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It is the bedrock of their world view, just as Skellig is the rock on which they try to scrape a living. Donoghue does such a good job of showing how Christian thought utterly saturates the thinking of these men, without either mocking or admiring it. The inner life of each is barely touched on, but beautifully shown and until the very end, I had no idea what the conclusion would be. The dynamic between the three men is lightly but convincingly sketched. The drama comes from the tension in their triangular relationship, and the structure of their monastic life. Obviously, there is almost nothing there: that's the point of them seeking it out, as a place of retreat and worship. Emma Donoghue places three deeply Christian (fictional) men on an inhospitable (real) island, around the year 600 CE. What a feat, to make the story of three men on a rock so utterly engaging and compelling that I couldn't bear to stop listening.

Best audiobook ever, for this listener anyway