Publisher: Little Brown, August 23rd, 2022

Format: ebook

Pages: 272

Rating: 3/5 stars

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

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?

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 has Emma Donoghue’s trademark world-building and psychological intensity—but this story is like nothing she has ever written before.

My Review:

Thank you Little Brown for the copy of this book.
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Read if you like: books about the history of the Catholic Church.
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I love Emma Donoghue as a writer of books that I usually love, and I was really hoping I would love this one but I am sad to say that I didn’t. The book takes place in medieval Ireland during the early years of the Catholic Church. Three monks embark on a journey to an island in order to lead a pious life.
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The writing and research that would have gone into this book was superb. I just didn’t care about these characters and was sometimes bored, and there is a lot of discussion of theology. Which I get you are probably thinking, obviously Alexis this is a book about monks, but it was still boring.
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CW: religion, sickness, injuries, death, war, and violence.