Haven was written by bestselling author Emma Donoghue and was published in 2022.
I’ve read two of the author’s previous novels, Room and The Pull of the Stars, and really enjoyed them both.
I was therefore pleased to see she had released another book. Haven was one of The Times Books of the Year 2022 as well a an Eason’s ‘Favourite Book of the Year 2022’.
I was intrigued by the premise as although I do enjoy historical fiction, it didn’t sound like something I would usually read. However, because I enjoy Emma Donoghue’s writing style, I was excited to read this one.
Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases
Plot
In seventh-century Ireland, Artt, a priest and scholar, has a dream telling him to leave his current world behind. He believes the vision is instructing him, along with two fellow monks, to leave the monastery and set up their own monastic retreat far away from anyone else.
Artt, young, eager to please Trian and older, late convert Cormac, set off with very limited supplies in the hope of finding an island suitable for inhabitation.
After drifting out into the Atlantic and allowing God to guide them, the three men find a steep, bare island inhabited by tens of thousands of birds. Believing it was God’s will to lead them to there, they decide to settle there and claim the land for God.
However, in a place so bare and inhospitable, so far from all other humanity, the three unlikely companions are pushed to their limits, both physically and mentally.
Haven Book Review
I was really interested to read about the real-life island now known as Skellig Michael. I had little knowledge about the island that is known for it’s Gaelic monastery and it’s steep and inhospitable environment. Not to mention all the birds!
I honestly can’t decide whether I enjoyed this book. The writing drew me in and the descriptions were so vivid. I also admire the author for writing about such varying topics. Each Emma Donoghue novel I have read has been completely different.
While I was gripped, and I did want to find out what happened to the three monks, I felt the story was really hard going. It was so infuriating in parts and quite slow paced.
I hated Artt. Thoroughly hated him. He was deeply unpleasant, mean-spirited and arrogant. I despised how he expected Trian and Cormac to obey him without question even when his ideas were preposterous. He didn’t treat the other two men as equal companions and instead used religion to justify his own power trip. In some ways he reminded me of the pious and despicable men in books such as The Dance Tree and The Mercies.
It was really brutal at times, especially the descriptions of what happened to the birds. Those poor birds!
The atmosphere was intense and stifling. The isolation, hunger and desolation created a pressure cooker environment. I was half expecting the story to descend into Lord of the Flies. To be honest, had Trian and Cormac decided to eat Artt, I wouldn’t have judged them.
I really loved Cormac as a character. He was complex and likeable with a real sense of decency that Artt lacked. Trian too was a empathetic character. I would have enjoyed reading more about the two of them, and less about Artt.
I enjoyed the writing style and reading something different. It was a bleak tale of devotion and the dangers of fanaticism. I found it infuriating at times and I was almost relieved when I’d finished it, just so I didn’t have to spend any more time with Artt.
I certainly didn’t enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Room and The Pull of the Stars but it was undoubtedly really well written.
What to read next
I would definitely recommend two of Emma Donogue’s other novels, Room and The Pull of the Stars. Both of them are really gripping, impactful stories that I enjoyed more than Haven.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. For more information please see my disclosure policy.