The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Published by Little, Brown and Company, 2020
My rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
The divide of gender, the dark side of religion, and the resilience of the human spirit are placed beneath the microscope in this evocative historical novel, inspired by real life tragedy.
It’s 1617 and a violent storm has claimed the lives of 40 fishermen off the coast of Vardø, a remote Norwegian settlement. Aside from a handful of elders, this amounts to almost the entire male population, leaving behind a devastated community of women and children. These women spend the next three years establishing a newfound self-sufficiency while navigating their immense collective grief. This matriarchy is interrupted by the arrival of Absalom Cornet, a God-fearing Christian and renowned witch hunter from Scotland. He is summoned by the King of Norway to bring the women of Vardø to heel once more, and to stamp out any lingering trace of native Sámi culture—its spiritualism and strong ties to the land considered an obstacle to establishing absolute reverence for his own God.
With subtlety and tact, Kiran Millwood Hargrave explores the ingrained societal roles that define and separate us, with a particular focus on the trappings of gender and religion. Though distressed by their losses, the women of Vardø experience an unexpected liberty when forced to take over duties once reserved for men.
You can read my full review over on BookBrowse. You can also find a piece I wrote about the real-life victims of the Vardø Witch Trials.
You can pick up a copy of The Mercies from Book Depository by clicking here.
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Great review, Callum! I’m glad you found this book to be fresh and skilled at evoking atmosphere, as well as creating believable and nuanced characters. I am so excited now to pick this up after your and Emily’s glowing reviews.
Thank you! 😊 It’s definitely one of my books of the year so far. I hope you enjoy it, and look forward to your thoughts!
Nicely done review. I’m interested.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it if you decide to check it out.
Excellent review! I am in full agreement on this one, Millwood Hargrave does a fantastic job of bringing this time and place in history to full (and horrifying) life through very believable characters. And the numbers in your accompanying piece really put this into perspective for me- especially in the US, the Salem trials are my basis for witch trial knowledge, and yet that was such a small event in comparison to what happened at Vardo.
Thank you! 😊 I was really shocked as well when I was researching the topic and found that statistic. This is a great book for lots of reasons, but one of them is definitely that more people will learn about what happened in Vardø.
This sounds SO GOOD! Your piece about witch trials was very interesting as well. Definitely want to bump this up on my TBR now!
I’ll be shook if this isn’t one of my books of the year (and I’m increasingly salty that it didn’t make the WP longlist). It is such a me book to be fair, but it’s also genuinely Very Good. I’m excited for your thoughts 👀
Really, really enjoyed reading your review and accompanying piece. I’ve had this on my TBR pile, but I’m definitely bumping it up.
Thank you! It’s definitely one of my favourite reads of the year, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
I’m almost finished this! So good!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying it too! I look forward to your thoughts.
I’m terribly impressed you gave it 5 stars, The synopsis makes it sound fantastic, as many of them do, but seeing you actually LOVE it is super encouraging! 😀 I need to pick this up soon!
I loved it! I’m certain it will be one of my books of the year.
Great review, Callum! I’m so glad you picked this for the WP squad longlist, I’m very excited to read it. 🙂
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did 👀 I think Emily loved it too, so fingers crossed 🤞🏻
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