‘We shouldn’t take more than we need, though, surely Father?’… …the Prior tells Cormac to put the great auk on to roast…

That they survive at all is down to their exploitation of the local wildlife, which the Prior assures his companions is part of God’s plan:

Once this scenario is established, Haven can only be described as a survival story and a bit of a descent into madness as Trian and Cormac struggle to be true to their vows all the while understanding that their situation is becoming ever more precarious. While Trian and Cormac seek to make their new home habitable, Artt’s focus is purely on his monastery and the copying of religious texts and he constantly prioritises this mission over the group’s basic survival. The three end up on Skellig Michael, a rocky island off the coast of Ireland that has little soil or vegetation and little flat land but thousands of sea birds. The Abbott, happy to be rid of the more fundamentalist Artt, sends him off with Trian, a young monk sent the monastery as a teenager, and Cormac, a veteran who came to religion late in life. Haven opens at an Irish Monastery, ascetic monk Artt has had a vision that involves him taking an old and young monk and establishing a religious retreat on a remote island. In telling what is essential a survival story Donoghue digs into a range of themes including religion and the nature of belief, environmental protection, and power of the patriarchy.

Set in the 7 th Century, Haven explores some of the earliest religious settlements on Skellig Michael, a tiny, rocky outcrop off the coast of Ireland probably best known now as the home of Luke Skywalker in the latest Star Wars films. There are some thematic similarities with her new book Haven, although the subject matter could not be more different. Emma Donoghue is probably best known for her novel Room in which a woman and her child are kept captive.

Emma donoghue haven review