Burial Rites

Burial Rites

2013 • 336 pages

Ratings65

Average rating4

15

Set against Iceland's stark landscape, this story evokes a dramatic existence in a distant tme and place. Here the author brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution. Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only To ti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes's death looms, the farmer's wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they've heard. But will their new knowledge be enough to save Agnes? -- Provided by publisher.

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Beautifully written, harrowing, and full of a sad awareness of the fragility of life, this left me with a real sense of what it would be like to live in 19th century Iceland — and extremely glad that I don't have to.

Breathtaking glimpse of what it means to be a condemned woman - or really, any woman - in a brutal setting.


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