The Good People

Hannah Kent

From Shelf: This is based on a true story...

From Hannah Kent, the bestselling author of Burial Rites, comes The Good People, set in nineteenth-century Ireland and based on newspaper reports and a court case from the time.

'Exquisite' - Daily MailShortlisted for the Walter Scott PrizeBased on true events, The Good People is Hannah Kent's engrossing novel about superstition and devoted love.Ireland, 1825. Nora, bereft after the sudden death of her husband, finds herself alone and caring for her young grandson Micheal, who cannot speak or walk. What happened to the healthy, happy grandson she met when her daughter was still alive?Mary arrives in the valley to help Nora just as the whispers are spreading: stories of unexplained misfortunes, of illnesses, and rumours that Micheal is a changeling child who is bringing bad luck to the valley.Nance has lived in the valley all of her life. She is a healer who knows how to use the plants and berries of the woodland; she understands the magic in the old ways. And she might be able to help Micheal . . .As these three women are drawn together in the hope of restoring Micheal, their world of folklore and belief, of ritual and stories, tightens around them. It will lead them down a dangerous path, and force them to question everything they have ever known.'An even better novel than Burial Rites - a starkly realised tale of love, grief and misconceived beliefs - Sunday Times'An imaginative tour de force . . . exquisite' - Daily Mail

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