The Devil Is Alive and Well

In The Dark Sacrament, coauthors David M. Kiely and Christina McKenna faithfully recount ten contemporary cases of demon possession, haunted houses, and exorcisms, and profile the work of two living, active exorcists. The authors serve as trustworthy guides on this suspense-filled journey into the bizarre, offering concrete advice on how to avoid falling prey to the dark side.

The Devil Is Alive and Well

In The Dark Sacrament, coauthors David M. Kiely and Christina McKenna faithfully recount ten contemporary cases of demon possession, haunted houses, and exorcisms, and profile the work of two living, active exorcists. The authors serve as trustworthy guides on this suspense-filled journey into the bizarre, offering concrete advice on how to avoid falling prey to the dark side.

It’s 1981 and Belfast is burning. So, too, is freshly widowed Bessie Halstone: she burns with a desire to break with her troubled past. With her feckless husband gone, she leaves home hurriedly with her naughty nine-year-old son, Herkie, and not much else. The Dentist, an IRA enforcer, is on her tail. He’s convinced that Bessie, with her “yella hair all puffed up like Merlin Monroe’s,” has absconded with the takings from a bank heist.

But car trouble strands mother and son in Tailorstown, a sleepy Ulster village. Bessie finds temporary work as housekeeper for the handsome and mysterious parish priest.

In the meantime, Lorcan Strong, an artist and a native of the village, is summoned home. He’s been shanghaied into forging paintings for the IRA. It’s work he cannot refuse; his mother and their business are under threat.

Yet things are not what they seem in quirky Tailorstown. There is a “sleeper” in the village. But who? Bizarrely, it is young Herkie, due to his childish curiosity, who unravels the mystery and saves the day.

When Ruby Clare''s father was alive, they toiled together happily on their dairy farm in Northern Ireland. Since his death, Ruby—thirty-three, plump but comely—has been forced indoors and made a domestic drudge for Martha, her endlessly critical mother, and her prettier younger sisters, May and June.

But everything changes when Ruby finds her late grandmother''s old case in the attic. Among its strange contents: a curious, handmade volume called The Book of Light.

As Ruby delves into its mysterious pages, she''s enticed into a most beguiling world, whose allure and magnetic power she finds irresistible.

Martha, convinced that her newly empowered daughter is going crazy, enlists the help of the kindly parish priest, and then psychiatrist Henry Shevlin. Henry appears imperturbable, yet is inwardly reeling from his wife''s unexplained disappearance the previous year.

As Ruby undergoes therapy, she meets local bachelor farmer Jamie McCloone. Through their shared loneliness and isolation the two find the courage to connect. But will Ruby''s mother allow her daughter the happiness she so richly deserves?

The Godforsaken Daughter is an unforgettable peek into small-town life in Ireland''s recent past. It''s a glorious successor to McKenna''s first two “Tailorstown” novels, The Misremembered Man and The Disenchanted Widow.

You’ll never see the twist coming in this gripping novel of love and loss by bestselling author Christina McKenna.

Rita-Mae has lived in fear for as long as she can remember. Fear of being alone, fear of her past and, above all, fear of her husband, Harry. Until she spots an advertisement for a vacant cottage in a small town in Northern Ireland. She makes her escape filled with hope, ready to start a new life in a new home, free from the pain of her past. But her place of refuge may not be as safe—or as anonymous—as she thought.

In another small town, Dorrie wakes up unaware of where she is or how she got there. Adrift in a world for which she has no explanation, she needs to find answers quickly—before her shadowy past catches up with her.

Walled in by secrets and with no one to trust, both Rita-Mae and Dorrie are unsure how to move forward. Can each woman face her inner demons and confront a menacing presence from the past once and for all? Or will the past unravel their second chance at life?

The Devil Is Alive and Well

In The Dark Sacrament, coauthors David M. Kiely and Christina McKenna faithfully recount ten contemporary cases of demon possession, haunted houses, and exorcisms, and profile the work of two living, active exorcists. The authors serve as trustworthy guides on this suspense-filled journey into the bizarre, offering concrete advice on how to avoid falling prey to the dark side.

The Devil Is Alive and Well

In The Dark Sacrament, coauthors David M. Kiely and Christina McKenna faithfully recount ten contemporary cases of demon possession, haunted houses, and exorcisms, and profile the work of two living, active exorcists. The authors serve as trustworthy guides on this suspense-filled journey into the bizarre, offering concrete advice on how to avoid falling prey to the dark side.

It’s 1981 and Belfast is burning. So, too, is freshly widowed Bessie Halstone: she burns with a desire to break with her troubled past. With her feckless husband gone, she leaves home hurriedly with her naughty nine-year-old son, Herkie, and not much else. The Dentist, an IRA enforcer, is on her tail. He’s convinced that Bessie, with her “yella hair all puffed up like Merlin Monroe’s,” has absconded with the takings from a bank heist.

But car trouble strands mother and son in Tailorstown, a sleepy Ulster village. Bessie finds temporary work as housekeeper for the handsome and mysterious parish priest.

In the meantime, Lorcan Strong, an artist and a native of the village, is summoned home. He’s been shanghaied into forging paintings for the IRA. It’s work he cannot refuse; his mother and their business are under threat.

Yet things are not what they seem in quirky Tailorstown. There is a “sleeper” in the village. But who? Bizarrely, it is young Herkie, due to his childish curiosity, who unravels the mystery and saves the day.

When Ruby Clare''s father was alive, they toiled together happily on their dairy farm in Northern Ireland. Since his death, Ruby—thirty-three, plump but comely—has been forced indoors and made a domestic drudge for Martha, her endlessly critical mother, and her prettier younger sisters, May and June.

But everything changes when Ruby finds her late grandmother''s old case in the attic. Among its strange contents: a curious, handmade volume called The Book of Light.

As Ruby delves into its mysterious pages, she''s enticed into a most beguiling world, whose allure and magnetic power she finds irresistible.

Martha, convinced that her newly empowered daughter is going crazy, enlists the help of the kindly parish priest, and then psychiatrist Henry Shevlin. Henry appears imperturbable, yet is inwardly reeling from his wife''s unexplained disappearance the previous year.

As Ruby undergoes therapy, she meets local bachelor farmer Jamie McCloone. Through their shared loneliness and isolation the two find the courage to connect. But will Ruby''s mother allow her daughter the happiness she so richly deserves?

The Godforsaken Daughter is an unforgettable peek into small-town life in Ireland''s recent past. It''s a glorious successor to McKenna''s first two “Tailorstown” novels, The Misremembered Man and The Disenchanted Widow.

You’ll never see the twist coming in this gripping novel of love and loss by bestselling author Christina McKenna.

Rita-Mae has lived in fear for as long as she can remember. Fear of being alone, fear of her past and, above all, fear of her husband, Harry. Until she spots an advertisement for a vacant cottage in a small town in Northern Ireland. She makes her escape filled with hope, ready to start a new life in a new home, free from the pain of her past. But her place of refuge may not be as safe—or as anonymous—as she thought.

In another small town, Dorrie wakes up unaware of where she is or how she got there. Adrift in a world for which she has no explanation, she needs to find answers quickly—before her shadowy past catches up with her.

Walled in by secrets and with no one to trust, both Rita-Mae and Dorrie are unsure how to move forward. Can each woman face her inner demons and confront a menacing presence from the past once and for all? Or will the past unravel their second chance at life?