Best known for Burial Rites (2013), a haunting retelling of the life and execution of Agnes Magnúsdóttir—the last woman hanged in Iceland—Kent captivated readers worldwide with her evocative portrayal of 19th-century Icelandic life. That novel sparked international fascination, raising enduring questions about justice, truth, and historical memory.
Since then, Kent has continued to explore themes of female marginalisation, the supernatural, and the spectral with her novels The Good People and Devotion. Now, with Always Home, Always Homesick, she returns to Iceland, this time blending personal memoir with literary and historical inquiry.
A Journey Between Two Worlds
Kent’s memoir traces her arrival in Iceland as a high school exchange student in the northern town of Sauðárkrókur. Isolated by language and culture, her early days were marked by hardship and quiet perseverance. Though her first host family offered little warmth, Kent recounts these challenges with measured grace, avoiding complaint while portraying the slow, delicate process of integration into the local community.
Over time, she found belonging with a more welcoming Icelandic family, forging bonds that remain central to her life today.
It was during this formative period that Kent first encountered the story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir. What began as a spark of curiosity soon became a consuming quest. Determined to understand Agnes beyond the stark accounts of her crimes and execution, Kent embarked on an extensive and meticulous research journey, even as she returned to Australia.
Following in Agnes’s Footsteps
Kent’s dedication saw her return to Iceland through study grants, allowing her to delve into primary archives and trace Agnes’s life quite literally across the landscape. By “superimposing all I know upon the land,” she sought to piece together a life obscured by history, aligning physical spaces with documented events to gain a visceral sense of her subject’s world.
The challenges were considerable. The archives were often difficult to access, and language barriers presented persistent obstacles. However, Kent’s growing proficiency in Icelandic, combined with serendipitous discoveries and the generosity of others, enabled her to navigate these hurdles.
A Companion to Burial Rites
Always Home, Always Homesick serves as a thoughtful companion to Burial Rites, providing context and depth to Kent’s creative process. A decade after the novel’s publication, Kent offers readers a candid look at the research behind her fiction and the evolving interpretations of Agnes’s story.
Her findings, tested over time in both academic and literary circles, continue to resonate. The memoir allows Kent to revisit her earlier work with the benefit of hindsight, offering new insights while reaffirming the power of historical fiction to illuminate forgotten lives.
A Meditation on Belonging and Home
Beyond its scholarly value, the memoir is a poignant exploration of cultural duality. Kent writes eloquently about the tension of belonging to two places—Australia and Iceland—capturing the bittersweet pull of ‘heimþrá’, the Icelandic term for longing for home.
Her reflections will strike a chord with readers who have experienced the complexities of cross-cultural identity. Moreover, those drawn to Scandinavian concepts such as ‘hygge’ (cosiness) and the allure of winter culture will find much to appreciate in Kent’s vivid depictions of life in the Icelandic north.
Conclusion
With Always Home, Always Homesick, Hannah Kent has crafted a compelling memoir that is both personal and universal. It deepens the narrative of Burial Rites while standing alone as a meditation on memory, place, and the enduring human need to belong.
For admirers of Kent’s fiction, lovers of literary history, and anyone fascinated by the stark beauty of Iceland, this memoir is an essential read.
