Hannah Kent
Hannah Kent is a gifted writer. She has an uncanny ability to immerse the reader in the climate, culture, landscape, dialogue, atmosphere, and fabric of life in the setting of her novels. She did it in Burial Rites by transporting her reader to early nineteenth-century Iceland. And she has done it again in The Good People.
This time the setting is in Ireland’s Fesk valley during the mid-1820s. The novel is loosely based on a true story of Ann/Nance Roche who was acquitted of murdering an infant supposedly possessed by fairy (“the Good People”).
The novel opens with the death of Nora Leahy’s husband, Martin. Her daughter died earlier in the year, so Nora is left as the sole caretaker of her grandson. Although he started life as a normal baby, Micheál has regressed since the death of his mother. And at four-years-old, he is neither able to speak nor move. His limbs flail, his stare is vacant, and he reeks of urine and vomit. He is totally reliant on others to take care of him and spends most of his waking hours screeching. Realizing she can’t cope without help, Nora hires fourteen-year-old Mary Clifford as her maid.
The situation in the surrounding countryside becomes increasingly bleak. A healthy man inexplicably drops dead; cows aren’t producing milk; crops aren’t surviving; food is running scarce; a baby is stillborn; a woman catches fire. The villagers look for someone to blame. They focus on Micheál, convinced he is a changeling possessed by fairy. They also turn their suspicion on Nance Roche, an elderly woman who uses traditional methods for healing. They are encouraged to do so by the priest who argues superstitions, natural healing methods, herbal medicines, and midwifery are the work of the devil. He targets Nance Roche as the source of evil and misfortune.
Increasingly frustrated with Micheál’s situation and convinced he is a changeling, Nora seeks help from the priest. When none is forthcoming, she asks Nance to heal her grandson by using traditional means to rid him of fairy. With Mary Clifford as an unwilling accomplice, the three resort to increasingly drastic measures to “cure” Micheál. The consequences are tragic.
Hannah Kent skillfully evokes the atmosphere of rural life in early nineteenth-century Ireland. The rural poor live in cramped dwellings, frequently sharing them with goats and chickens. They breathe the pungent smells emanating from the animals and their droppings. What diet there is consists mostly of potatoes. Irish fairy lore, superstition, folk beliefs, and rituals are woven into the fabric of their everyday lives. The belief in their efficacy to ward off evil spirits is deep-seated but conflicted due to the influence of Catholicism.
Kent’s prose vividly evokes the setting and its inhabitants. The rural landscape and harsh climate are ever-present and described in sensuous detail. The dialogue is richly textured with Irish diction and idioms. The characters are drawn with compassion and authenticity as they struggle with poverty, fear of the unknown, grief, hunger, superstition, scapegoating, and the erosion of traditional beliefs. The prose is lyrical; the quality of research is impressive. A tragic and haunting tale, beautifully written. Hannah Kent is a truly gifted storyteller.
Highly recommended.