AustLit

'Hannah Kent has an affinity for grimmer climates than that of her native Adelaide. Her 2013 bestselling debut Burial Rites was set in a remote community in blizzard-hit Iceland. For her second novel she moves closer to home, but only slightly. The Good People is set in a perpetually soggy valley in 1820s County Kerry. Like Burial Rites it takes its inspiration from a real-life case in which a female protagonist is brought into conflict with the powers that be. But while folkloric beliefs and superstitions were a background presence in Kent’s debut, here they take centre stage. The Good People is pervaded with dark talk of curses and changelings, herbal remedies and rituals designed to ward off the mischief of the “Good People” (or fairies) of the title.' (Introduction)