Name: Haven
Rating: 3.333333333333333 (6 reviews)
ISBN: 9780316414036

Emma Donoghue

Three men vow to leave the world behind them. They set out in a small boat for an island their leader has seen in a dream, with only faith to guide them. What they find is the extraordinary island now known as Skellig Michael. Haven, Emma Donoghue’s deeply researched new novel, has her trademark psychological intensity—but this story is like nothing she has ever written before. In seventh-century Ireland, a scholar and priest called Artt has a dream telling him to leave the sinful world behind. Taking two monks—young Trian and old Cormac—he rows down the river Shannon in search of an isolated spot on which to found a monastery. 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. In such a place, what will survival mean?

Haven

Lindsay

What, then, consoles us in this human society full of calamities, but the unfeigned faith and mutual love of true and good friends?

To travel is to turn the pages of the great book of life.

Francine Corry

I've enjoyed reading Emma Donoghue and how she approaches subjects of isolation and spirituality, so I was excited to see she had a recently published book about Irish Monks of the 7th century. I love this setting as I was a fan of the Sister Fidelma series set in 7th century Ireland with Absolution by Murder as the first. I of course expected Donoghue to take a different tack.

Artt is a reputed scholar and priest who has a vision of setting up an isolated monastery on an uninhabited island. He handpicks to monks to accompany him an old but accomplished monk, Cormac and a young energetic monk, Trian, both of whom have necessary skills for survival.

Donoghue tells the tale slowly and quietly, with particular attention focused on the envioronment of the Skellig or island.

"Puffins poke gaudy beaks out of burrows. One launches itself into the air in front of Trian, then returns to the hillside with a crash of feathers. The squeaks and screeches of kittiwakes rise above the other cries; in their grass nests mudded to inaccessible perches, they face inwards and display their forked tails like knives. High ledges bristle with guillemots—duck-sized and upright in their black and white plumage. Some massive birds of a similar kind, too, that Trian’s never seen before, bigger than geese." 

She builds the character of the men slowly and deliberately as well.

"DAY OF SUNSHINE and shadow, alternating as the clouds scud overhead. Cormac’s gathering stones for the altar. It’s to be a plain drystone square, knee-high. He’s made walls before; a flattened cube can’t be any harder, surely? He collects mostly sandstones and slates, gritty to the touch. Sandstone is good stuff for building—soft enough to work, but stands up bravely to weathering. When Cormac peers at the shimmering greys, he finds hints of tan, yellow, green, brown, even red and purple. Many of these boulders have wavy layers, as if they were liquid before they hardened to stone."

The building of the plot is slow and deliberate and I dare say it will be too slow for some. But I was impressed by this book and found so much food for thought which are recurrent themes in today's world.

Three men vow to leave the world behind them. They set out in a small boat for an island their leader has seen in a dream, with only faith to guide them. What they find is the extraordinary island now known as Skellig Michael. Haven has Emma Donoghue's trademark world-building and psychological intensity--but this story is like nothing she has ever written before. In seventh-century Ireland, a scholar and priest called Artt has a dream telling him to leave the sinful world behind. Taking two monks--young Trian and old Cormac--he rows down the river Shannon in search of an isolated spot on which to found a monastery. 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. In such a place, what will survival mean?

This book was a gift from my wife. It's not one I would have picked up myself and, a few pages in, I was fearing the worst. However, when the monks set sail things improve greatly. 

It's a good story, although I think it could be told better by a more skilful writer. The ending in particular is a bit 'meh'. Perhaps it would work better a film (the author's previous novel was adapted).

Doug Belshaw

This book was a gift from my wife. It's not one I would have picked up myself and, a few pages in, I was fearing the worst. However, when the monks set sail things improve greatly. 

It's a good story, although I think it could be told better by a more skilful writer. The ending in particular is a bit 'meh'. Perhaps it would work better a film (the author's previous novel was adapted).

Fran Lewis

This is the third book I have read by this author. And it did not stand up to the other two at all. 

I felt it dragged in parts and seemed very repetitive. I liked the premise of the book but felt it missed the mark. 

I am still a fan of her work and will read more from this author.

Celeste Richardson

I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher, Little Brown and Company, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I can’t say that I remember ever having read a book set in the 600s, especially about monks. So I was intrigued when I read the synopsis for Haven. Having only read one other book by Donoghue, The Wonder, I wasn’t exactly sure what I would be getting, but I’ve heard excellent things about other novels of hers and decided to risk it, especially since Haven was under 300 pages. I can’t say I regret reading it, but I’m incredibly relieved that it’s over. If the hallmark of a good book is its ability to make you feel, then Haven was excellent. Because I was a simmering stew of rage for the majority of my time with this book.

Our story begins with Trian, a very young monk, and Cormac, a far older monk, are recruited by Artt, a noted priest and scholar, to abandon civilization and fulfill Artt’s heavenly vision of founding a monastery on an island untouched by man off the coast of Ireland. I thought this premise sounded fascinating, and I went in expecting some survival and spiritual themes. What I did not expect was my immediate hatred of Artt, or the Prior as the other two monks called him. He was the most impractical, oblivious, self-righteous, irksome “leader” I can imagine in that position. Trian and Cormac were both very sympathetic, which made their suffering at the inept and ambivalent Artt even more infuriating. I didn’t actually check, but I’m pretty sure this book made my blood pressure skyrocket.

While I was in a constant state of aggravation, I did come to truly care for Trian and Cormac. Donoghue did a brilliant job crafting these two wildly different characters, and making each uniquely equipped for such a harsh landscape. Trian’s affinity for the water and Cormac’s ingenuity were the only things that kept the three alive, as Artt was completely useless outside of spiritual matters. These two characters were so multifaceted, and both had a convincing depth to them that I really respected. 

There was a lot of lovely symbolism here, especially in terms of the island’s lone rowan tree and the gross abundance of birds. Despite the material, it wasn’t a boring story. But it was a difficult one, and not just in terms of content. It felt as though there was no real payoff. And, in spite of the fact that the novel was based on and inspired by true events, I never understood the purpose of the book. Whatever Donoghue was trying to communicate here was lost, or overshadowed by my dislike of Artt. 

I don’t regret having read Haven. But I can’t say that I enjoyed anything about it. I’m mostly just thankful that it’s over. This wasn’t a bad book, but it was a hard one, and I’m not sure it’s going to have a huge indented audience. Hopefully I’m wrong. And hopefully those who do embark on this journey with Artt and Trian and Cormac find it more rewarding than I did.

Christina Pappas

I wanted to read this solely because of the author (and the mysterious, vaguely sinister cover art!). I've really enjoyed Emma Donoghue's books, especially The Pull of the Stars and Frog Music. Had Haven been written by almost anyone else, I probably wouldn't have considered it - a tale of three monks living in the early middle ages is far from my typical choice. That said, I'm very glad I did. I didn't necessarily love this book, but I found myself completely absorbed in it - I HAD to talk about it as I was reading it (to the point that my husband, not a huge reader, is eager to read it when it's available). 

It's very much about religion, but it's also about the struggle to reconcile what you feel in your deepest self to be true about the world with what your 'superior' is insisting is incontrovertible fact. While I couldn't relate directly to many of the things depicted in the book - from the devoutly religious, like vowing chastity, poverty, humility, and (most important to the plot) obedience, to the day-to-day of the monks' isolated existence, like writing on calfskin vellum and trying to carve out a garden from unforgiving rock - it reminded me in some strange but strong ways of Silicon Valley in the 21st century and the cult of tech leadership we buy into out of some combination of hope and willful delusion (e.g., Theranos). The power dynamics were easily the most fascinating part of the story for me. I also find myself coming back to the haunting implications - even back in the 600s, and exponentially so today - of the belief that everything on earth was put there by God for humans to use. 

Overall, a really unusual and well-written meditation on what it means to be a 'leader' and how to do right in the world. Recommend! 

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Haven

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