The Mercies [Paperback] Kiran Millwood Hargrave

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 timelyA 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 chillingThis is a powerful story that gathers ever more momentum as it moves towards its conclusionThe 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 reasonHistorical fiction fans looking for a Handmaid's Tale-style twist will love this novel . . . A story of danger, love and power - with Big Offred EnergyThe 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 novelExtraordinary!A book for our times . . . Millwood Hargrave is a whirlwind, storm-building talentThe 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 skillRead if you like Circe by Madeline Miller and Wolf Hall by Hilary MantelSpun from real-life events, this lyrical novel charts the aftermath of a fatal storm in a 17th century Norwegian fishing village: a town almost exclusively composed of women and girls, and the violent witch-burning newcomer hell-bent on their conversionBased on real events, this is a stunning, intensely told story about sisterhood, superstition and prejudiceThe Mercies is a gripping tale of love and obsession, inspired by the real events of a storm on the Norwegian island of Vardø in 1617 that prompted witch trials. Absalom Cornet, the man used to bring the women to submission, is a creepy creation by Millwood, in her debut adult novelElegant and chilling . . . an absorbing account of women finding power and grace and love even under the most harrowing circumstancesThis retelling of a historical story follows an isolated community of women accused of witchcraft in Norway in the 17th century. After the men of Vardo island are drowned at sea, the women are left to fend for themselves. The arrival of witch hunter Cornet tests loyalties, reinstates rivalries and fosters friendships, but his brutality threatens everything they hold dear. A dark read filled with suspicion and fearA mesmerising, heartwrenching novel which had me desperate for the women of Vardø to win through. A perfect book club choicePassionate, stirring and conveying a terrifying atmosphere of claustrophobic oppression, Hargrave’s gripping tale of courageous women facing overwhelming odds is helped along no end by the vividness of her bleak island location and her depiction of the dynamics of a God-fearing fishing village as opposing factions struggle for controlWith her characteristic tenderness and prose that tides between the carnal and the sublime, Kiran Millwood Hargrave illuminates one of the darkest chapters of our history. In The Mercies, she sweeps us to a place that dazzles and reeks and chills to the bone, where the hearts of women roar louder than storms. She is an outstanding talent, and wherever her imagination sails next, I will followBoth harrowing and beautiful. Through mesmerizing prose, Kiran Millwood Hargrave depicts the brutality of life for women on an isolated island in 1620 Norway during the witch trials. Yet amidst this horror and within the punishing landscape, she creates a set of brilliant characters and a moving love story full of tenderness and hope. This is a book to be savoured and read time and again.Absolutely stunning. The Mercies is a very special book.I loved The Mercies. It opened up a completely new chapter of history to me, and I loved the way it told its story in such beautiful language. I won't forget this story of these women in a Norway I knew little about. A searing historical novelEvery once in a while, a modern day parable, perfectly told, reflects all that could happen in a world gone mad. Kiran Millwood Hargrave has written a novel for our times with artistry and skill. Maren's story is powerful, at turns, it is disturbing, and ultimately illuminating. You will ponder it long after you finish this magnificent workThe first adult novel from the award-winning children's writer begins with one of the most dramatic openings I have read in a long time: it is Christmas eve, 1617, when a shattering storm takes the lives of all the fishermen off the coast of the remote Norwegian island of Vardø. . . Based on the real-life witch trials of 1621, this is an immersive and beautifully written tale. Highly recommendedKiran Millwood Hargrave effortlessly transports us across hundreds of years and thousands of miles to a tiny Norwegian Island in the early seventeenth century and throws us into the lives and passions of an extraordinary cast of characters . . . deeply unsettling, entirely pertinent to our contemporary lives, and a completely addictive read. I cannot recommend it enoughOn an icy, dark island, men hunt witches and women fight back. Kiran Millwood Hargrave plucks a piece of 400-year-old legal history - a European king's prosecution of 91 people for witchcraft - and gives it a feminist spin. In clean, gripping sentences, the author is wonderfully tuned to the ways and gestures of a seemingly taciturn people. This chilling tale of religious persecution is served up with a feminist biteCaught me from the very first page and held me right to the end. A vivid evocation of time and place and utterly believable, absorbing characters - I felt I breathed the same air . . . The Mercies is a story that will stay with meDark and menacing, retelling the story of a witch hunt on the isolated island of Vardo, off the coast of Norway . . . Millwood Hargrave slowly builds an atmosphere of suspicion and superstition as new loyalties and old rivalries rear up. Small jealousies, petty misunderstandings and personal dislikes are magnified in the close-knit surroundings, with religion, belief and piety at the heart of disputesInspired by real historical events, The Mercies is a breathtaking story of love, fear and obsession, and the strength and courage of women.

The bestselling Richard and Judy Book Club pick
The Sunday Times Bestseller and BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick
‘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 . . .

For readers of Circe and The Handmaid’s Tale, Kiran Millwood Hargrave's The Mercies is inspired by real historical events. It is a story about how suspicion can twist its way through a community, about a love that could prove as dangerous as it is powerful.

‘Chilling and page-turning’ - The Times
‘Gripping’ - Madeline Miller
‘Took my breath away’ - Tracy Chevalier
‘A beautifully intimate story of friendship, love and hope’ - Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain
‘Something rare and beautiful’ - Marian Keyes

Kiran Millwood Hargrave (b. 1990) is an award-winning poet, playwright, and novelist. Her bestselling works for children include The Girl of Ink & Stars, and have won numerous awards including the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year, and the Blackwell’s Children’s Book of the Year, and been shortlisted for prizes such as the Costa Children’s Book Award and the Blue Peter Best Story Award. The Mercies is is her first novel for adults. It won a Betty Trask Award and was longlisted for the Jhalak Prize. Kiran lives by the river in Oxford, with her husband, artist Tom de Freston, and their rescue cat, Luna.