In 2003, at the age of 17, Kent jumped at the chance to travel to Iceland as part of a Rotary exchange program when the he opportunity presented itself, interested in the fact that the Scandinavian countries had never seen snow as a child (a considerably mundane experience that many Australians miss). Even if she didn't know it yet, this trip would inspire her first novel, written for the first time as part of a doctorate; and began his later career as an acclaimed Australian author. Kent made his first trip to Iceland after deciding to take a year off after finishing high school, trading a scorching Australian summer for the harsh Icelandic winter and 24-hour darkness. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Talk about a change of scenery – no wonder his travels were of such importance! Kent immediately fell in love with the foreign landscape, going so far as to describe its hold on her as "a homecoming" and believing in her spiritual connection to the nation's environment (explaining the overarching theme of connection with the landscape and the environment). correlation between setting and emotion present in the novel). Yet despite her instant love for the country, Kent struggled during her first months away, housed in a close-knit fishing community with an older couple who left her mostly alone. Additionally, Kent was shy and unable to speak the language, feeling very conspicuous as she was gawked at by curious locals. This experience of alienation, not at all helped by the breathtaking but unfamiliar landscape and climate, left Kent homesick and socially isolated. It was during these private months in Iceland that Kent first heard Agnes' story - and it had an irrevocably profound impact. Returning from Reykjavik, the nation's capital, with his host family, Kent "spent most of the trip in the car, gaping out the window at the astonishing Icelandic landscape of fjords, vast pastoral valleys and mountains with dark sides - all of which were completely unknown to Iceland. me… falling into a sort of reverie facing the imposing beauty of the place. As they passed through a certain valley, his foster parents explained to him that they were passing the site of the last execution in Iceland and Kent, naturally curious, only learned from them that a woman named Agnes had been beheaded in the 19th century for the murder of two men. . Kent immediately wanted to know what kind of woman Agnes had been: how had she met such a painful end in the middle of these hills? In an intensely reflective state of mind at the time, Kent compared herself to Agnes and felt "an immediate fascination and kinship" with her – not because their situations are comparable per se, but rather as a woman socially excluded. Kent talks about the moment; “There was something about the idea of ​​this woman living in a small, isolated but very visible community that resonated with my own intense feelings at the time… Not that we can compare our situations, I know! One is a lonely exchange student and the other is a woman on death row... but there was something there, a personal connection, that made me want to know more about her story. Fortunately, Kent eventually moved to another, more welcoming host family with four young children. By boarding a place that "felt a little more like her life in Australia", she was finally able to learn the language and begin to integrate, beginning to feel at home in the.