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Always Home, Always Homesick
- Author
- Hannah Kent
- Narrator
- Hannah Kent
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Publish Date
- 6 November 2025
- Run Time
- 8 hours 27 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
This audiobook is read by the author, Hannah Kent.
'Immediate, intimate and never less than captivating' - Guardian
From the bestselling author of Burial Rites comes an inspirational 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, with images of Iceland's towering glaciers and windswept tundras in her dreams, Hannah began to write.
Now, as a mother and a wife, she looks back to that extraordinary year in Iceland.
Praise for Burial Rites:
‘Outstanding’ – Madeline Miller
‘Gripping, intriguing and unique’ – Kate Mosse
‘One of the best Scandinavian crime novels I’ve read’ – Independent
‘Remarkable’ – The Sunday Times
‘A must-read’ – Grazia
Critics Review
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[A] gripping memoir . . . lyrically written . . . riveting
The Sunday Times
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Iceland feels personified in this memoir . . . immediate, intimate and never less than captivating . . . [a] behind-the-scenes view of the artist at work. . . . an absorbing memoir that will appeal to existing readers of Kent’s work, and will undoubtedly see new ones seek out her earlier writing in all its mystery and glory
Guardian Australia
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A lovely memoir about the curious path she took to becoming a writer . . . [a] tender account of how Iceland captivated her and forged her literary career
The Booklist
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This memoir of Kent’s visit to Iceland as a teen details the source of her connection and her relationship with a country that now fetes her . . . Basking in the Northern Lights, she wonders if she can fit light on to paper
SA Weekend
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Kent has drawn on her talent for lyrical language and a box full of diaries, notebooks and correspondence to create evocative descriptions of Iceland. She immerses readers in the culture
Saturday Age
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[Hannah Kent] still hears from Icelanders who share stories they think might inspire her . . . which makes [her] wonder: what would have happened if she'd been sent on exchange somewhere else?
The Big Issue
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[Always Home, Always Homesick] is at least as lovely as Burial Rites, and maybe more gorgeous still, for it features Kent not as she is now - wife, mother, celebrated writer - but as a shy schoolgirl who wanted nothing so much as to know the world, and maybe one day write about it
The Weekend Australian
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Details
- Author
- Hannah Kent
- Narrator
- Hannah Kent
- Duration
- 8 hours 27 minutes
- Release Date
- 6 November 2025
- ISBN
- 9781035066339
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Genre
- Memoirs, Autobiography: writers, Travel writing
Synopsis
This audiobook is read by the author, Hannah Kent.'Immediate, intimate and never less than captivating' - Guardian From the bestselling author of Burial Rites comes an inspirational 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, with images of Iceland's towering glaciers and windswept tundras in her dreams, Hannah began to write.Now, as a mother and a wife, she looks back to that extraordinary year in Iceland.Praise for Burial Rites:‘Outstanding’ – Madeline Miller‘Gripping, intriguing and unique’ – Kate Mosse‘One of the best Scandinavian crime novels I’ve read’ – Independent‘Remarkable’ – The Sunday Times‘A must-read’ – Grazia
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