Book Review: The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Book: 19/100

Rating: 2/5

Summary: Finnmark, Norway, 1617. Twenty year old Maren 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 Vardo 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 Vardo, 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 drawn to each other in ways that surprise them both, the island begins to close in on them, with Abslaom's iron rule threatening Vardo's very existence.

Thoughts: I was really intrigued by the description of this book, especially it's claim as a feminist story of 'love, evil, and obsession, set on the edge of civilization'. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. I found it hard to get through, especially at the beginning and keeping all of the characters straight. Usually I can appreciate a slow burn of a book if I can get into the book by about 100 pages in, but I found myself struggling to connect with the story.

I do seem to be in the minority here though, so if you think that this one sounds like your jam, definitely check it out!

Thanks to Hachette Book Group Canada for an advanced reader copy of The Mercies in exchange for an honest review.