Slow start on this very unusual novel....beginning on the beach with the eye of a whale and then to a city. Women from diverse, desolate backgrounds come together during the little known witch hunts of 16th century Norway. Once I truly began reading, I could not put it down. So atmospheric. I'm looking for the other books by Hargrave.

This one was an interesting read!

It was very well written and transported you into the world effortlessly. I love the female leads and how the story unfolded. I can't believe this was based on true events! I need to brush up on my Norwegian 17th century history apparently.

Overall, an excellent and unique historical fiction!

This book! This book! It took my breath away! Kirin Millwood Hargrave has written an incredible piece of literature that should be on every persons list of books to read. Thank you to Little, Brown and Company as well as NetGalley for the perusal. I could not put the book down. From the first sentence, Ms. Millwood Hargrave has me in her clenches. I fell in love with all the women. The men, well, were depicted as they were in 1617. Looking upon women as their possessions. I despised Absalom, even the sound of his name is nauseating to me. Well I don’t want to spoil it for any future readers, suffice it to, say.....YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK! Incredible, fantastic, horrifying and addictive.

At first, I was not aware that this is based in historical fact, which makes the book that much better!

Full of atmosphere and gorgeously written. Hargrave reveals the arrogance of men and the church amid the witchcraft hysteria of the 1600s in stark terms. Maren and Ursa, two women with very different upbringings, are beautifully sympathetic and strong characters.

Finally a book I can get behind! This was such a fantastic read. The setting was new to me which was a great surprise as it was set in Norway. This historical fiction is based on true events which I absolutely loved. The book contains a beautiful love story as well, between two women and I really enjoyed reading something relevant to today and including communities (lgbtq) that are in enough stories. Kudos to the author, Kiran Millwood Haragrave, for creating such a great book.

The Mercies is a story of an island of Norwegian women who are left to fend for themselves after their men are killed in a vicious storm. Set in the 1600s, the women must contend with two new visitors, Ursa and Absalom. Absalom is determined to root out witchcraft and spread Christianity throughout the country.

This novel is a literary masterpiece, with no word wasted. Hargrave evokes a visceral experience with her writing, making readers feel the cold and even smell the smoke of women burned alive due to fragile masculinity. Although a fictitious narrative, the base of the story of unfortunately true and details what women and minorities have gone through under the vicious hands of power and self-righteousness.

Ahhh!!! yes, yes, yes. I thoroughly enjoyed The Mercies filled with amazing characters, excellent plot and superb worldbuilding. Based on true events that happened to a fishing village in 1617 when a storm hits and kills most of the men in the village who went out fishing. The women now left alone to defend themselves and have no time to grieve, some defy patriarchal norms take on the more traditional masculine roles. The women seem to be doing fine when an outsider comes along driven by the king and god to spread their Christian values to this heretic village. This makes for a book that hits awfully close to home for women and an unputdownable read. I loved our two main characters and how they form such a close and, in this period of history, fatal, you just cannot help to root for them. And the incorporation of witch hunting to the plot. There really is no time in history that women have played such a singular role.
Overall, The Mercies is an excellent historical read. If you love reading about independent women, the unfortunate influence of men and witch trials you will love this book.

I love historical fiction and two areas that I particularly enjoy reading are Viking/Scandinavian ancient times and witch hunts. So The Mercies is firmly in a sweet spot of interest for me. The book is beautifully written and researched. It revolves around a group of women who face enormous hardship just trying to survive. When their husbands go missing at sea following a storm, the women pull together and learn to survive by supporting to keep the community alive. There is such rich descriptions of the culture and the women who firmly live outside their "prescribed" station in life.

The second half of the book shows how quickly a community can shift when outsiders join. The is forced to live under the strict rules of the Christianity of the time, it was an era where if you did not belong it was because you were in a league with the Devil. There is a rapid shift within the community from an environment where everyone is the same and all belong to finger-pointing and accusations. The old Norse ways and prayers are now seen as be-deviling and women who were once pillars of the community are accused of witchery. Families and friendships are tested with each woman wondering if there is anyone she can trust.

The story initially is slow and focuses more on the relationships and the atmosphere of the time but it is rich with historical details. If you liked Phillippa Gregory's Tidelands, then you will likely enjoy this one as well.

This is a book I would have enjoyed better on audio. I'm much more patient with slow, unraveling, character- driven tales on audio (provided there's a good narrator, of course). But when I'm reading a book, I need physical movement, description, even just character blocking. Being trapped in Maren's and Ursa's heads when they neither go anywhere nor do anything is so frustrating. When the primary force in the plot is "the church says women aren't allowed to have agency" I'd much rather have had a main character with agency (instead of a side character).

I also had heard that this book had LGBT+ rep. Having made it 54% through the book, with no real development on this front, I would have found it easy to write off Maren's attention as loneliness and longing for human contact after the death of her betrothed rather than an actual development of romantic feelings. But perhaps that development comes later and I was simply too impatient.

I regret that I am not a historical fiction reader. This came recommended by some of my favorite fantasy and LGBT+ authors, so I was expecting a bit more of a fantasy vibe. Perhaps this will be a better hit for fans of historical fiction. It felt well researched and authentic, with barriers of language, tradition, religion, money, and location all playing a role. But, alas, the book was not for me.

This is historical fiction done right! Which is to say, as a librarian, I really appreciated how well-researched this was. Not only is the writing engaging, driving, and vivid with description, but it really made me feel like I was in Norway in the 17th century. I am very sensitive to the portrayal (written or otherwise) of women's relationships with other women, and this felt totally authentic to me, which is rare and also, delightful. There's something special in relationships between women, romantic and/or platonic, which feels difficult to capture, but The Mercies shows that it can be done, and done well. Can I get a sequel please?

Up front, let me say that I did not finish this book. I stopped reading right around 50% and found it difficult to stay motivated to read. So keep that in mind for the context of this review.

I started off wanting to like this book. I often struggle with historical fiction because too many authors seem to want so badly to be Nathaniel Hawthorne. They try too hard to match the style of antiquated syntax and faux-high brow language structures and the result is almost always slogging through a lot of unnecessary purple prose to get to the actual story. This book does have a point in its favor in that the language and story telling doesn't fall into that trap. The style isn't so overwrought that it's exhausting. The problem, however is that the story seems to take so long to build up to anything rally happening. When a story starts off with a storm that wipes out an entire swatch of a population, it's going to be hard to keep that pace up. The stakes of this book feel so high, but the way it moves around the story doesn't seem to have the necessary urgency that the plot demands.

This next part may or may not be a spoiler, it happens pretty early in the book but if you like going in blind, skip this paragraph. I think I may have been able to finish this if not for the forced marrying off of Ursa. I don't know how I've managed to find my way to so many books recently where forced marriage--specifically, daughters being sold by their fathers to pay off a debt--is a major plot point but I find it exhausting. Especially when the book makes me read the rape scene that inevitably follows on their wedding night. I find this such an exhausting aspect of these kinds of stories but reading that immediately took me out of the book. The scene is from Ursa's point of view and the writing clearly takes her stance on the whole arrangement. This book, isn't by any means, glossing over the fact that it's not a completely consensual act, so that isn't the problem. It's just the frequency with which this pops up in a story about women that wears me down. So, proceed with caution.

I will still give this book a solid three stars, despite my personal inability to finish it. I think it's good for what it's doing and I was impressed with the writing style and the plot overall. If this is the genre that you gravitate towards, you will probably enjoy this.

WOW did I love this book.

In 1617 , a huge storm arrives suddenly. Nearly all of the men from the island Vardo are out fishing, and they are killed. The only men left on the island are a few elders and a few children. The women are left to fend for themselves. A few years later, a commissioner appointed by the king arrives, bearing a reputation of witch-hunting. His wife, Ursula, forms an intimate friendship with an island girl, Maren.

Normally historical novels aren't really my jam, but I was so intrigued by this premise, and I was so so excited to get an ARC. The language wasn't too archaic, and though it was slow-going sometimes with the addition of Norwegian words, I thought that was a really cool way for the author to orient the reader in the setting.

I'm so glad I took a chance on this book, because it was incredible. I really enjoyed getting to read both Maren and Ursa's perspectives, and I loved their friendship. I loved Ursula's willingness to ask for help, to admit to not knowing, and how Maren was kind and nonjudgmental. All of the characters (even the unlikable ones) felt well-crafted and very real. The loose ends left by various departures made me wish there was more to read, but I also understood that doing this reflected the reality of times, with the trouble of traveling and communicating. It made the ache the characters feel when they say goodbye more real.

The author did a wonderful job with the setting and the atmosphere, and with building up the emotions and tension toward the climax. I was pretty much shattered by the end. Props to this book for being able to destroy my heart.

I may have to buy a physical copy of this book just for the gorgeous cover, too.

In the far north of Norway in 1617, Maren stands on the rocky shore and watches as a sudden storm comes. Forth men, including her father and brother are drowned while out at sea. With the men wiped out, the women of this tiny Arctic village of Vardo must learn to fend for themselves.
Three years later, a Scottish minister, Absalom, arrives with his Norwegian wife, Ursa. Absalom burned witches in the Northern aisles, and sees a place untouched by God and evil in Vardo amongst the women.
This book was inspired by the real events of the Vardo storm and the witch trial of 1621.
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Having read a few books set in the 17th century about the witch trials, in Salem and in Lancaster, I’m fascinated by the subject and always feel flabbergasted at the “witch hunts”. It seems that the tests that were given to women accused of witchcraft would either kill them, or prove them to be a witch, so there was no good outcome.
This was good, feminist historical fiction. It started slow for me, the first half took me a while to get through, but had a good, albeit predictable, ending.

This would be a great winter read. It is about a community in Norway in the 1500s whose men all die in a freak storm while out fishing. The women are left to fend for themselves, when men from a foreign village enter their own and change the political landscape -- putting the women in danger for exercising their own power.

This book is well-written, atmospheric, and the characters feel fully realized. It is based on the real-life events of the storm of Vardø and the witch trials that followed. Liked the writing, not the ending.
~~Spoilers~~
The conclusion felt like a betrayal and an undoing of the character development and relationships. It felt ironic that a book talking about the evils Christian colonialism ended up killing off one half of it's central lesbian duo and leaving the other one exposed, abused, and trapped. While I do not believe that all feminist narratives need to end happily, I believe that the execution of the ending makes it such that it undoes any feminist character development that takes place in the rest of the narrative.

3.5 Stars: This is a difficult one for me to review, as I think I would have liked it better during a different time period. Set in the 1600's, Hargrave explores witch hunting, religious extremism, women's independence, love, as well as abuse, all taking place in one small village in Norway. Fascinating historical fiction based on real events, beautifully written and well executed, it was just a bit too 'gray' for me, a bit too sad, and with little lightness.

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The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave is a novel based on real occurrences which happen in a small Norwegian village of Vardø in the early 1600s. Ms. Hargrave is an award winning writer and poet.

A freak sudden storm has killed off most of the men of the small Norwegian coastal village of Vardø. Three years later, in 1620, Absalom Cornet was sent from Scotland to rid the island of witches. With Absalom comes his new Norwegian wife, Ursula.

Ursula has never seen such independent women before, but Absalom only sees a G-dless place, flooded by evil. Ursula also finds a soulmate in the presence of Maren, an island native, but their relationship is even more dangerous with Absalom’s iron rule and the might of a kingdom behind him.

This book has a great concept which piqued my interest, and when I read that it was based on actual events that made me want to read The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave even more. An island of women struggling in a harsh atmosphere, and foreign men who think they know better and want to “save” them from themselves.

The story takes place in Norway, during the first half the book deals with the death of most of the Vardø’s men, the few that are left cannot support the village in the harsh conditions. The women are left to fend for themselves as there is no help coming anytime soon to such a remote place. I found that part especially interesting, they had to learn how to fish, start fires, fix boats and houses, as well as deal with the looks they got from their minister.
But they have to live, and the minister understands this.

The second half of the book deals with the witch hunter, Absalom Cornet, who comes to the island to make his name within the church. With him, Absalom brings his new wife, Ursula, who did not know who she married. The story is told from the view point of Ursula and Maren, an island native, who grow very fund of each other. While some of the women in this small community embrace the literal witch hunt, they all have no idea what they got themselves into, and embraced, until it’s too late.

Ms. Hargrave tries to get the reader into the mind of the witch hunter and his fellow religious zealots. I had a hard time with this part of the book. It is difficult for me to imagine zealots of any religion believe in witches and other events which are contrary to our G-d given gifts of reason, deduction, and respect for our fellow human beings.

I found the story to be well researched and detail enough to build a picture without hurting the narrative. The writing is very engaging, almost lyrical, but the author somehow also manages to capture the harsh life and climate. The theme of harshness is all throughout this book. The women, tough, some unforgiving, live in very difficult conditions, about to be made even more difficult.

Can’t wait to add this to my book club! Very well-written, and it was a different kind of book, and a part of Scandinavian history I didn’t know about. Highly recommended!

One of these days I will learn to just leave anything described as "gripping" alone as I tend to interpret others' "gripping" stories as overwrought and tiresome. Fans of massive historical fiction tomes (or pseudo historical tomes) will likely enjoy this, but I just found it to be cumbersome and boring.

Interesting book with some good writing and research. Was not what I was looking for for my book box subscription. Not for me.