10 Quotes & Sayings By Hannah Kent

Hannah Kent is a novelist, short story writer and screenwriter from London. Her debut novel, "Burial Rites," was published to great acclaim in 2011. She was shortlisted for the Bailey’s Prize for Fiction in 2011 and the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2012. Her second novel, "The Good People," was published to great acclaim by Faber and Faber in February 2014 Read more

Since then she has written a number of screenplays including a fantasy family epic for BBC Four, The Long Song. She currently lives in London with her husband and daughter.

1
Some folks are forced to the edges by their difference. (...) But 'tis at the edges that they find their power. Hannah Kent
2
Poverty scrapes these homes down until they all look the same, and they all have in common the absence of things that ought to be there. I might as well have been at one place all my life. Hannah Kent
3
Believe me, Nóra. An old broom knows the dirty corners best Hannah Kent
4
Endless days of dark indoors and hateful glances are enough to set a rime on anyone’s bones. Hannah Kent
5
I prefer a story to a prayer. Hannah Kent
6
Sometimes, people never stood a chance in the beginning. Or they might have made a mistake. When people start saying things like she must be a bad mother because of that mistake." .... "It's not fair. People claim to know you through the things you've done and not by sitting down and listening to you speak for yourself. Hannah Kent
7
Agnes: "I have a question for you, speaking of truth. You say God speaks the truth." Tóti: "Yes." Agnes: "And God said: 'Thou shalt not kill.' Tóti: "Yes. Tóti said carefully." Agnes: "Then Blondal and the rest are going against God. They're hypocrites. They say they are carrying out God's law but they are only doing the will of men. Hannah Kent
8
Together they listed the people they had known who had died on the mountains. A bleak conversation to have, thought Margrét, but there was some comfort in talking about death aloud, as though in naming things, you could prevent them from happening. Hannah Kent
9
People speak of the fear of the blank canvas as though it is a temporary hesitation, a trembling moment of self-doubt. For me it was more like being abducted from my bed by a clown, thrust into a circus arena with a wicker chair, and told to tame a pissed-off lion in front of an expectant crowd. Hannah Kent