In September, Hachette Book Group will release Hannah’s Kent debut, and the highly anticipated, novel BURIAL RITES (9780316239806), which tells the story of the final days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in 1829 (more details below). We’re thrilled to announce that the novel has already been receiving a ton of great reviews from authors such as Karin Slaughter, Geraldine Brooks, Charlotte Rogan, and Anne Berry!

“Debut author Hannah Kent has crafted a gorgeous, literary novel that peppers in just the right amount of suspense. I loved this story not just because of its intricate character studies, but for its evocation of a cold and formidable landscape that is just as stark as the people who inhabit it. This compelling, ripped-from-real-life tale reminds me of Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace with a dash of Lizzie Borden thrown in. Burial Rites is the sort of novel that stays in your head long after you’ve finished reading the last words.”
-Karin Slaughter, author of the Grant County and Will Trent/Atlanta series

“Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites shows how a seemingly simple tale—a murder, a family, a remote landscape—can prove mythic in scale in the right hands. Spell-binding and moving, it’s the kind of novel that gets under your skin, moves your blood, your heart. A bravura debut.” – Megan Abbott, author of Dare Me

“Here is an original new voice, with a deep and lovely grasp of language and story. Hannah Kent’s first novel, Burial Rites, is an accomplished gem, its prose as crisp and sparkling as its northern setting.”
-Geraldine Brooks, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

“Hannah Kent’s gorgeous and haunting Burial Rites will touch your heart.”
-Charlotte Rogan, author of The Lifeboat

“So gripping I wanted to rush through the pages, but so beautifully written I wanted to linger over every sentence. Hannah Kent’s debut novel is outstanding.”
-Madeline Miller, author of The Song of Achilles

“A compelling read, heart-breaking and uplifting in equal measure.”
-Anne Berry, author of The Hungry Ghosts

Set against Iceland’s stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution.

Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only Toti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes’s death looms, the farmer’s wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they’ve heard.

Riveting and rich with lyricism, BURIAL RITES evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place, and asks the question, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?

Format: Hardcover Book
Price: $31.00 CAN
ISBN-13: 9780316239806
On Sale Date: 09/10/2013
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company