Cassandra Drudi, "Three debut novels among finalists for 2023 Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize". Quill & Quire, September 27, 2023.

Haven by Emma Donoghue — island of doubts and demons Haven by Emma Donoghue — island of doubts and demons

Donoghue has left behind none of her ability to spin a compelling story and people it with sharp characterizations. ... Generating narrative tension from a minimum of action, Donoghue brings the monks’ conflicts to … a satisfying conclusion. Reminiscent of Room (2010) in its portrayal of fraught interactions in a confined space ... More fine work from the talented Donoghue. - Kirkus A Tale of Two Annies" in Butch/Femme: Inside Lesbian Gender, ed. by Sally Munt (London: Cassell, 1998) But when the pragmatic Cormac ventures this opinion, he is sternly rebuked. “This place,” Artt declares, “was set aside for us when the Earth was made.” Accepting their lot, the monks clamber ashore. Their master may seem harsh and inscrutable but, for the time being, his authority is unquestionable. Though, by now, we have glimpsed enough of Artt’s nature to guess at what lies before them. Ultimately, Haven is a tense portrait of two good men trapped on an island with a third who thinks himself a saintThe highly anticipated novel from the internationally bestselling author of The Pull of the Stars and Room I loved this variation on an immram, an Old Irish tale with a sea journey to the Otherworld, and a hero. A blend of Christianity with Irish mythology. A story of a man looked upon as a holy leader, a man who believes in his vision and insists on others following his way despite the destruction it will bring. A man who seeks to convince others that his is the true and only way, despite the peril to all involved. A parable that explores themes that seem all the more relevant to our times. He shares his dream, his vision of the three of them, himself, a young monk and an old one. Artt, Trian and Cormac. A trinity, if you will, of chosen men. Men chosen, not by him, but by God.

Haven by Emma Donoghue book review - The Washington Post

I was with an old monk, and a young one….an instruction to withdraw from the world…with two companions, find this island, and found a monastic retreat.’ Acts of Union", "Account", "Ballad", "Come, Gentle Night", "Cured", "Dido", "The Last Rabbit", "The Necessity of Burning", "Revelations", "Salvage", "Night Vision", "Figures of Speech", "A Short Story", "The Fox on the Line", "How a Lady Dies", "Looking for Petronilla", "Words for Things" Donoghue, Emma (7 January 2017). "Emma Donoghue: 'I have only from 8.30am to 3.30pm to work. It's a very healthy discipline' ". The Guardian . Retrieved 30 August 2022. Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. What happens at the end of my trial? Written in an admirably plain and lucid style, Haven is slow but ultimately moving in its revelation of friendship and human decency.' - Sunday TimesThis book kept me up half the night - I was unable to put it down, and read it in one spellbound gulp. It is everything a novel should be: compassionate, unpredictable, and questioning. Haven is Donoghue at her strange, unsettling best.' - Maggie O'Farrell Everything a novel should be: compassionate, unpredictable, and questioning. Haven is Donoghue at her strange, unsettling best.' - Maggie O'Farrell, author of Hamnet The Tale of the Shoe", "The Tale of the Bird", "The Tale of the Rose", "The Tale of the Apple", "The Tale of the Handkerchief", "The Tale of the Hair", "The Tale of the Brother", "The Tale of the Spinster", "The Tale of the Cottage", "The Tale of the Skin", "The Tale of the Needle", "The Tale of the Voice", "The Tale of the Kiss" Around the year 600, three men vow to leave the world behind and set out in a small boat for an island their leader has seen in a dream, with only faith to guide them.

Haven - Author Emma Donoghue

i do think the story itself is very interesting. i love a good survival plot, so i was looking forward to reading about three monks settling an inhabitable island in the name of god. i just wish there had been a greater sense adventure when it came to their actual island experience. I recommend this book for those who want a “quieter” book that does deal in basics of human life: belonging, faith, society, brotherhood and what these can truly mean when three people are on their own, separated from the rest of society. Interview by Ari Shapiro on NPR's All Things Considered, https://www.npr.org/2022/08/24/1119308599/the-book-haven-is-a-monastic-retreat-to-an-island-inhabited-only-by-men-and-birdAfter a vivid dream, Brother Artt confides to the Abbot that he must embark on this journey with the two monks that were in his dream; his companions are to be Cormac, an elderly monk who came to the abby and his vocation late in life after his wife and family were violently taken from him during the plague, a survivor of many tragedies but bascially one who was skilled in architecture and building as well as gardening. And the second monk was Trian, a young and gangly youthful man that had been dropped off to the monastary six years ago but had learned to adapt to his monastic surroundings. A tremendously real imagining of the experiences of the first three people to land on Skellig Michael in about AD 600 ... if the setting is centuries ago, the themes feel ultra-modern. ... her skilled character creation adds vibrancy. Artt the zealot, Cormac the sage and young outsider Trian make for a winning trinity.' - Irish Times

Haven by Emma Donoghue review – religious zeal meets

and with the writing being as nice as it is and the characters so quiet, again, i just think the narrative is a little too meek for heart of the story. if i wasnt so interested in the particular history of the island, i probably would have been bored by it all. In seventh-century Ireland, a scholar and priest called Artt has a dream telling him to leave the sinful world behind. Taking two monks – young Trian and old Cormac – he travels down the river Shannon in search of an isolated spot on which to found a monastery. Drifting out into the Atlantic, the three men find an impossibly steep, bare island inhabited by tens of thousands of birds, and claim it for God. Their extraordinary landing spot is now known as Skellig Michael. But in such a place, far from all other humanity, what will survival mean? What a beautiful, intense, blazing, richly-woven yet spartan and unsparing book this is. I couldn’t put it down. Lyrical and then visceral, appearing at one moment tranquil and another so intense it’s like being bitten and clawed.' - Rachel JoyceEhrlich, David (3 September 2022). " 'The Wonder' Review: Florence Pugh Discovers a Miracle". IndieWire . Retrieved 16 September 2022.