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Reading lists

4 Irish books we can’t wait to read this Spring

The Herbalist

'The most entertaining yet substantial historical novel since Joseph O'Connor's Star of the Sea' Irish Times 
 
When a neglected teenager - Emily - becomes infatuated by a mysterious medicine man who turns up in the local market square she finds herself competing for his attention with the other women of her town. But naïve as she seems, Emily is the first to discover the stranger's dark side, and when she does she holds his fate - and the fate of the women of her community - in her hands ... 
 
The Herbalist is the electrifying first novel from Hennessy XO New Irish Writing Award winner, Niamh Boyce. It is a deeply moving and viscerally powerful novel about the lives of women in 1930s Ireland - an unforgettable story of love, shame, hypocrisy and courage. 
 
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'Niamh Boyce's compelling female characters push against the rigid social parameters of 1930s Ireland, yearning for the light of the outside world, which comes in the shape of a stranger trading in herbs, cures, complications and danger' Dermot Bolger 
 
'An elegant morality tale about the inescapable strictures of women's lives ... Her publisher describes her as "a dazzling new voice". I cannot disagree' Sunday Times 
 
'A vividly imagined tale of love, lust and longing ... a compelling read with a cathartic ending that deserves a wide readership. It remains authentic and moving to the end' Sunday Business Post 
 
'Boyce's subject matter may be dark, and she treats it with the seriousness it deserves, but she writes with a lightness of touch not often seen in the genre ... just as the readers of The Herbalist share the women's fear as we read, we share their wonder and excitement as well ... hugely impressive and wonderfully assured' Irish Times 
 
'There's a lot going on that is slowly revealed and the writing is beautiful ... a serious new literary talent' TV3 
 
'Comparisons to Edna O'Brien and Pat McCabe are more than justified. That said, Boyce has a unique voice and sensibility, one that's entirely her own' Image Magazine 
 
'A powerful plot full of betrayal, morality and love ... Not only is this a book that will keep you captivated, it will remain with you long after you've read the last words and closed the cover' Country Living 
 
'She has a real lightness of touch and it's a wonderfully told story' Marian Finucane, RTE 
 
'A riveting story that electrifies and dazzles' Writing.ie

Niamh Boyce was named Newcomer of the Year at the 2013 Irish Book Awards for her 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 second novel, Her Kind, will be published in 2019.

Out of nowhere the herbalist appears and sets up his stall in the market square. 
 
The stranger is exotic and glamourous and teenager Emily is spellbound -- here is a man of the world who won't care that she's not respectable. 
 
However, Emily has competition for the herbalist's attentions. The women of the town - the women from the big houses and their maids, the shopkeepers and their serving girls, those of easy virtue and their pious neighbours - are also mesmerized by the visitor who, they say, can perform miracles. 
 
But when Emily discovers the miracle-worker's dark side, her world turns upside down. She may be naïve, but she has a fierce sense of right and wrong. So, with his fate lying in her hands, Emily must make the biggest decision of her young life. To make the herbalist pay for his sins against the women of the town? Or let him escape to cast his spell on another place? 
 
The Herbalist is a deeply moving and viscerally powerful novel about the lives of women in 1930s Ireland. It is a dazzling and unforgettable story of love, shame, hypocrisy and courage.

Niamh Boyce

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 hide their old connection. 
 
Before long Petronelle comes to understand that in the city pride, greed and envy are as dangerous as the wolves that prowl the savage countryside. And she realizes that Alice's household is no place of safety. 
 
Once again, Petronelle decides to flee. But this time she confronts forces greater than she could ever have imagined and she finds herself fighting for more than her freedom ... 
 
Tense, moving and atmospheric, Her Kind is a vivid re-imagining of the events leading up to the Kilkenny Witch Trial.

Niamh Boyce

Her Kind

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