Always Home, Always Homesick : A Love Letter to Iceland

From the bestselling author of Burial Rites comes an exquisite memoir about her travels in Iceland, an extraordinary country that has forged a nation of storytellers.

When she was seventeen years old, Hannah Kent travelled to Iceland from Australia. She’d never seen snow before, didn’t speak a word of Icelandic. All she knew was that she wanted to have an experience – to soak up something of the world.

Soon she found herself isolated in a remote part of Iceland in a dark winter. It was a gruelling experience, but she quickly fell in love with the country: with its brutally beautiful landscapes and with its people. On returning home, Hannah had found a story, and so she began to write.

After leaving Iceland, Hannah wrote Burial Rites , a novel that became a phenomenon, that made her an honorary Icelander and which contributed to global fascination with Iceland. Now, as a mother and a wife, she looks back to that extraordinary year in Iceland.

Author: Hannah Kent

Memoirs

Published on 6 Nov 2025 by Pan Macmillan.