I did find the concept intriguing, though at times the descriptions of the daily routines became a bit monotonous. The revelation of Trian’s secret seemed unnecessary and did not add to the story for me. The author’s notes about the actual islands was fascinating— I did not realize these sites existed!

I was eager to get my hands on Emma Donoghue's new book, since I greatly enjoyed "The Wonder." As the description notes, "Haven" is quite different from her previous work. It features a tiny cast of characters (three to be exact) in a fully remote setting: the island of Skella Michael off the coast of Ireland. In the year 600, a devout and respected priest choses two monks to start a monastery. They set out to sea and proceed to make the island their home while braving the elements and scarcity of the land. It would take quite a bit of creativity to transform this somewhat beige plot into a compelling novel, and Donoghue didn't hit the notes for me. I found myself bored and zoning out, chapter after chapter describing attempts to find food and build a boat. The "reveal" at the end was underwhelming, and didn't manage to save the book for me. I'm not entire sure who this book is intended for, but it's not me. In spite of it all, I did enjoy the author's note about the history of the island and its historical and religious significance.

In an author’s note at the end of Haven, author Emma Donoghue describes a jagged island off the southwest coast of Ireland — known as “Skellig Michael” since the early Eleventh Century, but likely first inhabited by monks around the year 600 — and it’s in this time and place that she has chosen to set her story of a “living saint” and the two monastic brothers whom he enlists to found a new order at the uninhabited edge of the world. Donoghue is a master of historical fiction and she perfectly captures this time of stink and strain and superstition. She is also a writer who has lately taken to criticising the historical wrongdoings of the Catholic Church in her novels — which is a totally fair perspective for her to write from, but with a tale that focuses on a character who embodies the worst of the Church’s hubris, hypocrisy and misogyny, there weren’t a lot of surprises in this narrative; as pride goeth before a fall, so too does the reader anticipate a final reckoning. Certainly not a waste of time — Donoghue’s scenes and sentences are as engaging as ever — but this didn’t add up to anything special to this reader.