Now, the first fast-day after Easter and one of the monks, Trian is observing Artt, this man who is ‘as fresh as if he’s just returned from the land of youth. Two weeks previously a stranger had arrived in their midst, a man who went by the name of Artt. Over thirty monks and their Abbot live a relatively secluded life here, toiling the land, praying and serving God. Emma Donoghue takes the reader back to 7th C Ireland, a time when Christianity was getting a foothold in a country that was very much a rural environment and where clans were in dispute over land and cattle.Ĭluain Mhic Nóis (Clonmacnoise) in Co’ Offaly is where Haven begins, a monastery founded in the 6th C.
Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, it was once a place of refuge with the remains of monastic settlements evident on the island. Haven by Emma Donoghue will be released August 18th with Picador and is described as ‘haunting, moving and vividly told…displays Emma Donoghue’s trademark world-building and psychological intensity.’ Set primarily on the remote island known as Skellig Michael off the west coast of Ireland, Haven is a very intense experience from start to finish.įor those of you not familiar with Skellig Michael by name you might recognise it from two of the more recent Star Wars movies, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, which were, in part, filmed there. But in such a place, far from all other humanity, what will survival mean? Their extraordinary landing spot is now known as Skellig Michael.
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. 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. In seventh-century Ireland, a scholar and priest called Artt has a dream telling him to leave the sinful world behind.
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