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Haven

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Haven

By: Emma Donoghue
Narrated by: Aidan Kelly
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About this listen

A story of survival set in 600 AD Ireland; a parable of patriarchy, destruction and religion at sea, by Emma Donoghue, the bestselling author of Room.

Shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award

In seventh-century Ireland, a priest has a dream telling him to leave the sinful world behind. Taking two monks with him, he travels down the Shannon in search of an isolated spot on which to found a new place of worship. 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. But in such a place, far from all other humanity, what will survival mean?

‘Book of the Year’ pick in The Irish Times, The Guardian, The Irish Post, RTÉ and The Times.

©2022 Macmillan Publishers International Limited (P)2022 Macmillan Publishers International Limited Christian Fiction Classics & Allegories Genre Fiction Historical Fiction

Critic Reviews

'Everything a novel should be: compassionate, unpredictable, and questioning. Haven is Donoghue at her strange, unsettling best.' - Maggie O'Farrell, author of Hamnet

‘Haven is a beautiful, bold blaze of a book’ – Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

‘Beautiful and timely’ - Sarah Moss, author of Summerwater

‘Sinister, heart-wrenching and beautifully written’ – The Times

‘Combines pressure-cooker intensity and radical isolation, to stunning effect’ – Margaret Atwood via Twitter
All stars
Most relevant  
Beautifully written. Certainly not fast-paced, it envelops you in this strange and disturbing time and situation. I'm looking at more of Donoghue's books; she could be my next favourite author. Well narrated.

Haunting

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The layered descriptions of the characters lives and interactions were mesmerising. The feelings of the characters I thought were extremely precise.

The feeling of isolation stood out the most.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.