Burial Rites

Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent 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. Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent 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 Tv=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. Riveting and rich with lyricism, Burial Rites evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place, and asks the question, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?

The multi-award winning debut bestseller from the author of The Good People, with new novel Devotion out now. In northern Iceland, 1829, Agnes Magnusdottir is condemned to death for her part in the brutal murder of two men. Agnes is sent to wait on the farm of District Officer Jon Jonsson and his family, who are horrified and avoid Agnes. Only Toti, the young assistant reverend appointed as Agnes's spiritual guardian, is compelled to try to understand her. As the summer months fall away to winter, Agnes's story begins to emerge. And as the days to her execution draw closer, the question burns: did she or didn't she? Based on a true story, Burial Rites is a deeply moving novel about freedom and the ways we will risk everything for love. In beautiful, cut-glass prose, Hannah Kent portrays Iceland's formidable landscape, and asks: how can one woman endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others? WINNER FOR INDIE AWARDS 2014 WINNER FOR VICTORIAN PREMIER'S LITERARY AWARD PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD 2014 WINNER FOR FAW CHRISTINA STEAD AWARD 2014 WINNER ABA NIELSEN BOOKDATA BOOKSELLERS' CHOICE AWARD 2014 WINNER FOR ABIA LITERARY FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2014 WINNER FOR SMH BEST YOUNG AUSTRALIAN NOVELIST 2014 WINNER FOR ABIA/BOOKTOPIA PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD 2014 WINNER FOR DAVITT AWARDS DEBUT FICTION 2014 WINNER FOR DAVITT AWARDS READER'S CHOICE 2014 SHORTLISTED FOR THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARD 2013 SHORTLISTED FOR NIB WAVERLEY AWARD FOR LITERATURE 2013 SHORTLISTED FOR THE STELLA PRIZE 2014 SHORTLISTED FOR BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2014 SHORTLISTED FOR VICTORIAN PREMIER'S LITERARY AWARD FOR FICTION 2014 SHORTLISTED FOR ALS GOLD MEDAL 2014 SHORTLISTED FOR VOSS LITERARY AWARD 2014 SHORTLISTED FOR NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS 2014 Praise for Burial Rites 'Burial Rites is an accomplished gem, its prose as crisp and sparkling as its northern setting' - Geraldine Brooks 'Burial Rites is beautiful and compelling . . . it's the announcement of a writer to watch.' - Guardian 'A gripping tale.' - New York Times '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 time and place and, ironically, this fact makes it an intimate experience.' - Sydney Morning Herald 'The most talked about Australian debut novel in years.' - Australian 'An outstandingly good debut . . . I found myself spellbound . . . Kent has done a great deal of research and transformed its results into a work of art.' - Literary Review 'A taut, atmospheric tale, compellingly told' - Irish Independent 'A story of swirling sagas, poetry...Holds an exhilaration that borders on the sublime.' - Sunday Telegraph 'Kent is an Australian, but her beautiful first novel has the extraordinary setting of Iceland in the 1820s . . . a wonderfully strange and haunting story.' - The Times 'One of the best "Scandinavian" crime novels I have read . . . Hannah Kent's prose is extraordinarily terse and precise as she tells the story from several different viewpoints . . . and the cruelty of human beings is described with vivid intensity. Yet the beauty and fascination of this way of life is movingly portrayed, as is the spirit of its highly literate people. Kent's immersion in Icelandic lore seems total, though she came from the other side of the world. Great stories are universal.' - Independent 'Burial Rites is a debut of rare sophistication and beauty' - Observer 'A remarkable achievement . . . Burial Rites will stand comparison with Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace and Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang.' - Sunday Times '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

The sinking of an ocean liner leaves a newly married woman battling for survival in this powerful debut novel. Grace Winter, 22, is both a newlywed and a widow. She is also on trial for her life. In the summer of 1914, the elegant ocean liner carrying her and her husband Henry across the Atlantic suffers a mysterious explosion. Setting aside his own safety, Henry secures Grace a place in a lifeboat, which the survivors quickly realize is over capacity. For any to live, some must die. As the castaways battle the elements, and each other, Grace recollects the unorthodox way she and Henry met, and the new life of privilege she thought she'd found. Will she pay any price to keep it? The Lifeboat is a page-turning novel of hard choices and survival, narrated by a woman as unforgettable and complex as the events she describes.

From the author of Burial Rites, "a literary novel with the pace and tension of a thriller that takes us on a frightening journey towards an unspeakable tragedy."-Paula Hawkins, bestselling author of The Girl on the Train and Into the Water Based on true events in nineteenth century Ireland, Hannah Kent's startling new novel tells the story of three women, drawn together to rescue a child from a superstitious community. Nora, bereft after the death of her husband, finds herself alone and caring for her grandson Micheal, who can neither speak nor walk. A handmaid, Mary, arrives to help Nora just as rumors begin to spread that Micheal is a changeling child who is bringing bad luck to the valley. Determined to banish evil, Nora and Mary enlist the help of Nance, an elderly wanderer who understands the magic of the old ways. Set in a lost world bound by its own laws, THE GOOD PEOPLE is Hannah Kent's startling new novel about absolute belief and devoted love. Terrifying, thrilling and moving in equal measure, this follow-up to Burial Rites shows an author at the height of her powers.

A fictionalized account of the author's lover, Jean Decarin, who was killed in the Resistance during the liberation of Paris in World War II.

Written by Tom Jackman, the local investigative journalist who covered the story, and Troy Cole, the chief investigating officer, "Rites of Burial" tells the gruesome true story of Robert Berdella, a serial killer whose inhuman crimes of murder and dismemberment might have served to inspire Jeffrey Dahmer's Milwaukee slaughter. Photos.

First published in 1926, Bertram S. Puckle's “Funeral Customs” is a comprehensive account of traditional funerary traditions and customs throughout history and from all over the world. From lost ancient practices to the first graveyards and cemeteries, this volume sheds light on how we as humans have dealt with death and the dead over the ages. Contents include: “The Provisions Of Nature”, “Death Warnings—When Does Death Take Place?”, “Preparation For Burial, Coffins, 'Grave-Goods', Suttee”, “Wakes, Mutes, Wailers, Sin-Eating, Totemism, Death-Taxes”, “Bells, Mourning”, “Funeral Feasts And Processions”, “Early Burial-Places”, “Churchyards, Cemeteries, Orientation and Other Burial Customs”, etc.

These authorized rites are intended to be a supplement to the burial services in the Book of Common Prayer, adding a rich variety of material from many sources, including prayers for one who has died in military service, for one of unknown faith, for an unbeliever, and for a member of an inter-faith family. All of the major pastoral issues of the Prayer Book rites are addressed from the reception of the body to the consecration of the grave and the interment but with a freshness of language in new texts that the speak to contemporary sensibilities. CONTENTS Introduction with planning information Two vigil rites before a funeral Rites for the reception of the body Collects, prayers and readings for the burial service, including a celebration of the Eucharist Rites of committal Burial of one who does not profess the Christian faith Additional prayers Committal at a crematory A service of remembrance Suggested hymns and songs