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Brigid Lynch
Johanna is Nóra and Martin Leahy’s daughter, Tadgh’s wife, and Micheál’s mother. Months before the events of the novel begin, Johanna passes away from a “wasting sickness,” one that coincides with the physical decline of two-year-old Micheál, with whom she shares a signature head of copper hair. In her final days, while she is in a state of delusion, she turns against Micheál, claiming that he isn’t her “real” son but a fairy, and demanding he be kept outside at night. Though Johanna does not appear directly in the novel, she is invoked often, as Nóra grieves both her and Martin simultaneously.
Johanna Quotes in The Good People
The The Good People quotes below are all either spoken by Johanna or refer to Johanna . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 7 Quotes
What had happened? What had her daughter done to lose her son? Had she not crossed his face with ashes? Not bit his fingernails until he was nine weeks old? Not sprinkled his mouth with salt, or barred his cradle with iron? All women knew how to protect their children from abduction. A hazel stick by the door. Milk spilt after stumbling.
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Johanna Character Timeline in The Good People
The timeline below shows where the character Johanna appears in The Good People. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...mute, disabled grandson, Micheál, whom she and Martin have been caring for since their daughter’s (Johanna) recent death. She asks Peter to take the boy to Peg O’Shea’s, not wanting people...
(full context)
...Grave, “where the fairies do be.” Peter warns that deaths come in threes—first Nóra’s daughter (Johanna), now Martin—and suspects the family isn’t done mourning yet.
(full context)
Chapter 2
...and can neither walk nor speak. Nóra insists she once heard him talk, back when Johanna was still alive, and believes he’s still capable. When Peg hears that Seán Lynch has...
(full context)
Peg goes on to explain that Johanna married a man from Cork and was buried near there after dying from a “wasting...
(full context)
Chapter 3
...the month since Martin’s death. Looking at Micheál, she’s struck by how much he resembles Johanna, with the same copper hair. She recalls how happy Johanna had been when she married...
(full context)
Nóra remembers the summer afternoon Tadgh came to deliver the news of Johanna’s death and leave Micheál behind, saying the boy hadn’t spoken in six months. Nóra saw...
(full context)
...of her home. Still drunk and disoriented, she briefly imagines it could be Martin and Johanna trying to come inside. But when she opens the door, she finds three masked boys...
(full context)
Chapter 4
...that people in the valley are “conspiring” with the fairies and spreading misfortune. Kate insists Johanna didn’t merely die but was “swept” away by the Good People. She warns Mary to...
(full context)
Chapter 5
...would be better off with Nóra and Martin, though giving him up (especially after losing Johanna) nearly broke him.
(full context)
As they talk, Tadgh says Johanna had believed Micheál’s changes came from a “bug,” the same one that clouded her own...
(full context)
Chapter 6
...eye or has been taken by the Good People. Daniel adds that many locals believe Johanna was also swept away by them, willingly, to be with her son. Nance confirms that...
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...as the thought occurs, she resolves to do whatever she can to save the boy—for Johanna’s sake.
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Chapter 7
...at Nóra’s cabin, Nóra confides to Peg that she wishes she could trade Micheál for Johanna and Martin. Peg snaps at her, telling her to stop feeling sorry for herself and...
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...to test the truth and perhaps restore the real Micheál, but she warns that if Johanna and Micheál truly dwell with the Good People, they might be happier there, dancing together....
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Chapter 9
...but Nóra insists that nothing matches a mother’s love for her child and that losing Johanna was a deeper loss than Mary can understand.
(full context)
Chapter 11
...As Mary holds and tickles Micheál and he laughs in delight, Nóra is reminded of Johanna. She goes to her room and returns with a hidden parcel containing a lock of...
(full context)
Chapter 15
...Nance invites her to sit outside, and Nóra confesses that she partly blames herself, not Johanna, for Micheál’s state and feels deeply ashamed of him. Nance assures her that the boy...
(full context)
Chapter 16
...she had of a fairy fort glowing with three lights that turned out to be Johanna, Martin, and Micheál waiting for her. There was music and joy, and Nóra’s convinced it’s...
(full context)
Chapter 20
...despite the heat in the courtroom. When Mary Clifford spoke, Nóra thought she looked like Johanna testifying against her own mother. At last, Nóra takes the stand. She recounts how Tadgh...
(full context)
