Burial Rites

Hannah Kent was born in Adelaide in 1985. As a teenager she travelled to Iceland on a Rotary Exchange, where she first heard the story of Agnes Magnusdottir and was inspired to write Burial Rites. Hannah is the co-founder and deputy editor of Australian literary journal Kill Your Darlings, and is completing her PhD at Flinders University. In 2011 she won the inaugural Writing Australia Unpublished Manuscript Award. Burial Rites is her first novel and has garnered praise from best-selling authors such as Karin Slaughter, Charlotte Rogan, Pulitzer prize-winner Geraldine Brooks and Orange prize-winner Madeline Miller.

'Burial Rites is an accomplished gem, its prose as crisp and sparkling as its northern setting.' Geraldine Brooks, author of Year of Wonders '[An] astonishing first novel' Instyle 'A compelling read, heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure.' Anne Berry, author of The Hungry Ghosts 'Hannah Kent's gorgeous and haunting Burial Rites will touch your heart.' Charlotte Rogan, author of The Lifeboat 'So gripping I wanted to rush through the pages, but so beautifully written I wanted to linger over every sentence. Hannah Kent's debut novel is outstanding.' Madeline Miller, Orange Prize-winning author of The Song of Achilles 'Hannah Kent has crafted a genre all her own. Burial Rites is both a compelling thriller and a profound meditation on a mythic landscape.' Annabel Lyon, author of The Golden Mean 'Spell-binding and moving, it's the kind of novel that gets under your skin, moves your blood, your heart. A bravura debut.' Megan Abbott, author of The End of Everything and Dare Me 'With language flickering, sparkling and flashing like the northern lights... A magical exercise in artful literary fiction' Kirkus starred review 'Burial Rites, Kent's compelling fictionalised account of the end days of Agnes Magnusdottir ... with its glimpse into icy frontier lands, the struggles of a farming peasantry, the looming shadow of an executioner's axe and a strong, if misunderstood, female character ... uses extracts from the historical records to stitch together a credible account of a woman more victim than villain.' Age 'The most talked about Australian debut novel in years. Burial Rites reimagines the life and death of Agnes Magnusdottir, the last woman to be executed in Iceland.' Australian 'Hannah Kent has a fine turn of phrase ... that makes Agnes Magnusdottir, the central figure in her debut novel, both elusive and captivating ... Kent is to be commended for being drawn to a story and a character rather than any narrow cultural agenda. Burial Rites is far removed from us in