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.

If I believed everything everyone had ever told me about my family I'd be a sight more miserable than I am now

A bubble of fear passes up my spine. It's the feeling of standing on ice and suddenly hearing it crack under your weight - both thrilling and terrifying together.

No doves come from ravens’ eggs

Cruel birds, ravens, but wise. And creatures should be loved for their wisdom if they cannot be loved for kindness.

The treachery of a friend is worse than that of a foe.

I have a deep and ongoing love of Iceland, particular the landscape, and when writing Burial Rites, I was constantly trying to see whether I could distill its extraordinary and ineffable qualities into a kind of poetry.