Burial Rites

by Hannah Kent · 2013

In the unforgiving winter of 1829 Iceland, a young servant named Agnes is condemned for the murder of her master and sent to a remote farm to await execution. The household—its wary wife, their daughters, and a stoic priest named Tóti—initially shuns the condemned woman, but Tóti, drawn by a mysterious bond, becomes her reluctant guardian. As the days slip toward Agnes’s death, the family begins to glimpse the hidden layers of her story, questioning the rumors that have defined her. Hannah Kent’s lyrical debut weaves a haunting portrait of isolation, judgment, and the fragile power of narrative, inviting readers to wonder how one woman can survive when her fate is shaped by the tales others tell about her.