Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

I needed to re-read this to understand how good the storytelling is; the first time I skipped bits as it is a bit who-dunnity. We are taken led the true tale of Agnes Magnusdottir, beheaded for murder in Iceland in 1830. Agnes was imprisoned with an Icelandic farming household until her execution to save money, rather than taking her to a prison in Copenhagen. The farmers had no choice, it was considered their civic duty and they got paid. The author lived in Iceland for a year when she was 17, it would have been almost impossible for her to give us this immersion into the facts and feelings of the era without  lived experience. We are shown a world of hard agricultural work, and rigorous Christianity, where even illegitimate servants like Agnes had to read and write and be Confirmed. And human nature, flirtatation, passion, pride, greed, even the reluctant kindness of Margret the farm-mistress when she realises that her prisoner, who has been beaten like a dog, has an intelligent mind and capable hands willing to work the daily and seasonal round of chores, all play their part in the drama. Hannah has a feel for nature and an eye for detail, showing for example the District Commissioner 'his fleshy lips wrap around the meat'. Burial Rites was shortlisted for this year's Bailey's prize. I rate it more highly than A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, the book that won.