The Good People (ANZ)
The Good People (UK)
Three years after the publication of Burial Rites, I am very pleased to announce that my second novel, The Good People, will be published in Australia and New Zealand on 27 September 2016 (Picador), and in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland on 9 February 2017 (Picador). The Good People will also be released in the US in 2017, date forthcoming (Little, Brown).
Taking its inspiration from a true story, The Good People is set in County Kerry, Ireland, 1825.
NÓRA, bereft after the sudden death of her beloved husband, finds herself alone and caring for her young grandson Micheál. Micheál cannot speak and cannot walk and Nóra 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 Nóra just as the whispers are spreading: the stories of unexplained misfortunes, of illnesses, and the rumours that Micheál 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 Micheál.
As these three women are drawn together in the hope of restoring Micheál, 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.
The Good People can now be pre-ordered at all good bookshops.
To celebrate the launch of The Good People in Australia later this month, I will be participating in events and talks in bookstores and centres around the country, which are listed here on my events page. Please check in occasionally for new listings of festival appearances, talks and other events.
Looking forward to seeing many of you in October!