For this he recruits two monks: Cormac, an elderly but competent builder and gardener who bears the scars of war and of the plague that took his family, and Trian, a spindly youth with a complementary talent for hunting and scavenging.įlattered by Artt’s invitation, they need no convincing. Artt has received orders from God - in that most reliable of forms, the dream - to establish a monastery in Ireland’s western sea. The year is 600, so Christianity is, relatively speaking, still fresh out of the oven.

The novel’s trio of characters are essentially living en plein air and yet they’re undoubtedly confined: by the fact that they’re on an island, by the latter’s scant resources, by the religion to which they have devoted their lives and by the zealotry of their leader, Artt, a.k.a. Her latest, “Haven,” doesn’t involve rooms or wards. (“Confinement” is also, of course, an outmoded term for childbirth.) Her bestselling novel “Room” is the most obvious example, but her last book, “The Pull of the Stars,” did something similar in the confines, if you will, of an Irish maternity ward at the time of the Spanish flu. Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown and Company for the advanced copy.Emma Donoghue has a thing for confinement. This novel is both sophisticated yet accessible and rich enough to serve as a class novel study and/or a mentor text. Students could learn more about: Elements of allegory, characterization, beautiful detail, and a variety of themes (blind faith, disillusionment, adversity, resiliency, conformity, guilt, environmentalism, just to name a few). Haven would make for a compelling novel study. (I especially love Cormac, I want to know more about his life before his holy vows). Each of the three main characters are incredibly intriguing however, Donoghue only gives us glimmers of their backstories making Haven a fascinating read.

Instead, it serves as more of a character study. But what I found particularly interesting is the inner conflict each man experiences with a crisis of faith towards God and humanity. On top of fighting the elements, tension also arises between the men. Using Skellig Michael as the setting for most of the story, Donoghue weaves a tale filled with external and internal conflict.

Each monk possess skills that will be important for the successful manifestation of Artt’s dream. Artt recruits old Cormac and young Train to come with him. A dream of an island far off the coast of Ireland where he and two other men will build a monastery.

Haven review emma donoghue