The Mercies

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What to expect

The Mercies: A gripping tale of love, suspicion, and the strength of women in the face of adversity, inspired by real events.

1617. A vicious storm throws the sea around the remote Norwegian island of Vardø into chaos. Maren watches helplessly as the island's men, out fishing, perish in an instant. Vardø is now a place of women.

Eighteen months later, Absalom Cornet arrives, determined to bring the island's independent women to heel. Accompanying him is his young wife, Ursa. In Vardø, and in Maren, Ursa discovers something she's never encountered before: the strength and resilience of women left to forge their own path.

While Ursa finds unexpected happiness and even love in her new home, Absalom sees only a community corrupted by a terrible evil that he must root out at any cost.

The Mercies is a mesmerizing tale of love, fear, and the potential for both to transform a community. Kiran Millwood Hargrave weaves a rich tapestry of historical detail and poignant insights into the hearts of her unforgettable characters.

Perfect for fans of Circe and The Handmaid's Tale, this haunting and atmospheric novel will linger long after the final page.

Critics 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
Read if you like Circe by Madeline Miller and Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Sunday Times Style, 'Best New Books for 2020'
Spun 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 conversion
Vanity Fair
Based on real events, this is a stunning, intensely told story about sisterhood, superstition and prejudice
Good Housekeeping
The 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 novel
i-news
Elegant and chilling . . . an absorbing account of women finding power and grace and love even under the most harrowing circumstances
USA Today
A dark read filled with suspicion and fear
Psychologies
A mesmerising, heartwrenching novel which had me desperate for the women of Vardø to win through. A perfect book club choice
AJ Pearce, author of Dear Mrs Bird
Passionate, 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 control
The Herald
Kiran Millwood Hargrave illuminates one of the darkest chapters of our history.
Samantha Shannon, author of The Bone Season and The Priory of the Orange Tree
Both 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.
Jenny Quintana, author of The Missing Girl
Absolutely stunning. The Mercies is a very special book.
Louise O'Neill, author of Asking For It
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 novel
Naomi Wood, author of Mrs Hemingway
Every 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 work
Adriana Trigiani, author of Lucia, Lucia
Based on the real-life witch trials of 1621, this is an immersive and beautifully written tale. Highly recommended
Bookseller, Editor's Choice
Kiran 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 enough
Sarah Butler, author of Jack and Bet
This chilling tale of religious persecution is served up with a feminist bite
Kirkus (starred review)
Caught 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 me
Helen Walmsley-Johnson, author of Look What You Made Me Do
Dark 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.
Express

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