**Devotion, the new novel from Hannah Kent, is out now!** ‘Exquisite’ - Daily Mail Shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize

One woman’s mercy is another’s murder …

Ireland, 1825. Nora, bereft after the sudden death of her husband, finds herself alone and caring for her young grandson Micheal. Micheal cannot speak or walk and Nora is desperate to know what is wrong with him. What happened to the healthy, happy grandson she met when her daughter was still alive?

Mary arrives in the valley to help Nora just as the whispers are spreading: stories of unexplained misfortunes, of illnesses, and rumours that Micheal is a changeling child who is bringing bad luck to the valley. Nance has lived in the valley all of her life. She is a healer who knows how to use the plants and berries of the woodland; she understands the magic in the old ways. And she might be able to help Micheal …

As these three women are drawn together in the hope of restoring Micheal, their world of folklore and belief, of ritual and stories, tightens around them. It will lead them down a dangerous path, and force them to question everything they have ever known.

‘A starkly realised tale of love, grief and misconceived beliefs’ - Sunday Times

‘An imaginative tour de force … exquisite’ - Daily Mail