Author: Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Category: Historical Fiction
Series: No
Brief Summary:
The book is a fictionalized account of actual historical events. Set in the 1600s, it tells the story of the Vardo Storm (Vardo being a Norwegian fishing village) where most of the village's men were killed while going out for their daily haul. With no aid forthcoming from neighboring islands/villages or the ruling government, the women left behind had two choices, namely, learn to be self-sufficient or die. Needless to say, they chose the former.
One of the main characters of the book is Maren Bergensdatter, a young woman whose betrothed was one of the ones lost at sea. It is from her viewpoint that we see the action of both the storm and the tragic aftermath. Maren does what she has to do to survive, despite opposition from some of the more 'pious' ladies of the village. Along with the pseudo-leader, Kirsten, Maren helps rebuild the society that had been rent apart by the tragedy. As the years pass, the village thrives, as does the ever-growing tensions between the fanatical Kirke (church) ladies and the rest of the women.
The other main character is Ursa Cornet, the young wife of the witchfinder, Absalom Cornet, who, 3 years after the storm was sent to Vardo by the Crown to 'take matters in hand." The village learns the meaning of true tragedy as he wastes no time in making his presence (and power) felt, even as the bond between Ursa and Maren grows. The storm may have killed the men, but Cornet is duty-bound by religious fervor to 'save' the women...no matter the cost.
Here is what Goodreads has to say:
My take: I would definitely give the book a 5* rating. The author took the time, it seems, to do painstaking research, and though the account is fictionalized, it has the ring of truth to it as well. The characters are richly developed, and there were times that the story actually moved me to tears. The story is tragic and haunting and will stay with you long after the last page is turned. At least, that was my experience.
After a storm has killed off all the island's men, two women in a 1600s Norwegian coastal village struggle to survive against both natural forces and the men who have been sent to rid the community of alleged witchcraft.
Finnmark, Norway, 1617. Twenty-year-old Maren Bergensdatter stands on the craggy coast, watching the sea break into a sudden and reckless storm. Forty fishermen, including her brother and father, are drowned and left broken on the rocks below. With the menfolk wiped out, the women of the tiny Northern town of Vardø must fend for themselves.
Three years later, a sinister figure arrives. Absalom Cornet comes from Scotland, where he burned witches in the northern isles. He brings with him his young Norwegian wife, Ursa, who is both heady with her husband's authority and terrified by it. In Vardø, and in Maren, Ursa sees something she has never seen before: independent women. But Absalom sees only a place untouched by God and flooded with a mighty evil.
As Maren and Ursa are pushed together and are drawn to one another in ways that surprise them both, the island begins to close in on them with Absalom's iron rule threatening Vardø's very existence.
Inspired by the real events of the Vardø storm and the 1620 witch trials, The Mercies is a feminist story of love, evil, and obsession, set at the edge of civilization.
