It was suggested in my book club that we read The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave and I quickly agreed. I’m not sure if I would have found this title otherwise so I’m very thankful that it was put on the table, and having the fortune of discussing The Mercies with multiple other people made it an even more enriching experience.
Here’s a quick plot—
In one stormy moment 40 men are killed at sea. In 1617 Norway, a small village lost half its population, and the remaining women were left to survive on their own. This means doing things against the strict Protestant way of thinking in order to survive. Fishing, butchering, and performing any other tasks only suitable for men could be seen as desecration. This religious conflict is exasperated with the arrival of Absalom Cornet, sent by ruling authority, to root out witchcraft in the area. Maren Magnusdatter lost her brother and father to the storm, and is left with a guilt-stricken mother and a pregnant sister-in-law. The loss was awful, but Maren likes living among only women, and especially enjoys the company of Ursa, Cornet’s wife. Personalities and beliefs clash and allegations of witchcraft leaves everyone vulnerable, especially any woman deviating from the religious-ruled norm.
I’ve praised books for engulfing the reader in food and treats—delighting in the sense of taste, but I’m not sure I’ve read a book before that stretched the mind to all sorts of rank smells. Hargrave spared no detail, and I greatly enjoyed the sense of setting that was encompassed in the text—the feel of wood, dust lining one’s lungs, a mouth unfamiliar with hygiene breathing into one’s own. The writing here was focused and knew how to draw the reader into a world in the distant past, while still leaving them feeling a modern sense of relevance.
Even a novice reader knows that walking into a witch hunt is a dicey game. The suspense mounts until someone is burned. My limited experience with witch hunts ends in Salem, and I wasn’t aware they occurred outside the US. The underlying sense of tension turned the pages quickly for me. Despite all the fear and loss, Maren and Ursa are able to form a friendship that stretches towards dangerous grounds. With rotating narratives the reader gets to live in this world through two different class perspectives though each portrays a sense of bleak hopelessness once the accusations start. No one is safe.
If you enjoy historical fiction, talented writing, and complicated female characters faced with dangerous situations then The Mercies could be for you!