The Haven: Book 1

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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. A tremendously real imagining of the experiences of the first three people to land on Skellig Michael in about AD 600 ... if the setting is centuries ago, the themes feel ultra-modern. ... her skilled character creation adds vibrancy. Artt the zealot, Cormac the sage and young outsider Trian make for a winning trinity.' - Irish Times

The crisis comes when Trian’s secret is out, and Cormac must decide between obedience and his own moral conscious, deciding if he is Artt’s man, or Christ’s. Access to holiday home is subject to park opening times. Park cannot be used as a permanent residence. Haven Leisure Ltd (t/a Haven) is registered in England (No. 01968698) and is a FCA appointed representative of Bourne Leisure Limited. Bourne Leisure Ltd is registered in England (No. 04011660) and is authorised and regulated by the FCA (Financial Services Register No. 312847) as a credit broker and insurance distributor. Registered office: One Park Lane, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP2 4YL. I was with an old monk, and a young one….an instruction to withdraw from the world…with two companions, find this island, and found a monastic retreat.’ The Great Skellig falls away below the Plateau like green silk, and Artt’s suddenly filled with triumph. To think that he and his monks have travelled all this way, to the hidden haven saved for them since Creation. They’ve begun their work, and God looks on it and calls it good. Six years Trian has been there, living among the monks when he is called upon to ferry this man, Artt, he’d only met the day before. Artt with the ’bearing of a warrior king’ who carries himself as though he is in a constant state of pious appeal. A man who, as a child, sought out a life of divinity at the tender age of seven, and continued to reach for higher understanding until he had outgrown each of the holy men who had shared their wisdom, and traveled throughout Ireland sharing the Gospel on this ’pagan-gripped continent’converting several tribes along the way.

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Donoghue has designed her novel to be one of human observation. In the preparation itself, we notice how each monk insists on taking the bare minimum aboard the small boat. Vital items are cast aside as extravagance. And such sacrifice will jeopardize the advancement of this undertaking.

This book kept me up half the night - I was unable to put it down, and read it in one spellbound gulp. It is everything a novel should be: compassionate, unpredictable, and questioning. Haven is Donoghue at her strange, unsettling best.' - Maggie O'Farrell As a non-believer, I have always marveled at how some “holy” people twist the message of love into a message of disdain for the world and its many varied people they believe God created. To me, we create our personal heaven and hell and diminish ourselves by ignoring our true Garden of Eden – the earth we are fortunate enough to inhabit – through our willful destruction of the planet and its wildlife. Needless to say, this book resonated with me. Excerpt from the beginning of Haven: https://www.cbc.ca/books/emma-donoghue-s-historical-fiction-book-haven-imagines-ireland-around-the-year-600-read-an-excerpt-now-1.6517709 I recommend this book for those who want a “quieter” book that does deal in basics of human life: belonging, faith, society, brotherhood and what these can truly mean when three people are on their own, separated from the rest of society.

It could be that my tastes have changed since I last read Ms. Donoghue - some other reviewers have loved this book - or it could be that it's boring. From the Publisher: 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? I love a strong character-driven novel! As I followed Prior Artt and two fellow monks, old Cormac and young Trian on their quest to found a monastery on a remote island devoid of other people (but a whole lot of birds!), I could understand the monks' initial unquestioning obedience which eventually led to exasperation, anger, depression, fear, and finally, mutiny. Even Prior Artt's ultimate decisions, though frustrating, were believable to his character; I loved this variation on an immram, an Old Irish tale with a sea journey to the Otherworld, and a hero. A blend of Christianity with Irish mythology. A story of a man looked upon as a holy leader, a man who believes in his vision and insists on others following his way despite the destruction it will bring. A man who seeks to convince others that his is the true and only way, despite the peril to all involved. A parable that explores themes that seem all the more relevant to our times.

A personal note: This novel was inspired by a boat trip around the Skelligs in 2016. My plans to return and land on Skellig Michael in 2020 were derailed by what the monks would no doubt have taken in their stride as the latest pestilence to plague humankind, so I’ve never been there, except in spirit and imagination - the one form of travel that can’t be forbidden. 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/ I found the story pointless. There's a tiny twist at the end which I think the author could have revealed early on and used it to build tension (would the Prior find out?) throughout the novel, rather than just tossing it in at the end as an afterthought. 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.Written in an admirably plain and lucid style, Haven is slow but ultimately moving in its revelation of friendship and human decency.' - Sunday Times Brilliantly realized, utterly transporting ... Donoghue’s detailing of the island’s rugged geography and the methodical subsistence work of its dogged new stewards is masterful, almost hypnotic, but it’s the author’s quietly devastating depiction of the conflict between faith and survival, obedience and self-preservation, that powers this extraordinary novel.’ - lithub.com (starred review) And nestled in the countryside is a monastery filled with the young and old who have dedicated their lives to God and the salvation of the souls of others. The abbot will grant permission for three of these monks to travel to the unknown seeking a place of solace and of a restorative nature. The questions she poses are compelling: Does a didactic knowledge of the Bible and a vow of obedience and extreme sacrifice justify a holier-than-thou attitude? Is nature God’s holiest language and are its glorious beings, its birds and plants, our sisters and brothers? Or have we been truly awarded domination over all of it and if so, at what cost? Should monks be as humble as slaves, even when their own survival is severely threatened and every core of their being cries out against what is being demanded?