Haven by Emma Donoghue is a historical novel about three religious men living on an isolated Irish island.

I’ve previously really enjoyed Emma Donoghue’s historical fiction - Slammerkin is one of my favourite books - so I was looking forward to Haven.
The story follows three monks, Artt, Cormac and Trian. Artt is a well travelled and well respected monk and when he has what he believes to be a prophetic dream, he asks Cormac and Trian to follow him to an island to begin a new life away from sin and to build a holy place for monks to pilgrimage to in the future.
What follows is their battle against the elements and an inhospitable island filled only with thousands of sea birds, as well as Artt becoming increasingly unreasonable and demanding.
While I did enjoy the story, the twist/reveal was a little lacking and there were several boring parts that I skimmed. I would recommend to readers interested in the beginnings of Christianity in Ireland, or those who enjoy slow burn stories.
3.5 stars.
I received a free ARC from Netgalley in return for a fair review.

When Artt arrives at the monastery on the river Sionan he is welcomed as the scholar he is. God has given him a task, to travel to a far-off island and establish his own house. Blessed with this the monastery supports him with provisions and two fellow brothers, the aging ex-warrior Cormac and the naive novice Trian. Together they sail until they find an isolated rock in the ocean but as they struggle to survive in a barren environment the demands of faith are brought into focus.
This is a wonderful book. The writing is clear and descriptive but without being excessive, the descriptions of the beauty of nature are wonderful. The plot is wholly predictable, even if the twist about Trian is less so, but that doesn't matter. It wholly satisfies when reading but leaves questions at the end which is what a great book does.

Haven is the latest novel by Emma Donoghue. The variety of the author's writing is simply a gift.
Haven is the story of Artt - a priest determined to purge himself of all worldliness, Trian an ungainly young monk & Cormac a late convert to Christianity.
Artt visits the monastery of Clonmacnoise & while there has a vision from God telling him to find an uninhabited place to further his work. Artt chooses Cormac & Trian to accompany him & some days later they find Skellig Michael & so begins their mission.
Artt has already shown some of his unlikeable traits - he is authoritarian, condescending & so confident that he can mould a future out of bare rock. He does not in any way help the monks to adjust & his insistence " that God will provide" becomes a source of simmering rebellion.
Trian & Cormac are obedient & resourceful, using their knowledge & life experience to help create the colony.
Emma Donoghue's writing is so sharp you can hear the cries of the birds, you feel the pain in Trian's hands as he tries to copy.a manuscript as a left hander & Cormac's tales of heroes & saints remind us of a glorious past. The author creates a sense of claustrophobia on an island miles from the mainland as Artt imposes his vision on the monks. There is no escape from his narrow view of what he wants to create even when he undoes the good work of his companions.
There is a clarity &. lyricism to Haven that is a joy to read. The variety of Emma Donoghue's writing is wonderful - I just wish as a reader I had her ability to write just how good her writing is.
#Haven #EmmaDonoghue ##Netgalley

This is a very interesting book. It was set in the 7th century and had me very intrigued. It was beautifully wrote and contains great description. It was wrote in a slow to medium pace that contained a great sense of atmosphere. It was set in a inhospitable island of Ireland. Its a great story of 3 monks survival as they use their faith in God to keep going. Creating a church over a place to shelter. I found it very interesting and I finished reading it in one day. I actually rated it 3.5 stars but rounded it up as it was better than a 3 star book. I was expecting a bit more to happen and maybe a little more of a thrilling adventure to rate it in the higher ratings. I still enjoyed reading it and glad I gave it a go.

Many thanks to the author and publishers for creating this very beautifully wrote and rather unique story. 
The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/haven-by-emma-donoghue-pan-macmillian-3-5-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

Holy man & scholar Att is disgusted with the with the so called monastic life of the monastery he comes to stay at. The rich food & obvious riches go totally against what he believes in. When he has a dream that like the holy men of old he must sail off with two companions to set up a new holy place he tells the abbot. Along with young Trian, old practical Cormac & the bare minimum of supplies they set of in a coracle down the Shannon & out West. When they arrive at the isolated Skellig Michael Att decides this is where they will do God's work. Trian & Cormac have vowed to obey Att as part of their vows. Regardless of any thought for creature comforts or even basic human needs, Att pursues his vision driving his faithful companions.

This book completely had me under it's spell. Skellig Michael in all its cruel beauty was captivating. I loved Trian & old Cormac. It is hard to imagine the world where men gave their will totally to God & to the person that that they have vowed to obey even if their leader makes more & more impossible demands. I couldn't forget these characters & was left wondering what happened next for a good while afterwards. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book. It is one of my best reads so far this year.

I read this so quickly and easily, the story flowed and I was absorbed in it. I picked this up without reading the blurb and so had no idea it was an imagined account of the first monks to arrive on Skellig Michael. Years ago anything Celtic would catch my eye and one of my favourite books is about this island, Sun Dancing: Life in a Medieval Irish Monastery and How Celtic Spirituality Influenced the World and I find the whole idea of a settlement in such an inhospitable place absolutely fascinating and of course, the little beehive stones huts they left behind. (Now the Skellig is famous for being Luke Skywalkers hideaway!)
Emma Donoghue has written a fascinating account on what life would’ve been like for these monks, the fanatical leader Artt; Cormac, an old monk with building skills and young Trian, obedient and a lover of nature. Perhaps my interest in the subject matter makes me the perfect audience for this book. I loved it!

This book is incredibly well researched (I expected nothing less from Donoghue). I really enjoyed the references to Irish mythology. A slow paced story about 3 monks living in isolation could easily be boring, but with Donoghue's writing I found it very compelling and intriguing.
The ending was incredible.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I requested this book as I've enjoyed a few of Emma Donohhue's previous books, so was pleased to get a copy even though the subject was quite a departure from my usual.
I enjoyed this read, it was quite a slow build up, but I appreciated that and felt it gave a realistic sense of the trios situation and how just how isolated and desperate they became.
I liked the characters of Trian & Cormac and found my opinion of Artt fluctuating frequently, especially when it was often apparent the Brothers were doing the bulk of the work.
I found the ending quite abrupt and would have been happier had it been more set and less open-ended.
My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for my eARC in return for my honest review.

I'm fascinated by the so called Hiberno-Scottish mission and the different monks as they play a relevan role in the culture of Dark Ages and produce masterpiece like the Book of Kell.
This is a slow paced book but I don't expect a action packed story when it comes to monks. There's the story, the historical background, and there's food for thought.
I loved this book and I will surely read it again.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The premise is simple - three 7th-century monks vow to leave the world behind them and deepen their relationship with God. They set out in a small boat for an island their self-appointed leader has seen in a dream, with only their faith to guide them. What they find is the extraordinary island now known as Skellig Michael.

Great Skellig, a rocky outcrop with no groundwater and barely sufficient vegetation, is hardly an ideal settlement place. This matters not even a small bit to Brother Artt, who is 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 in awe of the holy man who has chosen them to serve him on this mission. As the story goes on, however, Artt becomes increasingly power-mad, a true religious zealot.

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 considerable practical skills and an engaging love of storytelling; Christianity for him seems to be a series of wonderful 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.

With narrative skill Donoghue derives tension from a minimum of action; she brings the monks’ conflicts to a climax when Trian falls ill, revealing a long-kept secret. Artt’s bigoted response provokes a confrontation that brings the novel to a satisfying, if rather predictable, conclusion.

Reminiscent of Room and The Pull of the Stars in its portrayal of fraught interactions and societal challenges, this medieval excursion lacks their immersive appeal yet still shows skilled handling of challenging material.

I don’t think I have ever read a book set In the 7th Century before. I am not sure I would have contemplated doing so, but anything written by Emma Donoghue is always going to be worth a read. She is such a versatile writer. I can’t imagine how her mind works to be able to write so beautifully and knowledgeably about so many different eras and settings. I would love to meet her or see her speaking at a literary festival.
I am so glad I chose to read Haven. I found it moving and fascinating. Each of the three monks were brilliantly portrayed and there was enough of their back stories included to allow the reader to understand and sympathise with them. I couldn’t imagine how anyone could survive such hardships and I could almost feel their hunger.
The book is a slow burner, so if you want action and twists and turns it may not be for you .But if you enjoy a book that is beautifully written, that transports you to another place and time, with the right amount of tension, then I highly recommend Haven.

The soaring fireball Emma Donoghue triumphs again! That’s a bit dramatic, but I'm in such awe of this book that praise is likely to overwhelm my review.

‘Haven’ is a novel that had me entranced from the very first paragraph. The Skelligs have a place in my heart and imagination, and to see Skellig Michael developed as the central location for a novel in 2022 is quite something. I know it had the spotlight trained on it following the Star Wars filming there, but it proves a dynamic and impressively rewarding site for plot setting in 'Haven'.

I read this novel over a few days spent travelling and it became quite an otherworldly experience. The setting is so mighty and the narrative so innovative – a few days in the company of Irish monks in the 600s CE – that calling it to mind brings the ancient pilgrimage to Skellig Michael to life vividly, graphically.

And the characters! All three central characters are strikingly lifelike and animated. There is a compassion to her character creation that has defined Donoghue's published works. The mind boggles at how she is able to sound out voices so far removed from her own, and pen them with such authority and mastery. From an geriatric man in 'Akin', to a 19th-century French burlesque dancer in 'Frog Music', women on a maternity ward during the Great War and the ‘Flu pandemic in 'The Pull of the Stars', to name a few, and now monks in the seventh century? The array of viewpoints depicted in Donoghue's work is intoxicating, and her portrayal of diverse groups is always pitch-perfect. And that point should never be overlooked: Donoghue is amongst a select few authors who can be relied upon to treat representation with insight and sensitivity. And there's no difference here; each of the three central characters in 'Haven' emerge with discrete clarity and a true sense of independent voice built from experience. Readers surely will hate one, and love the others, or love just one and hate the other two. Each of them is striking, forcefully written.

The final movements of 'Haven' repay deep consideration. There is a lot to unpack when the narrative takes its electrifying turn and we accelerate with heartbreaking pace towards the impending conclusion of the novel. Without spoilers, I can say that the denouement pays rich and rewarding returns for whichever of the three characters the reader is championing. Each of the three are granted wonderfully powerful final punches by the author and the finale of the book is supremely, agonisingly poignant.

Emma Donoghue writes with such commanding energy that, whether or not I rate every book of hers that I read as a ‘favourite’, she is one of a handful of writers who’ve had a profound and lasting influence upon my reading style and preferences, and my faculty as a critical reader. The Donoghue novels that I’ve read have stayed with me, with great strength of endurance. ‘Landing’ and ‘Stir-Fry’ are two of my all-time favourite romantic novels (a genre I rarely touch!) and ‘Frog Music’ took my interest in historical fiction to a whole new level.

I can’t find a more appropriate term than ‘powerhouse’ for Emma Donoghue. Each Donoghue book I’ve read from her back catalogue of contemporary and historical fiction, lesbicentric and hibernocentric fiction - although I don't rate them all as five stars - has remained close to my heart. I might have found ‘Slammerkin’ difficult to get into, for instance, and ‘Kissing the Witch’ was slow for me. I failed to connect with the narratives in ‘The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits’. But of course, some of these responses are likely due to my own mindset at the time of reading those novels.

'Haven', however, is one of my five-star reads. What higher commendation can I give a book than to say that I will savour re-reading this work many times. I will relish each sweet return to Skellig Michael in the company of Artt, Cormac and Trian. My greatest thanks to Pan Macmillan for an eARC.

With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Inspired by the bare bones of the monastic history of Skellig Michael, a remote and inhospitable island off the coast of Co Kerry, Emma Donoghue tells a story of three 7th century monks who leave the mainland to set up a monastery away from the corruption of the world.

Artt, a literate scholar as well as a monk, has a vision which prompts his exodus. Taking with him only two other monks, 19-year-old Trian and the much older Cormac, and trusting to God to guide them to the right island and provide for them once they are there, he sets off in a small boat, with the bare amount of provisions necessary. They make landfall on one of two skelligs, steep rocky islands inhabited only by thousands of sea birds. It is here that they start to implement Artt's vision - but is Artt inspired by God, or a madman?

The only other book I have read by this author is Room, which tells the story of a young woman and her son adapting to a normal life after years of being held captive and raped. In its very different way, Haven too is about a form of captivity by someone who is either too holy for the flawed mortals around him, or potentially deranged even by the standards of 7th century monastic hermits. As the summer months pass and give way to autumn, Artt's insistence on building a church and copying manuscripts before thinking about shelter, and of trusting to God to provide not only food but fuel, building materials and tools, start to take a grave toll on Trian and Cormac. As their physical and mental health declines and their continued survival becomes more dubious, their vows of obedience are sorely challenged. Are they too fallible to trust in divine grace? Is Artt's rigid and often merciless adherence to the rule and devotions of monastic life what God really wants from them? Where does their instinctive humanity fit in God's requirement of unquestioning obedience to their vows?

These questions, and the effect of their isolation from the world, are explored in a relatively short but perfectly formed novel which lets the reader make their own judgement, as Trian and Cormac must also do.

Would I have requested or read this book if it *wasn't* by Emma Donoghue?

Maybe...but probably not.

Emma Donoghue is such an amazing writer, with Haven being no different. The atmosphere of 7th century Ireland is apparent from the first page, the characterisation of our main trio makes them all come to life, and it is easy to root for and against certain characters. How many times did I swear at a certain monk in this book? Too many to count, Donoghue's ability to write such *cruel* characters shines again with Haven.

This is such a fast read, but not an easy read - full of complexity, descriptive passages, and worry for what will happen next.

My thanks to NetGalley and Picador publishing for the opportunity to review this book.
I'm not too sure what I was expecting but this was very slow paced and I spent the majority of the book waiting for a major shift which didn't happen.
Beautifully written but unfortunately not a page turner for me personally.

“Stray beams shard through gaps in the vast sky. The clouds shift, the light tints the Great Skellig brown, then grey, then green, as if God’s nib is inking in an illustration. Land and sea like opposite pages, intricate and bejewelled with colour, in a book laid open for all to read.”

Haven is the twelfth novel by Irish-born Canadian author, Emma Donoghue. During his stay at Cluain Mhic Nois monastery by the River Sionan on the Isle of Hibernia, Artt, a priest, scholar and hermit whose reputation for piety and conversion precedes him, cannot help but notice how poorly many of the monks, even the Abbot, observe their vows of poverty and chastity. He notes their greed, laziness, spite and lust with distaste.

Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise, then, when the Lord speaks to him in a dream, ordering him to “withdraw from the world. To set out on pilgrimage with two companions, find this island, and found a monastic retreat”

The Abbot is a bit puzzled at just whom the Lord has instructed him to take along: instead of a dozen strong, seasoned men of middle years, he will take only the old lyre player, Cormac with his dented head, and the young red-haired piper, Trian; one practical, one a bit of a dreamer.

Within days they are sailing down the Sionan and out to sea, in search of their deserted island. Indeed by sail and oar, their craft arrives at a pair of skelligs, both inhospitable except to many species of sea birds, the larger deemed by the Prior as their destination. Their meagre supplies are carried to the tiny habitable patch, and a source of water located. Only a single tree, a stunted rowan, adorns this barren place.

Artt insists they do not overload their little boat with unnecessary equipment and provisions, ensuring that, within weeks they run short of supplies and need to improvise for food, fuel, quills and candles. This requires them to be resourceful, although Artt declares that God always provides (inspiration, perhaps? serendipity?) for his devotees.

Trian is filled with wonder as “Swallows wheel and cavort overhead in shrill numbers, the odd little brown flyer dipping low enough to beak an insect off the water between one wingbeat and the next. Now the whole mass forms a spiralling, swirling cloud, speckling then darkening into a winged shape that smears like ink, rips and dissolves again. So many! What can drive them to flock in such urgent numbers, to form one great bird shape of their countless pointed bodies?”

The young monk’s love of nature means that he is disturbed by the amount of bird killing he is required to do to provide food, then fuel and eventually light. He is often hungry. And he misses playing his pipe. Cormac’s pragmatism sees him frustrated every time a suggestion for a useful construction is overridden. Their Prior may be learned, but seems naïve about survival, and spends long hours in silent meditation.

Having vowed obedience to their Prior, Cormac and Trian shelve their doubts about some of Artt’s decisions. When he insists that a stone cross, an altar, a chapel and the copying of religious texts take precedence over food and shelter, one might wonder if his priorities are skewed by his godliness: is the man devoted, mad or a bit of both?

Privation and suffering can be offered up to God, but winter approaches and the birds are departing: can the trio survive?

The triple narrative provides three very different perspectives on the challenges the men face and their thoughts reveals their very human flaws: even holy men can be plagued by vanity and pride, anger and guilt, cruelty, rigid self belief, lack of charity, and rejection of criticism. And doubt, plenty of doubt.

Donoghue’s extensive research into life in the seventh Century is apparent on every page: fascinating details like portable fire, a river vessel, crafting equipment and constructing stone buildings are subtly woven into the narrative. She conveys her era and setting with exquisite descriptive prose. Her imagined establishing of Skellig Michael is brilliant.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Pan Macmillan Picador.

I adored Room and had high hopes for this book but sadly it was a little slow for my liking and the bleak island setting, and journey to reach it, was not the escapism I was hoping for.

Emma's writing is as beautiful as ever though so it is one I will revisit when I'm looking for a slow burn story.

I really enjoyed 'Akin', 'Room' and 'The Pull of the Stars' - all of which are totally unique and different from each other, so I was looking forward to reading 'Haven'. This book is a slow-burner with an unexpected twist towards the end and was worth persevering with where the narrative slowed.

The story is essentially the story of Artt, a monk who has a vision in a dream that he must leave the priory with two other monks to found a new colony. Three men set sail to drift aimlessly until God's will is revealed to Artt, the new master. The other two monks who accompany Artt: Trian and Cormac have taken an oath to do as commanded for as long as they serve their new master.

It is soon clear that Artt is fanatical about his purpose and makes some extreme choices about their future. Trian and Cormac have good combined knowledge of how to survive, but when they are forced to try and exist on a deserted island of impenetrable bedrock, their faith and oath begin to waver.

The setting of this book is stunning and well written; however, the pace is slow and I found it hard to like the character of Artt at all. The book is gritty and requires a strong stomach at times - as they have to make some awful choices to survive. There is no end to Artt's faith and desire for God to direct him.

Glad I read this, but it was tough going at times. 3.5 stars from me! Not one for nature lovers!

I’ve read four books by Emma Donoghue now and each one has been completely different from the one before! Haven is a particularly unusual novel and even after finishing it I’m still not quite sure what I really think of it.

The setting is 7th century Ireland and the novel begins with a stranger arriving at the monastery of Cluain Mhic Nóis on the banks of the River Shannon. His name is Artt and he claims to have had a dream, a vision sent by God, showing himself and two other monks founding a monastic retreat on a remote island. Artt persuades the Abbot to let him take a small boat and go in search of the island, accompanied by two other monks: the elderly Cormac, who came to religion late in life after losing his loved ones to plague, and Trian, a young man given to the monastery by his parents as a child. The three monks set off in the boat and eventually come to the uninhabited rocky island of Skellig Michael, where they prepare to live in seclusion together for the rest of their lives.

There’s really not much more to the plot than that, but what could have been an extremely boring book is surprisingly absorbing in the hands of Emma Donoghue. I found it interesting to see how the three men set about establishing their own little settlement on the island and how different their views were on what is necessary for survival. Skellig Michael is a harsh, remote and inhospitable place; looking at photos, I can’t imagine what it would have been like to live there, but monks (not the ones in the novel, who are fictional) really did build a monastery there and it’s now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Cormac, the most practical of the three, believes that their immediate priority should be to build shelter for themselves ready for the winter, but Artt – or ‘the Prior’ as he now calls himself – insists that there will be time for this later and that their time should first be spent on constructing an altar, a chapel and a stone cross. Meanwhile Trian is kept busy fishing and capturing the puffins and other seabirds that will provide them with meat and eggs, as well as fuel and fat for candles. I should tell you that there are a lot of graphic descriptions of gutting fish and killing birds, which I felt became repetitive and excessive – but I think maybe Donoghue has a message here for us, a warning regarding humans’ destruction of the environment and the wildlife that shares our planet.

I disliked Artt more and more as the story progressed and he became increasingly fanatical and adamant that ‘God would provide’, refusing to listen to the concerns of the other two monks. I also found my attention wandering whenever Cormac began to tell one of his many stories about the saints. The ideal reader for this book would have a much stronger interest in Christianity than I do, I think! There’s a revelation near the end which I had suspected all along, and although it came as no surprise to me, it does provide a turning point in the story – but just as things were starting to get exciting, the book ended. It’s a strange novel, as I said, and won’t necessarily appeal to people who’ve enjoyed Emma Donoghue’s other books (it’s nothing like the other three I’ve read – Room, Frog Music or The Wonder), but it’s a short, quick read and worth picking up if anything I’ve said about it has piqued your interest!