Devotion
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4.3 • 28 Ratings
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- $24.99
Publisher Description
WINNER FOR THE ABIA AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR 2022
Growing up in the village of Kay in Prussia, 1836, Hanne Nussbaum would rather run wild in the forest than
conform to the limitations of womanhood. Hanne is friendless and misunderstood ... until she meets Thea.
When Hanne and her family are forced to flee religious persecution, they board a crowded, disease-riddled ship
bound for the colony of South Australia. In the face of brutal hardship, the beauty of whale song enters Hanne's heart, along with the miracle of her love for Thea. Theirs is a bond that nothing can break.
The whale passed. The music faded.
WINNER FOR THE ABIA AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR 2022
SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS FICTION 2022
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ABIA LITERARY FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022
SHORTLISTED FOR THE PRIME MINISTER'S LITERARY AWARDS FICTION 2022
LONGLISTED FOR THE AUSTRALIAN BOOK DESIGN AWARDS 2022 BEST DESIGNED LITERARY FICTION COVER
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2022 VOSS LITERARY PRIZE
PRAISE FOR DEVOTION
'Devotion is utterly original. A glorious, heartbreaking love story of infinite beauty.' - Heather Rose
'Hannah Kent's latest novel is stunning - full of magic and adventure. I fell in love with language again reading it. So beautiful and so raw. Devotion is impossibly good.' - Evie Wyld
'Such a glorious love story. And the poetry of the landscape had, for me, a Whitmanesque sensibility. A mighty impassioned cry to love and the land.' - Sarah Winman
'Devotion is rare and exquisite, both beautiful and muscular in its portrayal of love found and denied. It's a story of love as a radical act, and a celebration of place and persistence. As we've come to expect from Kent, this is masterful storytelling with pull-no-punches stakes. It's taken root in my heart.' - Kiran Millwood Hargrave
'I absolutely love this book. Hannah Kent writes some of the most transcendently beautiful prose I've ever read.' - Magda Szubanski
'Devotion is a rich, often surprising novel, written with the sort of prosody poets like me are always seeking.' - The Conversation
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
As with her prior novels, Hannah Kent’s third book is set during the 1800s. But while Burial Rites and The Good People took place overseas, the primary action of Devotion is split between a Prussian village and Kent’s own home state of South Australia. At its centre is a love story between two women, Hanne and Thea, who are swept up in the religious persecution and other prejudices of their era. This powerful tale comes to life as an audiobook thanks to British-Australian actress Emily Wheaton, who narrates with a sureness that extends to the passages read in German. It’s no wonder that it won Audiobook of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards. And, as always, Kent puts in the historical research to create an immersive portal into a very specific—and often neglected—corner of the past.
