Shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize 2017
County Kerry, Ireland, 1825.
NĂłra, bereft after the sudden death of her beloved husband, finds herself alone and caring for her young grandson MicheĂĄl. MicheĂĄl cannot speak and cannot walk and NĂłra 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 NĂłra just as the whispers are spreading: the stories of unexplained misfortunes, of illnesses, and the rumours that MicheĂĄl 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 MicheĂĄl.
As these three women are drawn together in the hope of restoring MicheĂĄl, 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.
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.