The Mercies

November 4, 2019
This dark, dramatic historical from Hargrave (The Girl of Ink & Stars) begins on Christmas Eve 1617 when 40 men from Norway’s remote island settlement of Vardø die in a storm at sea, setting in motion events that lead to witch trials and executions. Maren Magnusdatter, age 20, having lost her father, brother, and fiancé in the storm, lives quietly in Vardø with her mother and sister-in-law Diinna, of the Sámi people. That changes with the arrival of noted witch-hunter Commissioner Absalom Cornet, who comes from Scotland with his Norwegian wife, Ursa, to root out nonbelievers. Unused to such meager conditions, Ursa hires Maren to help her with household chores. Their friendship grows, as does Ursa’s fear of her husband, an enthusiastic participant in the branding, strangling, and burning of suspected witches. Encouraged by the feudal lord who brought him to Vardø, Cornet seeks out nonchurchgoers in a crusade against evil that puts Diinna and other Sámis at risk. Eventually, Cornet arrests two local widows, tortures and burns them at the stake, then comes to arrest Maren, while Maren and Ursa turn to each other for affection and support. Hargraves’s tale offers a feminist take on a horrific moment in history with its focus on the subjugation of women, superstition in isolated locations, and brutality in the name of religion. This is a potent novel. Agent: Kirby Kim, Janklow & Nesbit Associates.

Narrator Jessie Buckley's smooth and mesmerizing narration of this debut historical fiction based on a true event will transport listeners to seventeenth-century Norway. All the men from the coastal village of Vard� are drowned at sea when a freak storm comes up. Grief-stricken, the women they leave behind must fend for themselves and do the work normally reserved for men. As the women rebuild their lives after the deadly incident, a devout colonizer sets foot in their village and starts a witch hunt. Although Buckley's accents are often hit or miss, her strong voice and laid-back pacing carry the story forward, elevate the intricate world-building, and evoke a bygone era. A.C. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine