Hannah Kent's new book

A cross posting from my GeoLibrary blog, which has over 600 posts now.

I saw this book in Foyles in Covent Garden a few months ago.

I always check the shelves to see whether there are new books related to Iceland, and usually I've usually already got all of them in my collection.

Hannah Kent's first novel 'Burial Rites' is also in my collection, and tells the story of a murder, a conviction, and the last execution in Iceland, which took place in the north of the country.

Hannah came across the story while in Iceland - she first visited as a Rotary student, spending a year with host families in the north of the country. In this book, she describes the story of how she came across the story and the impact it had on her, and also the way that the book took shape and how she then returned as an author to talk about the story.

Iceland is a country which has a hold on me, and which I've visited fairly regularly for over 15 years. I am due to visit at least twice in 2026.

The story was one which drew me in straight away and is very well written. It also describes the Icelandic landscape wonderfully, as well as the culture of the country and the nature of the people. 

I like the way that the Icelandic language is included within the text of the book, followed immediately by the English translation - this has helped me to learn quite a few new Icelandic phrases and develop my language skills, which are average at best, but I like to try at least.

This was the best book I read during 2025.

My copy was purchased from Foyles and is a signed copy. It was published by Picador in 2025.

Hardback, 352pp

ISBN: 978-1035066278