Read by Karen (retired Bookseller); A very different historical novel set in seventh century Ireland. Three men leave Clvain Mhic Nois, a monastery in County Offaly on the river Shannon. Their mission is ti seek out an island to build a new community devoted entirely to God. Their leader Astt is a priest, Cormac an older monk & Trian a young monk.
An incredible sea journey delivers them to the steep, barren inhospitable island of Skellig Michael populated with huge numbers of sea birds. Artt's obsession with all things Godly rather than basic needs of food, shelter & fuel means survival becomes very difficult, taking their lives on a perilous course.
A very well researched, beautifully written, fascinating read.
A story of survival set in 600 AD Ireland; a parable of patriarchy, destruction and religion at sea.
Three men vow to leave the world behind them. They set out in a small boat for an island their leader has seen in a dream, with only faith to guide them.
What they find is the extraordinary island now known as Skellig Michael. Haven, Emma Donoghue's gripping and moving novel, has her trademark psychological intensity - but this story is like nothing she has ever written before. In seventh-century Ireland, a scholar and priest called Artt has a dream telling him to leave the sinful world behind. Taking two monks - young Trian and old Cormac - he rows down the river Shannon in search of an isolated spot on which to found a monastery.
Drifting out into the Atlantic, the three men find an impossibly steep, bare island, inhabited by tens of thousands of birds, and claim it for God. In such a place, what will survival mean?
Religious and spiritual fiction, Historical fiction, Adventure fiction
Paperback
Emma Donoghue
272 pages
H: 234mm W: 151mm Spine: 24mm
Weight: 336 grams