Niamh Boyce was named Newcomer of the Year at the Irish Book Awards in 2013 for her debut novel The Herbalist, which was set in 1930s rural Ireland. It seemed like a foreign country. For her latest offering Her Kind, she takes us back to 14th century Kilkenny.
We may recognise landmarks like St Canice’s Cathedral or Kilkenny Castle, but a mere glance at a map at the beginning of the book illustrates how different life was then. ‘Kilkennie’ was divided in two – there was Hightown and Irishtown, the Gaels lived in Irishtown, their landlords and other wealthy merchants in Hightown.
Wealthiest of all was one Alice Kytler, the daughter of Flemish merchants who had settled in Kilkenny. A moneylender who inherited her father’s wealth on the death of her brother, she was married four times. She was a good friend of the local seneschal and was even reputed to have lent money to the King.
With friends in such high places, she was bound to become an object of envy and jealousy. It was said that her step-children made the first accusations against her as they felt they were being denied their due. So too did the Bishop of Ossory, Richard de Ledrede, an Englishman who had spent time at the Papal Court in Avignon. He would become known as a ‘scourge of heresy and witchcraft’ and the more Alice resisted him, the more determined he became to do her down, (all in the interests of the Church, of course). "Bitter old men", Alice observes in the book, "the world is full of them."
You see, these events did take place. However, it wasn’t Alice Kytler who was burned at the stake but her maidservant, a Gael or native Irish girl who was bestowed the name of Petronella of Meath (Petronelle di Midia here). Little is known about Petronella - and this is where Niamh Boyce comes in.
The novel, mixing fact and fiction, tells the story of the maid and her relationship with her mistress. The former turns up at Alice’s door with her daughter, seeking shelter. It is clear the two are known to each other, but Alice quickly tells her that there will be no reference to past acquaintanceship. She and her daughter will be servants, and will take the English names Petronelle and Basilia.
The story unfolds, as told by Petronelle and Basilia, who is mute and often observes and hears without being seen or heard. Petronelle can read her mistress better than most, as bit by bit we put their story together. Her priority is her daughter’s safety, though said daughter may not always appreciate that.
In the novel, two of Alice’s step-children accuse her of trying to poison their father and from there we get allegations of potions, of so-called 'magick' and demons. Talk of such things would have been common at the time, and the line between magick and sorcery was indeed thin. The allegations reach the Bishop’s ears, with words like incubus and succubus used in the exchanges. The Bishop fails to have Alice arrested, amnd, as punishment, he imposes an interdict by which no baptisms, burials or other church rites will take place,.’a suitable penalty for a people who chose to protect a wealthy sorceress against the Holy Mother Church.’
n the seneschal is killed, Alice loses her protector and those around her become more suspicious, including Petronelle, who denounces her mistress to the Church. In doing so, she signs her own death warrant. The members of the household are imprisoned though Alice and Basilia are spirited out of the jail and make their escape.
The novel is beautifully written and transports us to the 14th century, though many of its themes loudly resonate today. I can’t wait to see where Niamh Boyce takes us next.
