Devotion

By: Hannah Kent

Narrated by: Emily Wheaton

From the bestselling author of Burial Rites and The Good People, Devotion is a stunning story of girlhood and friendship, faith and suspicion, and the impossible lengths we go to for the ones we love.

1836, Prussia. Hanne is nearly fifteen and the domestic world of womanhood is quickly closing in on her. A child of nature, she yearns instead for the rush of the river, the wind dancing around her. Hanne finds little comfort in the local girls and friendship doesn't come easily, until she meets Thea and she finds in her a kindred spirit and finally, acceptance.

Hanne's family are Old Lutherans, and in her small village hushed worship is done secretly—this is a community under threat. But when they are granted safe passage to Australia, the community rejoices: at last a place they can pray without fear, a permanent home. Freedom.

It's a promise of freedom that will have devastating consequences for Hanne and Thea, but, on that long and brutal journey, their bond proves too strong for even nature to break . . .

©2022 Hannah Kent (P)2022 Macmillan Publishers International Limited

Critic reviews

"So beautiful and so raw.... Impossibly good." (Evie Wyld, author of The Bass Rock)

"Exquisite...it's taken root in my heart." (Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies)

"A glorious love story." (Sarah Winman, author of Still Life)

A rare gem of a book

This book is big-hearted and beautiful. The prose is graceful and elegant, and the unfolding of the story at its heart wonderfully done. The plot could easily have descended into sappy melodrama, but instead Hannah manages to present a love story that is incredibly fragile and at the same time strong as steel, extending beyond life and death. The underlying concept of not being seen added a unique and fascinating layer. The narration was excellent. I highly recommend this book.

Disappointing

After Burial Rites I could not wait to read another novel by Hannah Kent. Unfortunately the beauty of her writing and the soothing voice of the narrator could not make up for the genre that I do not particularly enjoy: mystic realism. The author herself classifies this as a 'queer love story' in interviews, but she does not mention that most of the love story occurs between the dead and the living in the mystic sphere. Not my cup of tea. I could not finish the book. I will read her other historical fiction novels though.