Hannah — Chapter 3

On the evening before the wedding, Hannah and her husband, Charlie, take a small boat across increasingly rough water to the island where “special guests” will stay. Hannah fights severe motion sickness while Charlie reads sparse guidebook entries about the place. Captain Mattie, overhearing, claims deeper knowledge and begins to tell them the island’s true history.

Mattie describes how archaeologists found the preserved bodies of a persecuted religious sect in the peat bog, all massacred and buried together. His story unsettles Hannah, who tries to steady herself by focusing on the island’s looming silhouette. Attempts to change the subject reveal that the island was only recently abandoned; Mattie hints at other reasons than convenience, adding to the ominous mood.

As the boat pitches, Hannah and Charlie discuss Jules’s taste, wealth, and possible motives for choosing the location—perhaps her Irish father, or Will’s adventurous image. Charlie voices distrust of Will and suggests he is hiding something, a feeling sharpened by Charlie’s uneasy return from Will’s stag in Sweden, which he refuses to discuss.

Near land, they spot a cormorant, and Charlie cites folklore linking the bird to bad luck and greed. The worsening motion overwhelms Hannah; she vomits as they continue toward the island, carrying new apprehensions about the wedding and its hosts.