The Mercies

I recommend this book every chance I get when people ask me for a novel that knocked my socks off.

It’s based on real events that happened in Norway, and it reads like Hargrave actually lived in that era because of the rich details. I learned so much, not only about Norway but also about what it was like to live in a harsh climate in a very remote area at a time when there was very little communication between communities.

I couldn’t get the characters, namely Maren, Ursa, and Absalom, out of my head for weeks.  

In 1617, the Scandinavian village of Vardo was hit by a storm so sudden and so violent that almost all the men on the island were lost. Hargrave’s brilliant novel shows how the women of Vardo pull together in the face of such devastation. However, their recovery is threatened by Scandinavian authorities who see a village run by women as a threat that cannot be tolerated. Hargrave’s characters feel as if they could belong in any place and at any time, which puts you in the uncomfortable position of wondering how much (or how little) we’ve really progressed.