Melkorka is an Irish princess, the beautiful first born daughter to the King of Downpatrick, a city in “Eire”, medieval Ireland. Being a wealthy princess, she is used to certain treatments, like getting clothed and washed by her hand servants and having slaves do whatever she pleases. However, these treatments and Melkorka’s status are soon taken away from her when she and her younger sister, Brigid, are captured by a band of rough slave traders. Melkorka is forced to forget about the rich life she had known, and must adopt the life of a “prælar”, a slave.

Before being kidnapped, Melkorka’s mother had told her to “Hush”. The princess uses her mother’s advice to her advantage and by holding her tongue, she is able to have some power over her brutal captors. After being kidnapped, she does not utter a single word. She is beaten, starved, and sold, and yet she keeps her silence all the while.

Napoli has weaved a wonderful tale of history, loss, adventure, and learning, that shows how an Irish princess must forget everything she knows and find her place in a new world. There is some bias, due to the fact the story is told through the eyes of Irish royalty who has negative views on certain people like Vikings, but Melkorka’s character learns to be open minded and to not judge every Viking the same. Napoli uses many aspects of Ireland, like real places, characters, and events that give the tale a wonderful flavor of history. Gaelic words, Norse words, and other languages Melkorka comes across through her journey only add to the culture that is spun into the story. Hush is the perfect combination of fiction, folktale, and history and will give any reader a new perspective on the ways of life in other cultures.