Her Kind

Her Kind

The gripping story of Ireland’s first witch hunt

Summary

'Gripping ... a story of loss, ambition, misogyny, family love and what it means to belong ... evocative and atmospheric' Irish Times


1324, Kilkennie: A time of suspicion and conspiracy. A place where zealous men rage against each other - and even more against uppity women

A woman finds refuge with 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 hide their old connection.

But in aligning herself with a powerful woman, Petronelle and her child are in more danger than they ever faced in the savage countryside ...

Tense, moving and atmospheric Her Kind is vivid reimagining of the events leading to the Kilkenny Witch Trial.

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'Masterful ... Boyce delicately unfolds this atmospheric, magical thriller with pace and juice, while also making sure that the sentiments (vilification of women, policing of female biology) echo through time' Sunday Independent

'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

'Sings of these modern times' RTÉ Guide

'Pulls us into a world both seductively alien, yet uneasily, all-too-humanly, familiar' Mia Gallagher

'The plot is pacey and menacing, and the writing is clear, sharp and studded with glistening phrases ... a wonderful shout through time' Nuala O'Connor

'Beautifully absorbing ... highly recommended' Hot Press

'Moving and atmospheric' Irish Country Magazine

'Enthralling' Irish Examiner

'Niamh Boyce has taken a bleak and dismal period and sent a bolt of beautiful and revealing light into the darkness' John MacKenna

Reviews

  • 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 the author

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.
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