Second read 3/2019, 5/5
Burial Rites has deserved its place among my favorite books - this reread ensured that. I had almost forgotten how gorgeous and metaphorical Hannah Kent's prose is, how vividly she describes the ascetic Icelandic lifestyle and how masterfully she tells Agnes' story, basing it on facts but letting her imagination fill in the gaps.

First read 5/2016, 5/5
Burial Rites is a slow moving, emotional and atmospheric story and I found it extremely captivating. The reason for that is mostly the writing, which is unbelievably beautiful. I kept rereading paragraphs out loud because the sentences simply sound so good. The fact that the inspiration for the book came from true events, that even the names and the letters are accurate, made the reading experience even more impactful. Burial Rites is both beautiful and horrible, I really enjoyed the contradiction between the serenity of the storytelling and the sadness of the subject. Agnes´ life is something I´ll certainly be thinking about for a long time and I can´t wait to get my hands on Kent´s new book that comes out this autumn!