Author(s): Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Novel | Historical | Norway | Fiction Reductions

On Christmas Eve, 1617, the sea around the remote Norwegian island of Vardø is thrown into a reckless storm. As Maren Magnusdatter watches, 40 fishermen, including her father and brother, are lost to the waves, the menfolk of Vardø wiped out in an instant.Now the women must fend for themselves.Eighteen months later, a sinister figure arrives. Summoned from Scotland to take control of a place at the edge of the civilized world, Absalom Cornet knows what he needs to do to bring the women of Vardø to heel. With him travels his young wife, Ursa. In Vardø and in Maren, Ursa finds something she has never seen before: independent women. But Absalom sees only a place untouched by God and flooded with a mighty and terrible evil, one he must root out at all costs.Inspired by the real events of the Vardø storm and the 1621 witch trials, Kiran Millwood Hargrave's The Mercies is a story about how suspicion can twist its way through a community, and a love that may prove as dangerous as it is powerful.

Review: The Mercies is among the best novels I've read in years. In addition to its beautiful writing, its subject matter is both enduring and timely * New York Times Book Review *
A gripping novel . . . [Kiran Millwood Hargrave's] most vital insights are about the human heart: how terrifyingly quickly prejudices can turn into murder, and how desperately we need love and courage to oppose it. Beautiful and chilling -- Madeline Miller, author of Circe
This is a powerful story that gathers ever more momentum as it moves towards its conclusion * Sunday Times *
The most interesting historical fiction speaks of the time of writing as much as of its subject . . . The Mercies shows us the patriarchal fear of women's strength and reason -- Sarah Moss, Guardian
Historical fiction fans looking for a Handmaid's Tale-style twist will love this novel . . . A story of danger, love and power - with Big Offred Energy * Cosmopolitan *
The Mercies is storytelling at its most masterful. This is an exquisite tale of sisterhood, of love, of courage and of what happens when communities turn on each other . . . I raged, I laughed, I cried. I urge you to read this novel -- Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory
Extraordinary! -- Jo Whiley, BBC Radio Book Club
A book for our times . . . Millwood Hargrave is a whirlwind, storm-building talent -- Daisy Johnson, Man Booker Prize shortlisted author of Everything Under
The Mercies took my breath away . . . Kiran Millwood Hargrave has masterfully built up an incredible claustrophobic atmosphere, shot through with delicate intimacy. On finishing it I pressed the book to me, hoping to absorb some of her skill -- Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl With a Pearl Earring