The Good People

b>Shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize./b>b>Based on true events and set in a lost world bound by its own laws, The Good People is Hannah Kent's startling novel about absolute belief and devoted love. Terrifying, thrilling and moving in equal measure, this long-awaited follow-up to Burial Rites shows an author at the height of her powers./b>br>b>/b>br>County Kerry, Ireland, 1825. Nora, bereft after the sudden death of her beloved husband, finds herself alone and caring for her young grandson Micheal. Micheal cannot speak and cannot walk and Nora is desperate to know what is wrong with him. 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: the stories of unexplained misfortunes, of illnesses, and the rumours that Micheal is a changeling child who is bringing bad luck to the valley. Nance's knowledge keeps her apart. To the new priest, she is a threat, but to the valley people she is a wanderer, a healer. Nance 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.

Report

Exceptional . . . The Good People is an even better novel than Burial Rites - a starkly realised tale of love, grief and misconceived beliefs Sunday Times

Product details

• Authors: Hannah Kent, Kent Hannah
• Publisher: Picador Uk
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: from age 18
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 30.09.2017
• EAN: 9781447233367
• ISBN: 978-1-4472-3336-7
• No. of pages: 385
• Dimensions: 130 mm x 196 mm x 24 mm
• Series: 172 POCHE; 172 POCHE
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; FICTION / Family Life / General, FICTION / Literary, True stories, Kerry, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Folklore & Mythology, TRUE CRIME / Murder / General, FICTION / Thrillers / Historical, HISTORY / Europe / Ireland, FICTION / Small Town & Rural, HISTORY / Women, FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Abuse / Child Abuse, c 1800 to c 1900, Ireland, True stories: general, Narrative theme: Sense of place, Generational sagas, Celtic religion and mythology, Biographical fiction, c 1820 to c 1829