Her Kind

The gripping story of Ireland’s first witch hunt

1324, Kilkennie

A woman seeks refuge for herself and her daughter in the household of a childhood friend.

The friend, Alice Kytler, gives her former companion a new name, Petronelle, a job as a servant, and warns her to never reveal their old connection.

As the city's moneylender and the country's wealthiest woman Alice is feted but also envied, especially by Kilkennie's bishop, Richard Ledrede. Determined that no one, least of all a woman, will defy the church's power he turns the people against Alice and her household.

While the tumult rages outside Petronelle tries to understand what her mistress has had to do to become so rich and powerful. On making a devastating discovery, she decides to flee with her daughter, freeing them both from their troubled past and the terrifying present.

But in trying to escape Kilkennie Petronelle, confronts forces greater than she could ever have imagined and finds herself fighting for more than her freedom ...

Inspired by a true story, Her Kind is a tense, moving and atmospheric reimagining of the events leading up to the Kilkenny Witch Trial of 1324.

Shines a light on women who have been silenced. This tightly paced novel confirms Boyce as an important voice in Irish literature

Louise O'Neill

About Niamh Boyce

Niamh Boyce was named Newcomer of the Year at the 2013 Irish Book Awards for The Herbalist, her first novel ('The most entertaining yet substantial historical novel since Joseph O'Connor's Star of the Sea' Irish Times) which was also a Number One bestseller. She won the 2012 Hennesssy XO New Irish Writer Of The Year Award and Emerging Poetry Award for her poem 'Kitty'. Her short fiction has been widely published in anthologies. Her Kind is her second novel.
Details
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • ISBN: 9781844884346
  • Length: 320 pages
  • Price: £4.99
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