The Mercies is Kiran Millwood Hargraves adult novel debut and it certainly didn’t disappoint.
I’m a fan of Kiran’s middle grade and YA works so was highly anticipating this release.

The writing style is absolutely stunning. It’s a slow pace, beautifully told story but still captures the brutality of the actions that unfold.

'Winter, 1617. The sea around the remote Norwegian island of Vardø is thrown into a reckless 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. 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 the island to heel. With him travels his young wife, Ursa. In her new home, and in Maren, Ursa finds something she has never seen before: independent women. But Absalom sees only a place flooded with a terrible evil, one he must root out at all costs...'

This was a brilliantly atmospheric read with vivid and captivating characters, especially the way that female characters are crafted and developed throughout the narrative. Set against the backdrop of King James I’s ‘Daemonologie’ and vow to rid the UK from witches, this would be a great text to set as wider reading for English GCSE students alongside Shakespeare's Macbeth. I can imagine my students loving this and I can't wait to introduce them to it. Proper, goosebump inducing reading!

Many thanks to Netgalley, Pan Macmillan and Kiran Millwood Hargrave for this book. I quite enjoyed much of this book but found it rather slow going for much of the first half. The second half was definitely better though the ending felt rather rushed which was a pity. It was beautifully written with some lovely descriptive passages and great characters. This was a very interesting story that was based on real barely-known events that actually took place in northern Norway hundreds of years ago.

4.5/5

The Mercies was one of those books that I'd requested on Netgalley just before the release date but never got around to reading. Well, I don't know why I waited so long to pick it up! This is definitely a book that I need a physical copy of because I truly loved it and believe it deserves a place on my favourite books shelf.

I understand that this is a polarising book - some people loved it and some people hated it, and I can totally see why it wouldn't appeal to some people. This book is one that requires a reader who appreciates the art of a slow burn, who doesn't need constant action but wants a deeper look into the complexity of relationships between friends, families, and lovers alike. Each relationship unravels into its own thread so intricately: the friendship between Kristen and Maren; the tense companionship between Maren and Diinna; the intense love between Maren and Ursa. Maren is our protagonist but, in the book, it's as if she's a secondary observer. Nothing particularly happens to her, but a lot happens to the people around her and we see the way that these events affect her actions, her personality, her relationships.

The only reason I knocked half a star off was that, while I appreciate a slow burn, I felt as though the earlier parts of the book felt a little repetitive and that the conclusion could have been brought around a little quicker. Most of the action starts to happen around the 70% mark which is standard in a slow burn, but I think this book would have worked just a tiny bit better had the action come a little sooner. Still, nothing happened in this book that I hated.

It has unlikeable characters which, generally, I hate, but I think it worked so well for this narrative. Absalom was completely unbearable and many of the characters made stupid and unreasonable decisions, but that really helped to move the plot along and create a more intense story. The unlikeable characters were completely necessary, in this case!

Overall, I really, really enjoyed The Mercies and I'm definitely in the market for a physical copy. This is one for those of you who enjoy a slow burn story, with hints of witchcraft and LGBT+ representation.

Thank you to Netgalley, Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Pan Macmillan/Picador for providing me with an e-copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Great book. I loved reading it. Very interesting and covers alot of information

This is very much a "It's not you, it's me" situation. In theory, this sounds right up my street - the cover and the premise just sounds wonderful and I've heard really good things about the author's writing - but I can't connect to the writing or the characters in a way I hope.

I know other people will really enjoy this slow-burn, character driven read, but sadly, this wasn't my cup of tea.

Having been born and brought up in a Scottish fishing community, it was the premise for The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave that first attracted me to the audiobook. That, along with the fact that it is narrated by the extremely talented Jessie Buckley.

It is based around two historical facts. The first, a devastating storm that hit Finnmark on the Norwegian coast on Christmas Eve 1617, sweeping away 40 local fishermen from the tiny community of Vardø. As well as the influence of a Scot in directing King Christian in the horrific spate of witch trials of 1620.

I’m finding it hard to say more without with giving too much away, but I found it interesting that when the women first found themselves alone, they pulled together through necessity; completing jobs, like fishing, that their menfolk used to do. However, once outside influences were planted at the very heart of their community, the fragile solidarity they had built began to wither. From early on, there is a creeping sense of dread, that builds and builds and builds. But although the plot is truly shocking (particularly when we remember is it based on fact), I was just as fascinated by the way the women coped in such challenging circumstances, only to be swept up in a kind of group-think manic frenzy when a new leader appeared. It is said that we can learn from history, and although actual witch hunts no longer take place in Europe, perhaps, when at its worst, social media has become the modern-day witch hunter? The Mercies is a dark, fascinating read.

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan/Picador, and the author Kiran Millwood-Hargrave.
I actually said "wow" audibly as I finished the last page of this book. A little slow to start, and at other times, but with an incredibly powerful ending that has left me thinking about it for hours afterwards.
This novel is wonderfully written, with incredibly developed and nuanced characters, made all the more remarkable by the fact that it is set in the 1600s. As another reviewer eloquently put it, "the muddy, cold life and politics of a fishing village leap to vivid life."
I'm going to borrow the words from the author's own epilogue to summarise this beautiful and chilling novel. "This story is about people, and how they lived; before why and how they died became what defined them."
A truly incredible book, highly recommended. 5 stars.

This was well written, but I didn't really connect with any of the characters and found the initial event somewhat unbelievable (even though apparently based on real events).
A shocking story that we've heard before and are possibly living through now in some sense, but not one of my favourite reads.

Based on a historical event, ‘The Mercies’ by Kiran Millwood Hargrave tells the story of a village on a remote island in 17th century Norway after a once-in-a-lifetime storm kills the village’s fishermen. Following the loss of their husbands, brothers and sons, Vardø becomes a settlement of women. At first they grieve then they struggle to survive without men, but survive they do. Eighteen months later a government official arrives to impose control on a female population at the edge of nowhere. He finds the women behaving in an unseemly manner, behaving as men, forsaking church and flirting with officially disapproved-of Sámi rituals.
Hargrave tells the story of the women of Vardø through the viewpoints of two very different women. Maren Magnusdatter’s fiancé Dag is killed in the storm. So are her father and brother. She lives in a claustrophobic house with her elderly mother, her Sámi sister-in-law Diinna and Diinna’s son Erik. Ursula lives in Bergen with her widowed father and sister. When her father proposes a marriage match to Absalom Cornet, a Scottishman, Ursa imagines ice and darkness. She sails north with her new husband, a stranger, of whom she knows nothing.
When they arrive on the island of Vardø, Ursa is unused to the ways of the far north, the cold, the starkness of life and, used to a servant, cannot keep house or make food. Her house becomes slovenly, her thin inadequate clothes caked with mud. Maren takes pity on the newcomer and helps her prepare meat and make a coat from furs. A close friendship grows between the two women. Hargrave’s portrayal of the machinations of this small female community – the alliances, the petty jealousies, the childhood envies, the gossip, the lies – is spot-on. But while the women are watching each other, Commissioner Cornet is watching them and looking for signs of witchcraft. Maren and Ursa encourage Diinna to at least attend church, to set aside her Sámi folklore habits of stones and poppets, but Diinna will not become someone she is not. And then Ursa’s husband makes his first arrest and for the first time Ursa understands she is married to a witchfinder.
I quickly became absorbed in the story of these women and the situation in which they find themselves. It is a difficult read at the beginning, the setting is dour and the life hard, descriptions of the daily privations are depressing, but the growing relationship between the two women lies at the core of the story.
The middle section sags a little as there is a pause in the action, waiting for the witch hunting to begin. The final third is devastating.
A fascinating book about a harrowing story.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

A hauntingly atmospheric tale about the small settlement of Vardø and the historic events that unfolded there. Hargrave’s language is always lyrical, always beautiful and firmly places you in the scene. Whether it’s a storm washed village, a creaking ship or an upstairs room nursing a sister with CF, each description is gripping and bears the weight of the narrative.

The Mercies was initially a haunting read. It was atmospheric and depicted the landscape of Early Modern Norway in a sinister and beautiful way. Part folk tale, part mystery, part slice of life, the book follows the women of the small town of Vardo as they try to rebuild their life following the death of all of the men from their town in a violent storm that sunk their fishing boats.

Maren Bergensdatter takes a central role in the rebuilding of their livelyhood, going so far as to go out on the sea with several other women to fish. This is forbidden by the strict rules of Norweigan society at the time but Vardo is so far out of reach of the King that Maren believes their survival to be more important that following the rules. The town falls into a routine and survives, with each of the women taking on part of a man's role in their own way. They move on, despite their tragedy, until a man is sent is sent from Scotland to become the local representative of the King in the town.

This man, Absolom Coronet, brings with him a Norweigan wife, Ursa and a dedication to bring Christianity to Vardo and rid it of its pagan influences. To Absolom, the pagan ways of the nomadic Sami caused the tragedy that cost Vardo its men, but to Vardo, the ways, runes and people of the Sami are a distinct part of their way of life. It becomes up to Maren to balance opposing forces of Absolom and Vardo all whilst caring for her family.
Maren and Ursa grow ever closer, defying Absolom, and putting themselves in danger.

Maren is a brilliant character, an incredibly relatable anchor that the town of Vardo is built around, but that's not to say the side characters are any less brilliant. My favourite character is Kirsten who singlehandedly manages to keep the town afloat and who dares to challenge the social expectations of her gender despite the will of the King. Ursa is interesting and she really feels like a fish out of water, shes clueless to the lives of every day women and clueless to the nature of her husband, but shes not one dimensional. every character has depth and a sense of self, and even the motivations of Absolom Coronet seem reasonable within the confines of the era, which makes him all the more terrifying.

Thank you to Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this e-arc of The Mercies and apologies for not having posted this review earlier.

Vardo, Norway, Christmas Eve 1617, a remote northern settlement where a storm of epic and cruel proportions wipes out the menfolk in this small fishing community, leaving the womenfolk bereft and without the means to provide for themselves.

Eighteen months later, the women have developed their fish catching skills to become self-sufficient, but the arrival of Absalom Cornet, a God-fearing man summoned from Scotland to put the Vardo women back in their place, i.e. God fearing lessers, but unbeknownst to the women of Vardo, Cornet is a witch finder.

The main characters are Maren, who lost her father and brother in the storm, and Absalom’s wife Ursa, a genteel lady from the city of Bergen, trapped in a loveless arranged marriage. These completely polar characters form a deep bond and find solace in each other.

The story is written in such a way that it reflects this impoverished community in the centre of this horrendous and terrifying environment. The world building pulls you into the bleak and deprived environment and compels you to feel the horrendous conditions imposed upon these women. In addition the fact that this whole story is based on real life events, just brings the horror to the fore.

If you are looking for a tale that brings the true horror of such events to life, whilst also delivering compelling and strong world building, then this is the book for you.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this book, I loved this book and this author, she has a great way of writing and just makes me want to read in one sitting. The plot is also so interesting and I highly recommend this book. 4.5 stars

This book is so so beautiful. It's set in the 1600's in a town called Vardo. A few chapters into the book a storm hits and kills all of the men in the town. This leaves the woman to take charge and deal with food, building homes and such. This book deals with feminism and equality.

In this book we see men send a man as a commissioner to the island to see if there are any witches/ sorcerers there as they want to put them on trial. They think that there are witches in this town as they don't understand how women could manage on their own. This book made me so pissed off at some characters throughout this book. In a good way. It brings up all the issues that women used to face and to be honest, still do.

I'm sorry if I'm not articulating this very well but this is about a cause that is close to my heart and I'm sure many others. As I got further and further in I found myself absolutely sobbing. This book also includes a female/ female relationship that is just so beautiful and I cried.

The Mercies is a gorgeous and intricate novel which weaves the story of the 'witches' of the past. I had never heard about what had happened in Vardo so it was really interesting to learn about it whilst also falling for the characters of this story.

I was on Instagram one day and saw the lovely Charlie from otterly_bookish was holding a little readalong and thought 'you know, wht not' so I joined in and glad I did, because the group was full of some really lovely ladies, and also I did recieve this book as an ARC from Netgalley, but could not get into it on my Kindle, not sure why, but felt that this had potential, and decided to wait for the book to come out and re try.

I am glad that I did.

I knew that this was going to be a challenge for me, as I can usually tell by the write up from other people and the media, that it was one of these books that was going to be 'flowery' and 'literary' and generally these books are not normally my bag.

I decided that I would use of my Audible credits,as i know that, it would be better for me to listen to it and less chance that I would bail out, especially as I was part of the reading group.

The Narrator was excellent and really made the words come to life, she really had a talent for the accents and was able to deal with the Norwegian names well.

I had a little difficulty who was whom at the beginning with the different names of the charecters, so this was that type of audiobook, that you cannot walk out of the room and walk back in a couple of minutes later and still pick up the story.

The level of description in this novel is high, the writing is poetic and really observational ,you can really feel the emotion of the woman that we learn about and start to care for.

Having said that, I did have to push my way through this and fight the thought that I was getting a tad bored, I felt, as mentioned previuosly that the majority of this book was observational and did not feel that the story really got going until the back half of it.

I have been to Norway several times and really enjoyed it, so I have an affinity with this part of the world and allowed myself to really to imagine the scenery.

It really is a story of the persaverance and grit of these scandanavian woman of old, how like, we are in 2020 having to do, they got on with a new normal, they had to step up and get on with adversity, gel as a community and work together for a common end.

Along came a Scots man and his wife and well... I say no more except that religious overtones and witch hunts are a part of this narrative.

This,no matter the Hype, is not a book for everyone and will openly say this, if you love really detailed showing and not telling, then go for it, if you love a story of woman over adversity, then go for it, if you really want to connect with scenery then go for it, but if you want a quick read that will not stay with you after you have turned the last page, then this book is not for you.

This was a very unusual book, meticulously researched, deftly narrated I was there. For me it was a little too bleak, particularly the ending.

The Mercies by Kieran Millwood Hargrove is a powerful historical novel based on horrendous events that took place in seventeenth century Norway. I was particularly moved by the descriptive language depicting harsh living conditions and was horrified by the actions of the established church authorities. It is a fascinating read and I thoroughly recommend it.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers, Picador for Pan Macmillan for the opportunity to read it.

Tragedy strikes the small and isolated Norwegian island of Vardo one Christmas Eve when nearly all of the men living in the village are killed by an unexpected storm when out fishing.
That day, Maren Magnusdatter loses her father and brother, and along with the other mourning women, must learn how to survive without them.
Over a year later, Scotsman Absalom Cornet arrives in Vardo with his new wife, Ursa, sent there to bring about order and cleanse Vardo of its ungodliness.
Maren and Ursa form a friendship that will be put to the test by Absalom's actions as he attempts to stamp out the evil in Vardo.

The Mercies was inspired by a real storm that happened in Vardo as well as the witch trials in 1621, which I knew nothing about so that was an interesting aspect of the book for me. It's pretty horrifying to think of all the men and women who have been murdered over the years because they were accused of doing witchcraft or unnatural things.
The main characters were Maren and Ursa, who I both felt sorry for - Maren for how much she'd lost, and Ursa for having no say in her marriage to Absalom, who I didn't like at all.
Maren and Ursa's friendship was probably my favourite thing about the book, and I was glad that they had each other.
I enjoyed the setting, which was bleak and dreary. I could almost feel the cold of Vardo as I read.
Going into The Mercies I had no idea that there was queer representation, so that was a pleasant surprise.
The plot was good overall, but it was a bit slow for me at times, and I wasn't as gripped or invested in the story and characters as I thought I would be.
The writing style took me a few chapters to warm to, but it was easy enough to follow.
I am a bit disappointed that I didn't like this more, but I did end up enjoying it.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.