This book was recommeded to me by a patron. I had been looking for something new and different to read and this certainly fit the bill. This book is based on a true story and takes place in the early 1800's in Iceland. Agnes Magnusdottir has been condemned to death for her part in the murders of Natan Ketilsson and Petur Jonsson. She is sent to an isolated farm on Iceland's farthest reaches to await her death. We hear her story as told to an assistant reverend, sent to counsel her and from original letters from her trial. Agnes has had a very tough life, eeking out a living as a housemaid or servent in the barren regions of Iceland. Abandoned by her mother at a young age, she knows none of her family. She has a suprisingly high intellect. While she is at the farm, she works very hard, partaking in the chores of daily life, and uses her knowledge of herbs and healing potions, learned from Natan, to help the inhabitants of the farm and their neighbors. There is no hope for her release or pardon, but the farmers come to see Agnes as a person, someone they care about, rather as a muderess to fear. I read this heart breaking book on a brutally cold day with the snow falling outside. Hannah Kent does a wonderful job describing the cold remote landscape of Iceland and I truly felt as if I were there, shivering under the blankets! I think I will look for something warmer now.
No comments:
Post a Comment