Iceland: On March 14, 1828 two men were murdered: Natan Ketilsson and Pétur Jónsson in Natan’s farm in Illugastaðir. Three people were tried and found guilty for these crimes: Friðrik Sigurðsson, Sigríður Guðmundsdóttir and Agnes Magnúsdóttir. Friðrik and Agnes were put to death by beheading on January 12, 1830. Sigríður’s death sentence was changed to life imprisonment in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites tells the story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir‘s imprisonment at a remote farm where she is held until her execution. The book focuses on Agnes’s past, and her relationship with the people on the farm where she is held: District Officer Jón, Jón’s wife Margrét, and their daughters Lauga and Steina. They despise her when she arrives, dirty and covered in lice, but as she tells her story to the Assistant Reverend Þorvarður (Thorvardur) Jónsson (Reverend Tóti), they become more and more sympathetic towards Agnes – apart from Lauga.
It took me a little while to get into this book, it had a slow start – but once I got to about 10%, the story grabbed me. Though I knew that Agnes was executed, I did keep hoping it wouldn’t happen.
Read for the Read Between the Lines 2025
Prompt 45: A Book Without a Romantic Liaison
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
