A review by lory_enterenchanted
Haven by Emma Donoghue

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

Reviews and more on my blog: Entering the Enchanted Castle

The varieties of religious experience and expression are explored in this tale of three 7th century monks looking for refuge from a sinful world on a tiny island off the coast of Ireland, Great Skellig (later known as Skellig Michael). The instigating monk, Artt, turns out to be a religious maniac, whose cruel and punitive behavior is hard to witness. Would it take a crazy person to come up with the idea of creating a religious community on a bare rock in the sea? Perhaps, and Donoghue has given an imaginative picture of how that might have played out. (It's not known exactly who established the first community on the island, but the evidence is that later inhabitants implemented more sensible and sustainable practices).

The other two monks, Trian and Corban, provide balance, as they experience God through nature, craftsmanship, and relationships, in a far more Christian way than the leader they defer to for far too long. We sympathize with them, both because they are more normal than Artt, but also because we learn more about their history and motivations. Artt remains more of a cipher in this respect, a monomaniacal character it is difficult to have any sympathy for at all, and  I find that a weakness. It would have been good to give some insight into what turned his brain, as we struggle these days with so many individuals who seem to share the same problem. But that is a riddle that is not easy to solve, and maybe Donoghue just had to leave it a mystery.

Her writing brings life on the island vividly before us, in what is also a survival tale that questions how people could have carved out a place so far from human civilization. Plants, animals, weather, as well as shelter, warmth, food gathering and cultivation, all the processes of life and growth are subjects both for practical observation and philosophical meditation. Even though the author never actually set foot on Skellig Michael, she makes us feel that we live through a season there, one I'll not soon forget. This is a book with little outward activity, but much to inwardly contemplate and ponder.