PAST TIMES

Hannah Kent is chasing time. It is a commodity that comes in short supply for all writers, but recently, motherhood has intensified the pursuit. “I have two small kids now,” the 36-year-old author says, on the phone from her home in Adelaide, ”and I am so tired.” In 2013, Kent rocketed to recognition when , her tale of the last woman in Iceland to be sentenced to death, became a global bestseller (Jennifer Lawrence is set to star in the film adaptation), which she followed up with in 2016. Kent’s books are frequently set in the past, where she is both adventurer and architect. Her latest novel, , tells the story of a 19th-century German settlement in South Australia, and a romance that blooms between two girls, Hanne and Thea. It’s a celebration of queer love that sees