I already had a heads up about the twist at the halfway mark, so that didn't bother me. I was much more bothered by

the ghost/possession sex in the final quarter, and how much consent Thea's husband had in that situation. Also incredibly convenient that he didn't get sick and die after possession, unlike literally every other thing Hanne possessed.

But Hannah Kent's writing is really beautiful, she definitely knows how to weave words together. I loved the whole idea of the earth singing to someone. 

In 1836, Prussia, Hanne is living a stifled life with her family, learning how to grow under her mother’s stern expectations, as well as dealing with all the feelings that come with a changing body and the expectations upon her as a woman. Then Hanne befriends Thea, a new neighbor to the Lutheran community. Hanne and Thea form a strong bond, which threatens to break when their community emigrates to Australia and sickness boards the ship with them. But the bond is more than nature can break, and Hanne soon discovers so much more than life beyond what she could have imagined. 

 

I love Hannah Kent’s writing so much - it’s soft and lyrical, while also embodying so much human experience and emotion. I love how she takes moments and people in history, and creates such compelling stories. The pacing of this novel was quite slow and you feel like you are slowly but very pleasantly digesting Hanne’s way of life and her relationships with a number of people and her growing and with Thea. We learn about the strict religious community she lives in, and the piety of her father - and how the jealousy of neighbors could pose a risk to Thea and her family. 

 

The twist in this book halfway through definitely surprised me but I didn’t hate it. I actually liked the supernatural element of it and how the steps Hannah Kent took with Hanne brought in the naturalist element of this book even more. There is a real emphasis on nature in this book from both Hanne’s connection with it but also just the gorgeous descriptions of the woods in Prussia, the stream and fields, the waves and whales seen from the ship and then the golden, harsher environment of Australia but just as beautiful in its own way. I do think at this point in the book the pacing suffered a little bit as Hanne was quite literally stuck in where she could go and what she could do or wanted to do. 

 

I appreciated how Hannah Kent wrote the Indigenous population of Australia - how they treated the immigrants coming and taking their land, literally helping them and showing them how they could survive, and how in turn they were treated less than a decade later - being run off the land with guns by white people. It was so upsetting to read how these people were treated but so important to learn about as well. 

 

I wasn’t really crazy about the ending. As Thea’s life progressed, I feel like we saw an immaturity and selfishness in Hanne - seemingly wanting Thea all to herself which was impossible for so many reasons, and in turn this making it seem like she wanted Thea to be alone. The ending made me sad as while Hanne and Thea seem happy, I couldn’t help but think of all the grieving people left behind including a baby who would grow up without a mother - and that the women in the community who treated Hanne and Thea so badly never seemed to get their comeuppance (other than apparently being a spinster). I would have much rather read a story where we see Hanne more at peace with her situation, and watching Thea grow with her family and eventually reunite after a long and happy life rather than one cut short far too soon. 

This was such a beautifully written book, and an absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking storyline. I was breathlessly hooked the entire time I was reading it. The main plot twist was unexpected and interesting and avoided the book being just another historical fiction. Absolutely loved it overall.

I was a little unsure of this book at the halfway point but it was a truly beautiful book that tore at my heart like The song of Achilles did. Hannah Kent is an amazing author. I'm off to read everything else she has written now.

 I had already read and thoroughly enjoyed Hannah Kent’s first two novels: Burial Rites (set in 19th Century Iceland), and The Good People (set in 19th-century Ireland), so I was always going to read Devotion, her third novel. Why I left it so long to do so is the usual story of any avid reader with a large book collection, but I am so glad that I finally did, because what a novel it is. 

Like her previous two titles, it is once again set in the 19th century and is rooted firmly in Kent’s impeccable and detailed historical research, which informs the story and imbues it with real authenticity whilst never weighing it down. 

The story begins in the village of Kay in Prussia, where 17 year old Hanne Nussbaum lives with her family. Kay is home to a small congregation of Lutheran families who adhere firmly to their faith despite the persecution they face from the state and the Union church, which has banned it. A new family, the Eichenwalds, moves to the village, and they too are Lutherans, but some amongst the community, find it hard to accept them. 

However, Hanne, who has never really made a real friend before, instantly bonds and connects with Thea Eichenwald, who is a similar age. They become inseparable, and a very intense relationship develops between them.  Eventually, the Lutheran community of Kay makes the difficult voyage to a new, religiously tolerant colony in southern Australia, and at this point their lives change forever. 

Devotion is an achingly beautiful, moving, and deeply affecting LGBTQ+ historical fiction which has supernatural elements, and a most unexpected twist, but is also a love story. It would completely spoil the reading experience for anyone if I gave away anything further. 

What I can say is that I absolutely loved this novel, and I am struggling to compose a review that will do it justice. It is beautifully written with lyrically beautiful descriptions of both the natural world, and human emotion that move your soul and bring you to tears. 

Populated with sensitively drawn, well-observed, fully-fleshed characters, especially the females, it develops the idea of “devotion” in both the religious and emotional sense as the story plays out, as well as exploring themes of tolerance, persecution, love and loss. 

There are many kinds of love portrayed within the story: the love between a parent and child (not always tender and open-hearted, or freely expressed); heterosexual love; marriages of convenience; arranged marriages; the love between siblings; the love for ones homeland; religious love; but it is the love between Hanna and Thea that is the most dominant in the story, and there is a real depth, intensity and universality to it. 

The novel also looks at the impact of white settlement on the native lands of Australia. We see how the immigrants took the lands of the indigenous populations and forced them to leave, whilst destroying their carefully natured eco-systems in the process, with the introduction more intensive farming practices which deeply impacted the natural environment. Given that the Lutherans were themselves persecuted and forced to leave their homeland, the irony is not lost on the reader. 

I know that some readers have struggled slightly with accepting the supernatural aspects of the story, but for me, given the intensity of the connections, and the context, it was not problematic in any way. Some readers may also need to be wary of the harsher elements of 19th century life too, and there are scenes of animal slaughter, death and miscarriage for example, but unless you would find these triggering they do not detract from the story and are entirely legitimate within the context of the story. 

Devotion is a novel of such depth and intensity of emotion. I devoured it in two sittings and if you’re anything like me, it will live long in your head after you have finished it. An easy 5 stars and definitely recommended.