Stevie‘s review of The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
LGBT Historical Fiction published by Little, Brown and Company 11 Feb 20
Fiction based on real events, especially those that took place in the distant past or where those events were not widely documented, can be tricky to write in ways that feel authentic. A large number of individuals were involved in the events, making all of them distinctive without overwhelming the reader, can also become an issue. I approached this story from a perspective of knowing nothing about the events described, but also intrigued to see how a group of women from a close-knit community would come together following the loss of their menfolk and how that solidarity would come to threaten those within the wider population.
Maren is the first of the characters we meet, and we instantly gain an insight into her personality through her feelings of empathy for a beached whale, even as she recognises that its life cannot be saved and that its carcass will provide much needed resources for her family and their neighbours. The whale comes to represent a warning of what is to come. When the men of Vardø set out to fish, all are overcome by the forces of nature as a freak storm overturns and destroys their boats.
Initially, the women rally together to retrieve the bodies of the men and set about ensuring that all families are equipped to survive the coming winter. Maren’s sister-in-law, Diinna, is an outsider, one of the nomadic Sámi people, who still follow the old religion and provide protective rituals and charms to the townsfolk. This leads to the first source of friction in the village, as most of the men are prepared for burial under Christian rites, while a few are prepared according to Diina’s instructions. Meanwhile, one of the other widows, Kirsten, emerges as a leader for the group, taking on male roles and clothing and encouraging the others to do the former, if not the latter.
Kirsten’s assumed leadership splits the group, with some of the women denouncing her as unnatural and un-Christian, while others, like Maren, take to the roles they have been forced into while still mourning those they have lost. As news of the events reaches the men in power, it is decided to impose new, male leaders on the community: a new Pastor, who arrives first, followed by two Scots, a Lennsman to rule over the area and assisted by Absalom Cornet, who has successfully apprehended witches and brought them to trial in Edinburgh.
On his way north through Norway, Absalom seeks out a wife, Ursula, the daughter of a merchant. Although Ursa finds life in Vardø difficult at first, she is able to seek help and instruction from Maren. As the two young women become close, Absalom begins to act on accusations of witchcraft levelled against Diina, Kirsten, and some of the other women. As the accused flee or are arrested, Maren and Ursa have to decide which of their own actions are likely to place them equally in danger and whether there is any way that they can save Maren’s friends without causing further trouble for themselves.
I enjoyed this book. At times the language felt a little too overblown and not necessarily in keeping with the harshness of the circumstances that the women found themselves in. I would, however, like to learn more about the historical events that the story was based on.
Grade: B
Summary:
Finnmark, Norway, 1617. Twenty-year-old Maren Magnusdatter stands on the craggy coast, watching the sea break into a sudden and reckless storm. Forty fishermen, including her brother and father, are drowned and left broken on the rocks below. With the menfolk wiped out, the women of the tiny Arctic town of Vardø must fend for themselves.
Three years later, a stranger arrives on their shore. Absalom Cornet comes from Scotland, where he burned witches in the northern isles. He brings with him his young Norwegian wife, Ursa, who is both heady with her husband’s authority and terrified by it. In Vardø, and in Maren, Ursa sees something she has never seen before: independent women. But Absalom sees only a place untouched by God, and flooded with a mighty evil. As Maren and Ursa are drawn to one another in ways that surprise them both, the island begins to close in on them, with Absalom’s iron rule threatening Vardø’s very existence.
Inspired by the real events of the Vardø storm and the 1621 witch trials, The Mercies is a story of love, evil, and obsession, set at the edge of civilization.
Read an excerpt.
