Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

This was a tragic story about a woman, Agnes, who was sentenced to death (beheaded) for killing Natan, the man she loved. She was locked in a little cell with no light, little food, no clean clothes, no shower, no fresh air and a lot of stench before she was taken to a farm to live out the rest of her sentence. While she was at the farm she slowly opened up and little by little told her story, at first to her spiritual adviser, Toti, and then to Margaret. By the end of the book, I grew to love Agnes and her story moved me. I don't want to give away any of the ending but I will tell you that the end of this book was written so well, I don't think I'll ever forget it. Two days later after I've finished reading it and I still find myself thinking about it.

I did have a hard time with the names in this book; the names of the farms, the towns, the people. It's much easier for me to read about Austin, TX than it is about Hvammstangi, Iceland (which I don't believe was in the book but since I couldn't think of a single name I could spell haha, I googled).

This is a definite recommend.