The Good People by Hannah Kent

Final Rating: 4/5

An emotional realistic tale that is hard not to recommend

  I admit I had not completely fallen in the enchanted tangle of Icelandic atmosphere and true life inspiration that bound together the 2013 historical bestseller Burial Rites. Perhaps it was just my reading tastes at the time and not to upset anyone but I found it very easy to put down. I just needed something more than the limited cold scents and bones of characters to keep me coming back and Ms. Kent’s second novel provided this wary reader with all she has been hoping for and even a few hidden tricks to delight along the way. Simply The Good People is an emotional realistic tale that is hard not to recommend to anyone who has been waiting for a good old fashioned story that is told in elegant prose with varied personalities you love to hate but oddly care about. In this yarn the reader is confronted with multiple topics but mostly grief, religion, old beliefs and what can ensue when one suspicious threat overbalances everything we think we hold dear. Like Burial Rites inspiration is taken directly from a true regional bygone crime and in The Good People harrowing events of June 1826 in rural Ireland are spread out in fiction with liberal drams of herb lore, powerful Irish superstition, proverbs and dangers of kin suspicions.

  For this reader, there were a few negatives mostly the stiff and awkward presented dialogue, periodic measured pace and the ending felt incomplete. Usually those disappointing points would have me rating a novel lower but The Good People had one or two tricks waiting cleverly in plain sight and I couldn’t help but raise my overall final impression when I encountered memories of reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond for the first time as Nance and Mary made their initial appearances. I also enjoyed discovering the potential of endless discussions this novel could provide and my fellow nurses have already debated long into the night over this story. This type of novel is not for everyone there are some very disturbing scenes that can overstep boundaries of comfort but it is well worth reading and if you are like me and the book description is calling to you with possibilities- you may find yourself in another place and time on the first page and by the final swept by The Good People.

*I would like to thank NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the opportunity to read and enjoy The Good People