Written in an admirably plain and lucid style, Haven is slow but ultimately moving in its revelation of friendship and human decency.' - Sunday Times A vision…An island in the sea. I saw myself there. As if I were a bird or an angel, looking down on the three of us.’ A beautiful and timely novel about isolation, passion and the conflict between obedience and self-preservation. The island setting and the characters stayed with me long after I finished reading.’ - Sarah Moss Prior Artt has had a dream of an island in the southwest. He knows only that. And the vow of blind obedience will be at the core of it all. The gifts of fortitude and knowledge will suffer under the extremes of obedience. And the deemed weakest of the links may be the strongest. Revisits the past in an imaginative way ... a remarkably engrossing tale' - Scottish Mail on Sunday

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. A guest arrives at an Irish monastery. His name is Artt and he is known as a blessed man and scholar. While visiting, he has a dream that he leaves this place with two of the brothers, one young one old, and they row on the river out to the sea and on south until they find an island, the right island, to found their community. He is granted his wish to follow this dream, ask these two brothers to pledge obedience to him and receives needed supplies. Artt will be the Prior with Cormac and Trian as the brothers who pledge fealty. When you get to your holiday home it will be sealed – break the seal and you will find your keys inside.Three monks set off from a monastery in southwest Ireland in a small boat for a destination that God has yet to reveal. They navigate the River Shannon and emerge into the North Atlantic, where the currents and wind drive them south of the Iveragh Peninsula. A heavy fog lifts and before them the jagged blade of Skellig Michael juts from the sea, alive with thousands of birds, mosses, and one rowan tree, but nothing else. It is 600 AD. After their supplies run out, they use the birds and their eggs for food, then the oil and the bodies of the birds for fuel, and then are reduced to eating raw fish and seaweed. Cormac pleads to return to shore for supplies, but is told they will never leave, never return to the pollution of human society. God will provide, Artt tells them. 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.

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 Trian and Cormac begin their journey in awe of Artt, who has travelled far beyond Ireland to bear witness to God's dominion and Christ's sacrifice. Robust evidence of her vast imagination and continued efforts to explore human psychology in the strangest of circumstances.' - Reaction Donoghue's prose glimmers with images of the pristine natural world ... As always, Donoghue extracts realistic emotions from characters interacting within close quarters and delicately explores the demands of faith. ... All lovers of thought-provoking literary fiction will be looking for this quietly dramatic tale.' - Booklist The group of three becomes the first landing party on Skellig Michael off the coast of Southwest Ireland. Artt is much more concerned with setting up a chapel and copying scripture than he is with taking care of basic necessities, such as food, shelter, and fuel. He foolishly believes that God will provide everything. He also believes that future generations will forever bless the name of the mission's founder, holy Artt. Artt treats Trian and Cormac as his inferiors in all matters and punishes them if they question his authority. The two take their vow of obedience seriously, even when their survival is at risk.Wherever you live, PLEASE support your local indie bookstore by buying from them either directly or through an indie-friendly hub such as bookshop.org or hive.co.uk. Kim Honey, 'How a 21st-century Feminist Inhabits the Minds and Lives of Sixth-Century Monks in Haven,' https://www.everythingzoomer.com/zed-book-club/2022/09/28/how-a-21st-century-feminist-inhabits-the-minds-and-lives-of-sixth-century-monks-in-haven/

After 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.

Connect Everytime

How did it happen that they came to this place? Was there a different way the currents and breezes could have taken the boat that would have washed them up on another, gentler island, where spring and summer and autumn might have played out differently? Or have the three of them always carried this terrible tale inside themselves?