Haven

Is there anything that Emma Donoghue can’t write about? Every era, gender of subject, age, country she hits the mark perfectly every time.
There is a prevailing air of distress in this novel, punctuated with highs of emotion be they happy or traumatic. I instantly fell in love with Trian and very quickly thereafter with Cormac. Artt I could never warm to. Perhaps it wasn’t her intention but I read in this narrative not of the dangers of devoting yourself wholeheartedly to a religious faith although they are plain to see; but also the danger of man’s ego when coupled with control over other people. The difficulty men with that kind of ego have with ever climbing down from their position and admitting that they are wrong or that they need help. Artt embodies the toxic masculinity that is a hot topic these days. For a novel set in such ancient times Donoghue has seamlessly woven in modern day issues surrounding gender fluidity, use of scarce resources and coercive control showing that issues of humanity are usually the same ones that people have wrestled with in their own way for many centuries.
Donoghue has always had a talent for scene setting but in this novel she surpasses herself. The bleak and beautiful skellig and its native inhabitants of various bird species are compelling, detailed and haunting. I can see so clearly in my minds eye the rugged cross, the plain hut and chapel and Trian catching sea bird after sea bird to feed the fire as fuel.
There is something touching and trusting about the monk’s faith and their adherence to their vows of chastity, poverty and obedience and life at the monastery in the opening chapters feels rich and fulfilling with a warm brotherhood which I think says something about religious organisations being a family and a community and not three men cut off from everything and everyone they’ve ever known.

This may not be the usual type of book for me to pick up as the plot sounds somewhat dull: three holy men leave a monastery to found a new place of worship based on Artt's dream. However "Haven" by Emma Donoghue is just beautifully written, focussing on the minutiae of daily life and how they are going to survive on what is essentially a giant rock in the sea. Wonderful stuff!

It's the 7th century in Ireland and in the monastery of Cluan Mhic Nóis, the monk Artt has a vision: he needs to set sail with two other monks and find an island which hasn't been touched by humanity's sins, and settle there as a beacon of Christianity.
They find the Skellig islands, and their fight for survival commences. Not only do they have to deal with the wildness of the island, the birds, and the struggle to find food and water, but the real challenge turns out to be the isolation and theological disagreements. The reading experience becomes more and more oppressive, in contrast to the romanticised images we have of the monastic sites of the Skellig islands from pop culture (like the Clannad song, or the Loreena McKennitt song, or the Star Wars set).
Emma Donoghue brilliantly describes what life must have been like, and the book made me question things like "how much is life worth when it's all about survival" and "where is the line between faith and madness". Excellent book.

A very different genre of book I would usually choose, yet with such great detail and story line it had me hooked . This is the first Emma Donoghue book I have read but I certainly will now be getting her previous book to read. A real pleasure to read

Thanks to Netgalley and Picador for a copy of this book.

In 7th century Ireland, devout priest and scholar, Artt has a dream telling him to leave the sinful world behind. He takes with him tow monks, young Trian and old Cormac. They row down the Sionnan (Shannon) in search of a remote island to found a new monastery; they discover an island that we now know as Skellig Michael.

Growing up in the South-west of Ireland myself, the incredible story of the monks and the harsh life they lived on Skellig Michael was something I grew up learning about, so I was very excited to read this.

If you're going into this book with zero prior knowledge of the history of Skellig Michael, Ireland, its mythology and the life of early Christian monks, know that Donoghue will not hold your hand, and researching along the way, may be beneficial to you.

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.

This is a book that will stick with me.

Whenever I read a book set in long-ago times, I am reminded how lucky I am to live now. It's easy to romanticise life in the seventh century - simpler, closer to nature etc. - but ultimately it was hard work, dangerous, and often short. Emma Donoghue's latest novel is about three monks who set sail to find an uninhabited island, away from the temptations and sins of human society.

Their leader is Artt, a religious zealot who believes he is following a vision sent by God. He is accompanied by Cormac, an elderly monk who came to the brotherhood later in life, and Trian, an awkward but hardworking teenage monk. These three very different characters set out together into the unknown, with only the most meagre of possessions, to spend the rest of their lives in seclusion together. A pretty extraordinary thing - especially when you remember that people really did set out on such voyages (most of the small islands off Ireland's south west coast have the remains of monastic settlements apparently). They eventually come upon the steep rocky island that we know today as Skellig Michael, and set about establishing themselves there. Artt's only thoughts are for furthering the will of God, whereas his followers are increasingly concerned about how they will avoid starvation. As you might expect, living in such close quarters and challenging conditions soon turn Artt's imagined paradise into something less appealing.

Emma Donoghue is a fabulous writer - she seems able to take any idea (and she seems to take inspiration anywhere and everywhere) and make it into a good, compelling book. A story with only three characters, living in isolation and their days spent mostly on mundane tasks of survival or religious rites, shouldn't be as absorbing and compelling as this is. Yet I was engrossed in it far more deeply than many a fast paced book. She has the gift of making characters interesting and sympathetic from the start, and her style always flows easily. I found the detail about their daily lives, how they managed to eke a living with so little, fascinating rather than dull - and that can only have come from being communicated by a very good writer.

It's really gripping as the tension gathers. I loved the characters of Trian and Cormac, and I found Artt incredibly frustrating but believable. The men's time on the island could be interpreted as an allegory for human existence in general - with it's mix of ingenuity and folly, the careless plundering of resources, dogmatic thinking overcoming good sense, but friendship and loyalty also prevailing. I was sorry when it ended - it's one of those stories you wish could carry on for longer in order to find out what became of the characters next.

I'd highly recommend this story to anyone who likes well written stories. It doesn't really fit in a specific pigeon hole, it's just a really engrossing and enjoyable read.

Quite a strange book for my taste.
An adventure story of three monks on an isolated island was always going to end badly.
The wildlife did not fare very well, nor did the monks.
The story was well structured, the descriptions were good and interesting. The research had obviously been well done, and the characters interacted well..
I am not sure that it will be woke enough for modern tastes.
I enjoyed it though .
Well done to the author and publisher.
My thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy for honest review.

This describes a thin line between religious fervour and insanity. A visiting scholar and theologian dreams of isolation on an uninhabited island, and re-enacts his dream by taking a young and an old monk on his journey. What follows verges on fanaticism, subjecting his followers to inhuman levels of deprivation and possible death.
I found myself drawn to their situation, although I have never felt close to religion. Why do they subject themselves to near starvation and the absence of comfort in the name of devotion to God? Their leader seems to thrive on adversity, trusting in his beliefs to see them through, and as the older monk says “saints can be cruel”. I was intrigued to see how the situation would end as it surely must in disaster. A heart warming read nevertheless, and I loved the characters, the writing being both sensitive and evocative, with the island conjured up in all its bleakness.