes's death looms closer, the farmer's wife and daughters learn there is another side to the sensational tale they've heard--but will their new knowledge be enough to save Agnes?
Hannah Kent makes real the saga of a doomed young woman who in the early nineteenth century became the last person to be publicly beheaded in Iceland. Rich with lyricism and startling in its revelations, Burial Rites evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place as it poses a heart-breaking question: How can one woman hope to endure when her life depends on the stories told by others?

For a while I’ve been reading mediocre books. why you ask? I have no idea. So, for inspiration, I’ve been following Ash from Tale Away: World Travel Books, a website that helps readers to find books all over the world. She was kind to upload free PDF lists that are downloadable. From the recommendation for Icelandic reads, Burial Rights stood out from all the rest. Hannah Kent début, quite frankly, left me sad and post miserable, in a good way.

Burial Rights was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize) and the Guardian First Book Award. It won the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year, the Indie Awards Debut Fiction Book of the Year and the Victorian Premier's People's Choice Award. With three nominees and three wins, surely this must be a remarkable book.

And I guess it is, but there might be some issues. After all, it’s Kent’s first novel.

What sort of woman kills men?

This tale of historical fiction is based on a true story of an Icelander maid, Agnes Magnúsdóttir, charged with arson, accessory and conspiracy to murder. She’s condemned to execution, marking 1829 the year the last person was executed in that country. The plot was simple and predictable. From Kent’s tone reflected in Iceland’s cold landscape, I guessed from the start that the family in charge would eventually grow to like Agnes and learn the truth, but by then it would be too late.

They said I must die. They said that I stole the breath of men…

There are many characters in Burial Rights, too many really that it felt like a saga. But once you finish the novel you understand that these characters had an effect on the main character. I can only describe this novel like a spider’s web, in a way that this one main character’s life links to many places, times and people she has crossed and have now met at the centre of the web.

Agnes Magnúsdottir, thirty-four-years-old, is a prisoner, condemned to death for the murders of two persons, Natan Ketilsson and Pétur Jónsson. She’s described as an intelligent and superstitious woman who places a lot of importance on signs like ravens and dreams. Throughout the book it’s revealed that she suffered from a difficult childhood: mother’s abandonment, the traumatic death of her foster mother and many times subjected to sexual harassment during her career as a maid.

After completing his studies in the South of Iceland, Assistant Reverend Thorvardur Jónsson ‘Tóti’ is requested by Agnes to be her spiritual advisor. Young and inexperienced, Tóti finds it hard to do his job, as he is met with scrutiny from other characters. Tóti becomes Agnes's friend as he encourages her to talk about her past and seems to harbour romantic feelings towards her. The murdered man, Natan Ketilsson, was a healer, farmer and well-known womanizer who Agnes falls for. He’s described as a dividing figure in his community. Some people admire his skills as a healer and others calling him an evil sorcerer. This doesn’t faze him as he does not believe in God or Christianity, but rather, in superstition and dreams, much to Agnes’ liking. He’s an intellectual, well read, extremely manipulative and dishonest who triggers other characters to do what they did.

Björn Blöndal, the District Commissioner in Iceland and the owner of the farm Hvammur, where Agnes had previously worked. He’s calculating, cold and exuberates authority over the other characters. He has a personal dislike to Agnes, as he was friends with Natan who had cured Blöndal’s wife of a deathly illness. He hopes to encourage order in Iceland by making an example out of Agnes and Fridrik (I’ll get to that).

The family that take Agnes in is divided on the prisoner’s tolerance. Jón Jónsson, District officer in his region of Iceland, and the tenant of Kornsá, accept Agnes into his household on Blöndal's request, feeling it is his duty because of his job. Jón generally does not interact with Agnes, but he often travels to Blöndal's farm to make decisions regarding her case. The wife, Margrét, plagued by a bloody cough which hinders her ability to work, is initially harsh towards Agnes, but over time the two women develop an amicable relationship, where Agnes finally confides in Margrét extensively, the truth of what happened the night of the murders. Steina Jónsdóttir is the older daughter, described as not so beautiful as her sister nor as socially adept. Her family often criticizes her for failing to complete domestic tasks correctly, but she is somewhat headstrong and does not hesitate to express her opinions. Steina holds a special place for Agnes, as she recognizes Agnes from a time they met on the road. She tries to empathise and strike up a friendship with Agnes, that only cause tension between her and her sister, Lauga Jónsdóttir. She’s the younger sister who’s described as very beautiful and charming, who loathes Agnes from the start and throughout the novel, despite that the rest of the family warms to Agnes. This hate comes from Lauga’s sense that Agnes is ruining the family's reputation in the valley.

Other characters include Reverend Jón, Tóti’s father and a Lutheran priest who criticizes his son’s role in helping a murderess. Rósa Gudmundsdóttir (Natan’s former lover whom they have a child Thóranna) is bitter and jealous of Agnes. Sigrídur Gudmundsdóttir ‘Sigga’ a pretty but dim girl of fifteen who was Agnes's co-worker at Natan’s farm has been given a lighter sentence (imprisonment rather than execution) for her part in the murder because her youth and beauty must mean that she’s innocent. Fridrik Sigurdsson, a hot-tempered youth of seventeen who’s been condemned to death for his active role of murdering Natan, because he harboured strong feelings for his fiancée Sigga.

Out of all the characters I liked Tóti more than Agnes. He seemed genuine, a man who struggles with his Christian faith and with God, but he never loses sight of what he truly believes. He's generally good-willed, cares about Agnes, keeps his motives and actions towards her chaste. He wasn’t all too preachy towards her, instead he preaches gently about forgiveness and God's grace and mercy, not forcing her to confess Christ as her Savior.

People around here don’t let you forget your misdeeds. They think them the only things worth writing down.

Before the story begins Kent spent her time going through notes on Icelandic names, pronunciation and map which I always appreciate when authors go that extra mile. It has a gripping start, the narrative alternatives between Agnes in the first person and Tóti, the farming family in the third person. Sometimes authors can’t get the balance right, but this novel maintained a good balance. Agnes' parts reveal an inner turmoil about her past actions leading to her impending death sentence. The third person sections are shown to be the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of how the family, Jón Jónsson, Margrét, Lauga and Steina agree to house Agnes feel about having a killer in their midst and the priest Tóti who his best to spiritually guide Agnes.

Again, this novel is based on a true story, but I’m certain parts have been embellished for a dramatic purpose. It does make for gloomy reading at times.

What else is God good for other than a distraction from the mire we’re all stranded in? We’re all shipwrecked. All beached in a peat bog of poverty.

Burial Rights explores many themes. The concept of truth is spun like a rumour as Iceland is an isolated country with a limited communication network, making news unreliable and rumours omnipresent. The truth doesn’t free Agnes from conviction and being sentenced to execution, however, her friendship with Margrét and Margrét’s empathy towards Agnes could be seen as liberating Agnes in some way, telling the truth despite her doom.

I will vanish into the air and the night. They will blow us all out, one by one, until it is only their own light by which they see themselves. Where will I be then?

Womanhood was difficult and dangerous during the 19th century. Icelandic women had to face challenges such as gender roles, childrearing, childbirth, bad weather, isolation, poverty, misogyny, classism and sexual violence. Agnes describes her own experiences of sexual coercion throughout the book; many of the men she worked for forced her to have sex with them or else risk being thrown out into the cold. And it is repeated throughout generations as Agnes’s biological mother was subjected to harsh, violent, unhealthy relationships, suggesting that the justice system didn’t support women who are victims of abuse.

Women are valued differently based on looks and conforming to gendered expectations. Lauga is regarded much more highly than her sister because she is beautiful, obedient, and much better at domestic tasks. Steina, is headstrong, loyal, and unafraid to challenge authority. The same can be seen for Sigga and Agnes comparison in their criminal trial. Sigga gets her sentence reduced because she is ‘dumb, pretty and young’, winning the sympathy of the judges and the public. Agnes, known for her intelligence is accused of being the mastermind and thoroughly demonized, even in the community that she grew up in. This shows how smart women were more likely to be punished, and how gender roles are enforced with the threat of violence.

I’ll tell you something, Reverend Tóti. All my life people have thought I was too clever…That’s exactly why they don’t pity me. Because they think I’m too smart… to get caught up in this by accident. But Sigga is dumb and pretty and young, and that is why they don’t want to see her die…They see I’ve got a head on my shoulders, and believe a thinking woman cannot be trusted. Believe there’s no room for innocence. And like it or not, Reverend, that is the truth of it.

As much as I want to praise this book. there were a few things that didn’t sit right with me. It may be beautifully written and exhaustively researched, but the story is predictable in the sense that Agnes, regardless of her innocence would be executed, and that the family would like her and try to fight for her survival. There were times when this book was a chore to read, and that was because of the way Kent chose to show the story. When it came to revealing Agnes’s story, it was done in a block of dialogue prompted when Tóti or someone else asked about her past. I didn’t mind that she put in transcripts of a few letters, but I wasn’t all too happy about the wall of text.

“I mean to deliver God’s justice here on earth,” Blöndal said, frowning. “I mean to honour the authorities who have appointed me by fulfilling my duty as a law keeper.”

Kent wrote about what was going through Agnes’s mind and feelings at that time, but I felt Kent was biased and blind of the crimes Agnes committed, that her actions were justified. It’s the same with Blöndal, who was seen as an 'evil villain' by many readers, but he he’s a man doing his job, who sees the world as black and white. I bet if you ever met a murderer in your life you would be judging them just like Blöndal.

Overall, Burial Rites is a book about accepting the inevitable, with depressive tone and a subject matter many like won't like to read, but a must read for anyone wanting to read about Icelandic history with themes of faith, redemption, and forgiveness. Don’t read if you shy away from books that start and end with a downer.

I can finally tick it off my Icelandic reads.

Rating: 4/5
Publishers: Picador
Publication Date: August 29th 2013
Genre: Iceland/Historical/Mystery