Burial Rites

{{Short description|Novel by Hannah Kent}} {{about|the novel|other uses|Funeral}} {{Use Australian English|date=March 2025}} {{use dmy dates|date=October 2023}} {{infobox book |  | name = Burial Rites | title_orig = | translator = | image = Burial Rites.jpg | caption = First edition (Australia) | author = Hannah Kent | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = Australia | language = English | series = | genre = Novel | publisher = Pan Macmillan (AUS)<br>Little, Brown (US)<br>Picador (UK) | release_date = 2013 | english_release_date = | media_type = Print (Paperback) | pages = 338 | isbn = 9781742612829 | preceded_by = | followed_by = }}

'''''Burial Rites''''' (2013) is a novel by Australian author Hannah Kent, based on a true story about the last woman to be executed in Iceland.

== Premise == ''Burial Rites'' tells the story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, a servant in northern Iceland who was condemned to death after the murder of two men, one of whom was her employer, and became the last woman put to death in Iceland in 1830.<ref>Kent, Hannah 'Keep Calm and Carry On: An Unexpected Path to Publication', ''Kill Your Darlings'', Issue 13 (April 2013)</ref>

== Background == Kent was inspired to write ''Burial Rites'' during her time as an exchange student in Iceland when she was 17, where she learnt the story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hannah Kent chats to Margo Lanagan |url=https://www.readings.com.au/news/hannah-kent-chats-to-margo-lanagan |website=www.readings.com.au |date=2013-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804114618/https://www.readings.com.au/news/hannah-kent-chats-to-margo-lanagan |archive-date=2020-08-04 |url-status=live |last1=Lanagan |first1=Margo |access-date=2022-06-15 |language=en}}</ref> She then made it the topic of her honours thesis and PhD at Flinders University, with additional mentoring by Geraldine Brooks. After this, Kent was awarded the Writing Australia Unpublished Manuscript Award in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Interview: Hannah Kent |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/interview-hannah-kent-20130502-2ittb.html |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=2013-05-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703035608/http://www.smh.com.au:80/entertainment/books/interview-hannah-kent-20130502-2ittb.html? |archive-date=2013-07-03 |url-status=live |last1=Morris |first1=Linda |access-date=2022-06-15 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Grim murder history wins Hannah major writing prize |url=https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2011/11/30/grim-murder-history-wins-hannah-major-writing-prize/ |website=Flinders University |date=2011-11-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517133757/https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2011/11/30/grim-murder-history-wins-hannah-major-writing-prize/ |archive-date=2023-05-17 |url-status=live |access-date=2022-06-15 |language=en-AU}}</ref>

==Publication== ''Burial Rites'' was published in 2013 by Pan Macmillan in Australia, by Little, Brown in the US, and by Picador in the UK.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

== Reviews == ''Burial Rites'' was well-received by critics and other writers. English novelist Sarah Moss, writing in ''The Guardian'', called the novel "beautiful and compelling", and that Kent was a writer to watch.<ref name=moss2013>{{cite web|first=Sarah |last=Moss| author-link=Sarah Moss |title=Burial Rites by Hannah Kent – review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/aug/31/burial-rites-hannah-kent-review |website=The Guardian |date=2013-08-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831160506/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/aug/31/burial-rites-hannah-kent-review |archive-date=2013-08-31 |url-status=live }}</ref> Ben Etherington wrote in the ''Sydney Review of Books'' that the novel was a "big book", and mentioned good reviews by ''The New York Times'' and by Michael McGirr in ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' and ''The Age'', among others. He wrote that the novel had had good reviews in the UK by ''The Observer'', ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Express'', and ''The Sunday Times''.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Real Deal: Burial Rites by Hannah Kent |url=http://www.sydneyreviewofbooks.com/the-real-deal/ |website=Sydney Review of Books |date=2013-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413014925/http://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/the-real-deal |archive-date=13 April 2014|url-status=dead |last1=Etherington |first1=Ben}}</ref>

Stephen Romei, literary editor of ''The Australian'', who spoke to Kent about what led her to write the novel, drew a parallel between ''Burial Rites'' and Hilary Mantel trilogy of novels about Tudor England. He also wrote "Kent's affinity for the landscape resounds on every page of ''Burial Rites''".<ref>{{cite web |title=Hannah Kent's debut novel Burial Rites is written in cold blood |interviewer-first=Stephen| first=Hannah |last=Kent|interviewer-last= Romei|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/hannah-kents-debut-novel-burial-rites-is-written-in-cold-blood/story-fn9n8gph-1226623451767 |website=The Australian |date=2013-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420023452/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/hannah-kents-debut-novel-burial-rites-is-written-in-cold-blood/story-fn9n8gph-1226623451767 |archive-date=2013-04-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Film adaptation== In 2017, it was announced that Luca Guadagnino would direct a film adaptation starring Jennifer Lawrence.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://variety.com/2017/film/news/jennifer-lawrence-luca-guadagnino-burial-rites-1202638148/ | title=Jennifer Lawrence to Star in Luca Guadagnino's 'Burial Rites' | author=Brent Lang | magazine=Variety | date=12 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Pitman | first=Robert | title=New $53 Million Hit Makes An Upcoming Jennifer Lawrence Movie Even More Promising | website=ScreenRant | date=9 May 2024 | url=https://screenrant.com/jennifer-lawrence-burial-rites-luca-guadagnino-movie-challengers/ | access-date=9 May 2025}}</ref> {{as of|May 2025}} the film is still "in development".<ref>{{cite web | title=Burial Rites | website=IMDb | date=9 May 2025 | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3216938/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250509072528/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3216938/ | archive-date=9 May 2025 | url-status=live | access-date=9 May 2025}}</ref>

== School curricula use == ''Burial Rites'' was included in the Victorian Certificate of Education text response texts from 2014,{{cn|date=May 2025}} and in the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority prescribed text list in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=October 2018|title=Prescribed Text List|url=https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/portal/snr_english_eal_prescribed_texts_list_2019-21.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228205443/https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/portal/snr_english_eal_prescribed_texts_list_2019-21.pdf |archive-date=2019-02-28 |access-date=2020-08-14|website=Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority}}</ref>

== Literary awards ==

{| class="wikitable sortable" ! Year !! Award !! Category !! Result !! Ref. |- ! 2011 | Writing Australia Unpublished Manuscript Award || — || {{won}} || |- ! rowspan=3 | 2013 | Guardian First Book Award || — || {{sho}} || |- | rowspan="2" | Nib Literary Award || — || {{sho}} || |- | The Alex Buzo Shortlist Prize || {{won}} || |- ! rowspan=14 | 2014 | ALS Gold Medal || — || {{sho}} || |- | rowspan="2" | Australian Book Industry Awards || Australian Literary Fiction Book of the Year || {{won}} || |- | Booktopia People's Choice Award || {{won}} || |- | National Book Awards (UK) || International Author of the Year || {{sho}} || |- | rowspan="3" | Davitt Award || Adult Crime Novel || {{sho}} || <ref name=Davitt>{{cite web|title="Davitt Award Winners 2001-2025" |publisher= Sisters in Crime|url=https://sistersincrime.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Davitt-Winners_cumulative-table_2025.pdf|access-date= 29 November 2025}}</ref> |- | Debut Crime Novel || {{won}} || <ref name=Davitt /> |- | Readers' Choice Award || {{won}} || <ref name=Davitt /> |- | Indie Book Awards (AUS) || Debut Fiction|| {{won}} || <ref name="IBADwinners2014">{{cite web|title="Indie Book Awards - Winners 2014" |publisher= Australian Independent Booksellers|url=https://www.indiebookawards.com.au/2014-winners|access-date= 16 March 2024}}</ref> |- | Nielsen BookData Booksellers Choice Award || — || {{won}} || <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.booksellers.org.au/aba-awards/98-the-neilsen-bookdata-bookseller-choice-award|title=The Nielsen BookData Booksellers' Choice Award - Australian Booksellers Association|website=www.booksellers.org.au|access-date=2019-08-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724040836/https://www.booksellers.org.au/aba-awards/98-the-neilsen-bookdata-bookseller-choice-award|archive-date=2019-07-24|url-status=dead}}</ref> |- | Stella Prize || — || {{sho}} || |- | rowspan="2" | Victorian Premier's Literary Awards || Fiction || {{sho}} || |- | People's Choice Award || {{won}} || |- | Voss Literary Prize || — || {{sho}} || |- | Women's Prize for Fiction || — || {{sho}} || |- ! 2015 | International Dublin Literary Award || — || {{sho}} || |}

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20131009032630/http://www.picador.com/books/Burial-Rites Burial Rites] (Picador official page)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burial Rites}} Category:2013 Australian novels Category:Novels set in Iceland Category:2013 debut novels Category:Novels set in 1829 Category:Pan Books books Category:Picador (imprint) books Category:Davitt Award–winning works