The Mercies
Failed to add items
Add to cart failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
New to Audible Prime Member exclusive: 2 credits with free trial
The Mercies
Buy Now for ₹323.00
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jessie Buckley
-
Written by:
-
Kiran Millwood Hargrave
About this listen
The bestselling Richard and Judy Book Club pick and BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick.
For readers of Circe and The Handmaid’s Tale, Kiran Millwood Hargrave's The Mercies is inspired by real historical events – a story about the strength and courage of women.
‘Dark, dramatic and full of danger’ - Daily Mail
The storm comes in like a finger snap . . .
1617. The sea around the remote Norwegian island of Vardø is thrown into a vicious storm. A young woman, Maren, watches as the men of the island, out fishing, perish in an instant.
Vardø is now a place of women . . .
Eighteen months later, a sinister figure arrives. Absalom Cornet has been summoned to bring the women of the island to heel. With him travels his young wife, Ursa. In her new home, and in Maren, Ursa encounters something she has never seen before: independent women. But where Ursa finds happiness, even love, Absalom sees only a place flooded with a terrible evil, one he must root out at all costs . . .
A story about how suspicion can twist its way through a community, about a love that could prove as dangerous as it is powerful.
‘Gripping’ - Madeline Miller, author of Circe
‘Took my breath away’ - Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl With a Pearl Earring
‘A beautifully intimate story of friendship, love and hope’ - Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain
‘Something rare and beautiful’ - Marian Keyes, author of Again, Rachel
‘Chilling and page-turning’ - The Times
What listeners say about The Mercies
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- NP
- 30-06-24
Fails to evoke empathy
This book is based on the real witch trials of the people living in a small island in Norway. While this in itself should have been enough to make readers feel sorrow and empathy, it doesn’t. The Mercies misses most of the marks - and is a far cry away from the author’s book The Dance Tree (which is infinitely better).
For one, the LGBTQIA+ romance - that is trademark for the author - doesn’t feel like an actual love story. Rather it felt to me like sexual/romantic transference due to the non-availability of the previous romantic partner for one of the protagonists.
For another, the actual witch trials aren’t really explored in depth. The pacing is too slow and there is too much focus on the protagonists’ inner monologues. The innocent daily life of the women - which would have been the source of the insidious accusations of witchcraft and devilry - weren’t given as much focus as they should have been.
Even the finale - an expected ending - seemed too rushed and squeezed into a tiny last chapter.
Overall, I didn’t really enjoy this book and feel the author’s other work, The Dance Tree, was infinitely better.
The narrator too seemed a little pretentious - I don’t know how “authentic” her Norwegian pronunciations are - but they ruined the flow of the book by making some sections very hard to understand. I had to rewind those parts multiple times to understand what the narrator was saying.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!