Horrific, powerful novel based on real events culminating in brutal misogyny

Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s first book for adults is extremely strong meat, pulling absolutely no punches, stark in its portrayals.

In 1617, on the isolated Norwegian island of Vardø, a sudden harsh winter storm blew up, and decimated almost all the menfolk of the island, whose livelihood depended on fishing, so the men were all out on the sea when the storm struck.

The women had, over the coming time, to feed themselves and their children, so they took over the roles traditionally taken by their menfolk, including fishing. Then (as now, in some parts of the world particularly), female autonomy is feared and proscribed. Added to the complexities of misogyny were prejudices around race and religious beliefs. The population of Denmark-Norway, as it was then, ruled over by King Christian IV, included non-Christians. Members of the Sami community, with their shamanic culture, were often treated with suspicion as outsiders.

King Christian IV was obsessed with the idea that these, and other non-conformist people, were Satanists and witches. The Sami people on Vardø, and of course that whole community of women whose independence was an affront to patriarchy, and the established order, became the focus of his obsession. The King had connections with Scotland, and appointed a Scottish nobleman and explorer, John Cunningham, to be Governor of Finnmark, the area of Denmark-Norway encompassing Vardø. Cunningham presided over many of the witchcraft trials.

All the above is factual. The author opens this out most beautifully into something which engages mind, heart, soul, viscera. Her central characters are Maren, a young woman who lost father, brother and betrothed to that sudden storm, and who becomes one of the fisherwomen community, and Ursula, the young Norwegian woman, fallen on somewhat hard times, who has been married to a fiercely Presbyterian Scottish man, appointed by Cunningham to seek out witches. Marin’s sister in law is also a Sami woman. The community of surviving women on Vardø, split between those who are obsessively fundamentalist and punitive in their Christianity, those like Maren, who are more nuanced in their Christian faith, more nuanced in their thinking and feeling, and the Sami people who do not attend church, and are steadfast to their own beliefs

The relationship which develops between Maren and Ursula, is beautiful and complex, crossing class and shifting the balance of power. Ursula, despite her wealthier and privileged upbringing, is completely without the skills she needs to survive such harsh conditions. She is also far less free, subject to a controlling husband, than the Vardø women who had learned the skills to keep themselves, their children and their families alive over generations, and added new skills, new resilience, after the death of the menfolk

I really look forward to reading more by Kiran Millwood Hargrave. This is a brilliant book

Dnf’d at 37% (1 star rating is for this reason)
Spoilers ahead: I was looking forward to reading a historical book with a sapphic relationship, however I did not realise this would involve infidelity. I also noticed in a trigger list that this book will have *graphic* rape and sexual assault, and that’s not something I want in the books I read

I have really mixed feelings about this title. On the one hand, the more stories of women wronged by men and killed in the manner of the ‘witches’ of the 17th Century, the better, as this is history that should not be forgotten. As more time passes between then and now, and a general interest in history wanes, the greater the danger that these true events seem absurd.

On the other hand, I didn’t feel that this book did the best job of portraying theses stories. I have read other books by this author and enjoyed them, but I felt that The Mercies just meandered far too long and, while Urs and Maren were compelling narrators, I was not drawn in by their relationship and felt that more focus on the women accused of witchcraft would have been more to my taste.

And that is the thing really, it’s just that this book was not especially to my taste in style and structure, but it will be the exact thing that some other people like.

The author of ‘The Mercies’ is obviously a great writer, with a love for the subjects tackled and a need to express them. The names, places, actions of the characters and the majority of the dialogue lends a feeling of authenticity to the story. And that authenticity runs right through the book, with the setting and experiences of the characters, although far from our modern experience, reading in such a believable way.

The amount of research and consideration and empathy that has gone into the creation of this book is obvious, however, this also means up the story can feel at times to be playing a supporting role to the information provided by the research. I never felt like giving up on ‘The Mercies’, but so much of the book is dedicated to building the background and authentic aspects, that main string of the story did not really get going until at least the halfway point of the book. But when it does get going, the narrative is propulsive, and the emotion and sentiment drawn out of the reader make it a powerful read.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

DNF at 50 pages.

I don't think this was quite the right book for me. I think it will be the perfect book for many other readers, however I have found that I enjoy Hargrave's children's fiction more than her adult fiction. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a dark, female-focused historical fiction novel

Beautifully written and so interesting. Thus is a really compelling read. I've always thought if the witch trials in relation to the United States so this was a fascinating read.

Really glad I gave this book a second try after giving up on it the first time I started it.
It turned out to be a wonderful yet horrific story about Witchcraft trials in Scandinavia the 1600s, a story about women, hidden love and the utter hideousness of some men.
Loved it and its one of those books which leaves me thinking what the heck can read after this?

What a novel. The writing, the descriptions, the characters, the story itself, the simmering tension - perfect. Hadn't heard of Hargrave before, but my, what a writer. Already my favourite novel of the year (Feb. 2020) and it's going to have to be something very special to knock this off its perch! (PS Nothing did - The Mercies remained my Top Novel of 2020!)

Kiran Millwood Hargrave's The Mercies gave me all of the queer, historic wonderfulness I have been crying out for. This book weaves a wholly unforgettable tale about the wonders, woes and wickedness of women, portraying an island community in all of its multitudes.

🌊🌊𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓜𝓮𝓻𝓬𝓲𝓮𝓼 🌊🌊
I have been meaning to get to this book for months and was determined to fit it in!
Set in Norway in the 1600s we follow the story of Maren in her hometown of Vardø. The town has a huge upheaval at the start of the book when a sudden storm on Christmas Eve kills almost all of their men, whilst in their fishing boats. The women are obviously devastated but draw together to make the town work again and provide for themselves.
Of course, the men in authority feel threatened by this and so send in a new commissioner to ‘help’ them.
I found it a little difficult to get into the book until now, when Ursa and her new husband arrive. Ursa is a lovely character and quickly forms a strong bond with Maren.
Unfortunately as this is the 1600s there is very quickly accusations of witchcraft from the new commissioner and things start to deteriorate.
This was a beautifully written book and really highlights the suspicions that all women were under at the time. Show a little independence or dare to wear trousers and you were condemned as a witch.
I read some witchy books last month but these were all set in England so it was a nice change to read one set elsewhere.
🌟🌟🌟🌟 read for me.
Thank you to @netgalley for my ecopy.

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave starts in 1617, in Vardø, Norway, when most of the men of the small community die in a storm. The women are left to fend for themselves.

Absolam Cornet is summoned from Scotland as the local lord believes that something must have summoned that storm.

Maren is one of the women whose family lost their men - her brother and father.  She is left with her mother and her sister in law, Diinna, who is Sâmi, which the local lord also dislikes.

This is a dramatic story, set in a harsh landscape, with beautiful descriptions.  It is a difficult read in places, but is well written, and the characters are very evocative.

The Mercies was published on 6th February 2020 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Kiran Millwood Hargrave on Twitter and Instagram.

This is a beautifully written book. The author really made me experience every emotion and the setting is so vivid. A truly great story.

This was my first novel by Kiran Millwood Hargrave but it won't be my last thanks to the atmospheric writing style and beautiful imagery. It was a haunting and engaging tale with layers of complexity and it's one I won't soon forget.

This seems to me to be one of those books which had fantastic potential but was fairly stale, only ramping up in the last few chapters. A little unsatisfying.

The book mainly follows two women. Maren who witnessed almost all the men of Vardo drowned in a storm, and Ursa who finds herself married off and sent off to Vardo where her husband is determined to drive out the evil he thinks he sees there.
Life in a small fishing village in Norway is so harsh, it sounds like it never gets warm and the women left behind all have to struggle to survive.
The writing style is not really to my taste so I found it a bit heavy going and through most of the book not much happens, but if you enjoy really evocative descriptions and feeling like you're actually there in the cold of Norway, this is for you.

From the beautiful cover to the enticing title, I knew I would enjoy this – and I did! It was engrossing, vivid and well-researched. The pace is a little slow, but I didn't mind as I was happy to just inhabit the setting and get to know the characters. I haven't read any of Kiran Millwood Hargrave's children's/YA books, but I will certainly read more of her books for adults in the future.

From the blurb, I wanted this to be something that it wasn't. I wanted a story of seeing the Vardo women become independent. I'm not even fussed about the whole forbidden love angle this took - totally fine with that. Just that it all became about witch trials made me sad. I wanted this to be so much more powerful. I didn't find this particularly gripping, I just kind of wanted it to be over. It didn't feel powerful, I really just felt defeated. These women had an opportunity to unite and blind faith in God turned them on each other. It's weird to me how a belief in God seems to be at the root of those who are unkind. Ironic really. This fell right into that. Maybe the idea was to show that no matter how desperate the need for unity is, people will still be fickle and selfish. I don't want to believe it. But this is historical fiction based upon some real true history of witch trials and so she had to tell us a story that matched to the time, no matter how much I wanted it to be inspiring instead.

I have heard nothing but great things about The Mercies. Everyone I spoke to who had read it recommended it to me. It came with a lot of expectations that for me weren't met.
This is not a slight against Kiran Millwood Hargrave. The premise of The Mercies makes it sound like it is my kind of book - an LGBT historical fiction with a feminist slant and persecution due to the belief in witches but I just didn't gel with the story. It seems I am in the minority among my friends so this may have been a case of right book wrong time but at this point it wasn't for me.
The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave is available now.
For more information regarding Kiran Millwood Hargrave (@Kiran_MH)please visit her Twitter page.
For more information regarding Pan Macmillan (@panmacmillan) please visit www.panmacmillan.com.

The Mercies is a bleak, cold, tale that chills you through and makes you grateful for modern comforts and the distance we’ve come in female autonomy.

It’s set in the most remote northern corner of Norway in 1617. At the start, the island’s male population are all lost in a freak storm, leaving the women of the island to get by alone. But 1617 is the time of witch trials and independent women are suspicious in the eyes of a puritanical church.

It’s the kind of book that made me pour over maps and want to train up in some basic skills. The writing is wonderfully sparse to reflect the nature of the content, and there’s also a pleasing gay love story to keep the chill from becoming too unbearable.