July 24, 2017
Faith, folk-knowledge, and fear coalesce in remote 19th-century Ireland in this second novel from Kent (Burial Rites). When her daughter and husband die amid what the community considers dark omens—unmoving birds, mysterious lights, a raging storm—Nóra Leahy dreads a future of backbreaking work in order to pay her rent and care for her four-year-old grandson Micheál. Once hale and healthy, the boy was delivered to Nóra’s doorstep after the sudden death of his mother mute, unable to walk, and starving. Bitter gossip at the well and by the hearth questions how Nóra’s luck soured so quickly, why the valley cows’ milk is drying up, and why none of the townspeople ever see the ailing boy. Rumors and dark signs weigh on Nóra until she seeks help outside of her comfort zone: old Nance Roche’s knowledge of the Good People—the fairies. But the old hermit’s cures of nettle, nightshade, and foxglove bring nearly as much risk as reward. Defying the valley’s newly appointed priest, Nance, Nóra, and her young housemaid, Mary Clifford, set out to determine whether Micheál is a boy or the fairy changeling the valley fears him to be. Though rife with description, backstory, and a surfeit of gossip, the book’s pervasive sense of foreboding and clear narrative arcs keep the tale immersive. Kent leads the reader on a rocky, disquieting journey to the misty crossroads of Irish folk beliefs past and future.
July 15, 2017
A battle between belief systems in rural 19th-century Ireland forms the backdrop for Kent's (Burial Rites, 2013) unblinking examination of the corrosive costs of poverty and ignorance.Nora Leahy becomes the object of gossip and speculation in the rural Irish valley she inhabits after the 1825 death of her laborer husband, Martin. Nora's desperate attempts to hide from her neighbors the existence of the severely disabled grandson who came into her care after the death of his own mother--Nora's beloved daughter, Johanna--soon come undone, and Micheal's presence in the valley becomes the focal point of the malignant attentions of her fellow valley-dwellers, who are seeking an answer and anodyne for a reversal in fortunes that has beset the area. Long-standing belief in the destructive powers of "the Good People," fairylike creatures whose motives and methods are the subject of endless speculation in Nora's agrarian community, leads to hostility against Micheal, who is suspected of being a "changeling," substituted by the Good People in place of Nora's actual grandson. Nora's frantic efforts to recover the happy boy she comes to believe was spirited away by the Good People--who seem also to have visited new plagues and poverty on the valley--are aided by Nance, a grizzled, mysterious woman reputed to know the ways of the frequently malevolent beings, and Mary, a softhearted young household maid. A nerve-wracking series of efforts to banish the creature thought to be masquerading as Micheal illuminates the clash between traditional values and ways of life clung to in the valley and newly emerging beliefs in science--and perhaps a different brand of superstition--encouraged by clergy, the more educated, and residents of a nearby city that seems worlds away. Kent's well-researched tale is inspired by newspaper reports of an actual attempt in 19th-century Ireland to banish a changeling. Peppered with Gaelic words and phrases and frequent references to bygone beliefs and practices, this brutal telling of a brutal story invites discussion and revulsion. If Stevie Wonder is correct, when you believe in things you don't understand, then you suffer. Kent's novel validates his indictment of superstition.
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August 1, 2017
Kent (Burial Rites, 2014) brings her talent for writing dark and atmospheric historical fiction to this tale set in rural Ireland in 1825. After the deaths of her daughter and husband, in quick succession, Nora Leahy must care for her strangely disabled four-year-old grandson, whom she keeps hidden, alone. At two, Micheal could speak and walk, but now he does neither, and the town begins to whisper about how he's a changeling, taken by fairies and bringing bad luck to the community. Overwhelmed, Nora hires young Mary to ease her burden and soon enlists the help of the equally derided and revered local handywoman, Nance Roche. She knows cures and can speak to the Good People, as fairies are respectfully known, to hopefully restore Nora's grandson. Kent's immersive setting, benefiting from impressive historical research and the use of Gaelic vocabulary, features both a dramatically alive natural world and a believably fearsome supernatural one. Inspired by true events and exploring those places where reason, religion, and superstition cross paths, this will please lovers of haunting literary fiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)
April 15, 2017
Having caught our attention with the multi-short-listed Burial Rites, Kent here travels to 19th-century Ireland, where the widowed Nora frets over grandson Micheal, a once happy child unable to walk or talk after the deaths of his mother and grandfather. Now he's considered a changeling, blamed for the run of bad luck in their valley. With a 100,000-copy first printing.
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2017
Set in an Irish village in the 1820s, Kent's harrowing second novel (after Burial Rites) immerses readers in a time and place where folk superstitions mingle with daily life. Though nominally Catholic, the village residents blame fairies, or "the Good People," when any misfortune strikes, be it a stillborn child or poor milk production. After Nora Leahy's husband dies unexpectedly, she is left alone to care for her severely disabled grandson, Micheal. Nora comes to believe that Micheal is a changeling, and with the help of her maid Mary and the local folk healer Nance Roche, imposes a series of increasingly cruel "cures" on Micheal. Kent skillfully depicts a world where anything outside the norm falls under suspicion, particularly women who are not under the protection of a man. To varying degrees, the three central women of the book represent this victimization, which helps bring sympathy to them, despite their terrible actions. VERDICT The lack of understanding of disability leads Micheal to be dehumanized, even by his own grandmother, and his treatment is painful to read. Nevertheless, this work is a worthy contribution to literary collections, particularly those at the intersection of feminism, religion, and folklore. [See Prepub Alert, 3/27/17.]--Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
August 25, 2016
Nóra Leahy has suffered great misfortune. It is 1825 in the far west of Ireland, and her beloved husband has just died, most ominously, at a crossroads, only a few months after their daughter’s death. Nóra is left to care for her grandson, Micheál, but the thriving toddler she last saw is now a four-year-old who has lost the use of his legs, cannot speak and is given to uncontrollable screaming. She engages a young girl, Mary, to help, but as Micheál’s problems continue, she turns to local handy woman Nance for advice, for she is convinced that he is not her grandson, but a changeling—a fairy left in place of the boy. As winter closes in on the community, misfortunes multiply, and the villagers, encouraged by their new priest, start to grow suspicious of Nance and her old ways. And when none of Nance’s remedies drive the fairy out, she must resort to more powerful, more dangerous cures. Hannah Kent’s much-anticipated second novel is a thoroughly atmospheric and involving read with beautifully turned descriptions that show off Kent’s craft, although the difficulty of rendering the Irish cadence without resorting to cliché is sometimes evident in the dialogue. Where it most satisfies is in the depiction of grief and faith, at a time when being a good Christian did not preclude a deep belief in older ways of seeing the world. Readers eager to see how Kent has followed up her bestselling debut Burial Rites should not find themselves disappointed.
Lindy Jones is a senior buyer and bookseller at Abbey’s Bookshop in Sydney