Burial Rites, by Hannah Kent

The Rising Sun, Grove St, Bath. December 4th 2014

Alert for non-club readers: some plot spoilers ahead.

Six of the BBBC gathered at the Rising Sun to pick over the entrails of Hannah Kent's book (not to mention several packets of Norman's finest snacky comestibles).

Broadly speaking we liked the book a lot. In briefest summary it's an engaging, well written book that, while perhaps coming up just short of the divide between 'good' and 'great', is nonetheless a tremendous achievement for a first novel.

First impressions weren't so great – the advertised subject matter and title would have put some off. But persistence was rewarded: the characters were strongly drawn and Agnes in particular generated empathy. The female characters were perhaps more clearly drawn than the males (lots of strong, silent agricultural types, or old priests with a fondness for drink), although to be fair the principal cast list was predominantly female anyway. It was commented that Lauga was a disappointment – she was introduced as a strong and complex character but then rather faded out of the narrative. The character of Margaret was interesting as her gradual thawing towards Agnes could be said to mirror the way that subsequent history (if 'subsequent history' is a thing) has also read her story.

Hannah Kent's ability to evoke the time and place of the narrative was widely praised. Her time in Iceland had not only borne extensive research but also enabled her to write convincingly and attractively about the landscape and the weather. Those of us who have visited Iceland can see why she felt compelled to undertake this project. From fish skin for windows, straw from the roof and earth from the walls, the general 'cosiness' of a winter in the badstofa was brought bluntly and yet mesmerisingly to life.

Icelandic culture underpinned the plotting, with poetry and sagas the principal means of recording and passing on history. The use of symbolism – stones in the mouth, ravens, fire, ice, water, blood – added to the strong sense of place that runs throughout the book. Emily Bronte was mentioned as a parallel for the way Kent strove to imbue every aspect of the plot with life and meaning.

The book was also helped by its structure, using several interweaving narratives to layer up a rich composition. Despite this it was by nature a 'quiet' book, and the ending rather divided the group. For some, it was extremely thought-provoking: would you have convicted her? How would you spend your last day if you knew you were going to die? How advanced was Icelandic/Danish society to have managed to make this, in March 1830, the last public execution in Iceland? For others, it was something of an anti-climax: the depth of the research early on, and the amount of information that had been drip-fed into the narrative by the time we approached the end, meant that there really wasn't anything new to learn apart from Agnes' personal response to the situation and the story.

Talking of research, did the fact that it was based on a true story detract from the way in which we were able to immerse ourselves in the book? Does the presence of reality hinder us from willingly suspending our disbelief to the extent that we might if it was 100 percent fabrication? Not all agreed with this, and some would indeed have liked more of the back story. There was discussion too about the sudden disappearance of the young priest Toti from the story in the final third (until the very end) just when Agnes would have had need of him most. The device of a fever striking him down seemed rather an obvious way to exaggerate the sense of abandonment and isolation that Agnes needed to paint as her story reached its climax. 

And finally, those of the group using the paperback edition commented on how useful the map was, while the purchasers of the Kindle edition commented: "Map? There was a map?". We also all agreed without exception that the 'notes for book club readers at the back' were superfluous crap.

Overall widely liked – average score 7.29 out of 10, putting it in second place behind The Goldfinch (last 12 books only).