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The Mercies
A Historical Fiction Novel by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Subgenres:
- Feminist,
- Queer Romance
This book is for you if you're into...
- Arctic villages where women seize power after disaster
- Historical sapphic friendships that turn into forbidden romance
- Witch hunt paranoia threatening tight-knit communities
From Little Stack
At the centre of this story about a matriarchal society beholden to the rule of men, is a friendship between two women: Maren and Ursa. These very different women form a quick and unexpected bond, becoming each other’s confidant and balm. Eventually that connection deepens into something romantic, putting both women in danger as they skate on the edge of what is considered acceptable in their society.
The women in an Arctic village must survive a sinister threat after all the men are wiped out by a catastrophic storm. When the women take over, is it sorcery or power?
Finnmark, Norway, 1617. Twenty-year-old Maren Magnusdatter stands on the craggy coast, watching the skies break into a sudden and reckless storm. All forty of the village's men were at sea, including Maren's father and brother, and all forty are drowned in the otherworldly disaster.
For the women left behind, survival means defying the strict rules of the island. They fish, hunt, and butcher reindeer—which they never did while the men were alive. But the foundation of this new feminine frontier begins to crack with the arrival of Absalom Cornet, a man sent from Scotland to root out alleged witchcraft. Cornet brings with him the threat of danger—and a pretty, young Norwegian wife named Ursa.
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.
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