Aidan Kelly’s performance expresses the complex emotional experiences of three monks who are seeking solitude on a deserted island. Set in seventh-century Ireland, this work of historical fiction follows three monks who feel called by God to make a spiritual haven set apart from the temptations of the rest of the world. As time passes, their leader, Artt, becomes more and more insistent about their calling, while Cormac and Trian slowly fill with doubt. Kelly’s Irish accent takes us to another place and time, and his narration perfectly captures the rising tension as the monks attempt to rid themselves of anxiety and fear while trying to survive with little more than the clothes on their backs. K.D.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

09/05/2022

Donoghue (The Pull of the Stars) returns with an intricate slow-burn about three monks who start a monastery on an isolated island in seventh-century Ireland. As it opens, priest Artt dreams about an island where he believes he’s to pilgrimage with two others to found a monastic retreat. He picks the old monk Cormac, a skilled builder and gardener, and the young monk Trian, a piper, and both men pledge their lives to him. They set off on a small boat in search of the haven, and on the fifth day they see two islands jutting from the water. They land on the bigger one, a steep cathedral of rock possessed by an army of birds. There, high on a plateau, Artt, the future prior, decides they will camp then build, soon putting Cormac to work on a great cross and Trian on copying the Bible. As the prior turns a deaf ear to the others’ concerns about dwindling supplies, tensions rise over his monastic demands and their narrowing chances of survival as summer dips into fall. The slow pacing tends to wear, but the narrative picks up toward the end with a surprising twist. Patient readers will be rewarded with a thoughtful tale of faith, isolation, and blind obedience. Agent: Kathleen Anderson, Anderson Literary. (Aug.)

Told with the clarity of a fable, Haven transports us into territories unknown, where ‘fog makes an island of every man.’ Donoghue’s men of the cloth confront challenges that rattle not only their faith in God, but their faith in each other and in the natural world. This is a patient, thoughtful novel with much to say about spirituality, hope, and human failure, and about the miracle of mercy.”—Esi Edugyan, Giller Prize-winning author of Washington Black

“Haven is a beautiful and timely novel about isolation, passion and the conflict between obedience and self-preservation. The island setting and the characters stayed with me long after I finished reading.”—Sarah Moss, author of Summerwater

03/01/2022

Trust the protean author of Room and Slammerkin to take us on an unexpected journey. In seventh-century CE Ireland, priest/scholar Artt seeks to abandon the sinful world by hopping into a boat with two monks and sailing out to sea, where they land on a craggy, bird-mobbed island now famously known as Skellig Michael and build a monastery whose remains stand to this day. High adventure and passionate belief; with a 100,000-copy first printing.

Aidan Kelly’s performance expresses the complex emotional experiences of three monks who are seeking solitude on a deserted island. Set in seventh-century Ireland, this work of historical fiction follows three monks who feel called by God to make a spiritual haven set apart from the temptations of the rest of the world. As time passes, their leader, Artt, becomes more and more insistent about their calling, while Cormac and Trian slowly fill with doubt. Kelly’s Irish accent takes us to another place and time, and his narration perfectly captures the rising tension as the monks attempt to rid themselves of anxiety and fear while trying to survive with little more than the clothes on their backs. K.D.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

2022-05-25
Three monks seek refuge from worldly temptation on a remote island off the Irish coast.

Great Skellig, a rocky outcrop with no groundwater and scant vegetation, is hardly a promising place to establish a settlement. This matters not at all to Brother Artt, focused on purity and piety to an extent that’s extreme even by the standards of the early Middle Ages. “Does God not visit those who love him in the wildest wastes?” he asks his two companions, who at first are awed by the holy man who has chosen them to serve him on this mission. Taking one of her regular breaks from contemporary fiction, Donoghue has left behind none of her ability to spin a compelling story and people it with sharp characterizations. Young Trian, given to a monastery by his parents at age 13 for an unnamed defect, grows in confidence on the island and becomes increasingly sullen about the endless copying of sacred manuscripts at the expense of pressing tasks like finding food. Elderly Cormac, who came to the cloistered life after the death of his wife and children, has myriad practical skills and an engaging love of storytelling; Christianity for him seems to be a series of marvelous yarns. But even resourceful Cormac struggles to keep the trio alive as winter approaches and Artt’s demands grow increasingly onerous: They must build an altar before a shelter to sleep in; he forbids trade with nearby islands for desperately needed supplies as a source of sinful contamination. Generating narrative tension from a minimum of action, Donoghue brings the monks’ conflicts to a climax when Trian falls ill and a long-kept secret is revealed. Artt’s bigoted response provokes a confrontation that brings the novel to a satisfying conclusion. Reminiscent of Room (2010) in its portrayal of fraught interactions in a confined space, this medieval excursion lacks its bestselling predecessor’s broad appeal, but the author’s more adventurous fans will appreciate her skilled handling of challenging material.

More fine work from the talented Donoghue.