• 5 Star Reads
  • Audiobooks
  • Books on Screen
  • Children’s Books
  • Christian
  • Fiction
  • Giveaways

5 Minutes For Books

  • Home
  • About
    • Who Are We? Reviewer Bios
    • 5 Star Reads
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
    • About Us
  • Join In
    • 5 Minutes for Books Bookclub
    • Children’s Classics
    • Kids’ Picks
    • What’s on Your Nightstand
  • Link To Us
  • Contact
    • Advertise

A Mercy

January 23, 2009 by Lauren

As 2008 came to a close, I felt like I was in a reading rut. I decided to look for something different. As I perused the Times’ Bestseller List, I noticed Toni Morrison’s A Mercy. Although I haven’t read any of her previous works, Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize-winning author, so I chose A Mercy as one of my first books of 2009.
Photobucket
A Mercy is set in the Americas in the 1680s. The slave trade is beginning to grow, and race and religion play a vital role in the communities scattered throughout the wilderness. When visiting a man who owes him money, Jacob Vaark is offered a slave as payment. Florens, a young African-American girl, is pushed forward by her mother to go with Jacob. This moment of Florens’ life defines her, and the consequences of this action reach far into the future.

At the risk of making myself sound simple-minded, I will confess that at the end of the first chapter I thought, “I have no idea what I just read.” You can imagine my relief when I later saw a national review of the book that mentioned the first few chapters are challenging (I haven’t lost all my brain cells). Each of the chapters in A Mercy is told from the viewpoint of a different character. Ms. Morrison, however, doesn’t label the chapters; it is the reader’s job to figure out who is talking or being talked about. The chapters also go back and forth from the present to the past, which added to my confusion. By using the inside of the book jacket and by rereading a few of the beginning passages, I was able to sort things out in my mind and proceed.

I am glad I did.

A Mercy is a story about slavery, but it is much deeper than a simple tale about a young African-American girl. The main characters of the story are women who, although they are different races, are all slaves on some level. Being a woman during this time was difficult. I was fascinated by the lives of these women, as well as the clashes between the Native Americans, the settlers, the slaves, and those from different religious backgrounds. This is not a heartwarming story, but Ms. Morrison’s writing is beautifully descriptive and thought-provoking. My only disappointment was that the story was so brief; I felt it ended as I was becoming invested in the characters. I would have liked to journey with them a little longer.

Although I wouldn’t list A Mercy as one of my all-time favorite books, it was certainly worth reading. My 2009 book list is off to a good start.

Lauren is a wife, a mother of two, and an avid reader. She blogs at Baseballs and Bows.

Filed Under: Fiction, Historical, Lauren, Literary

« Robie Harris Picture Books
10-Minute Time Outs for You and Your Kids »

Comments

  1. Dawn says

    January 23, 2009 at 12:34 pm

    I am definitely looking forward to this one– the media buzz about it put it on my TBR list. I am somewhat embarrased to say that I’ve never read anything by Toni Morrison, so I’m feeling that I need to rectify that soon. 🙂

  2. Alyce says

    January 23, 2009 at 3:38 pm

    I haven’t read this book yet, but I have definitely had those moments of “what in the world did I just read” while reading some books (One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez would top that list.)

    A Mercy sounds like it would be a good read though.

  3. Margot says

    January 23, 2009 at 6:37 pm

    Thank you for your honest assessment of this book. I’ve noticed it on the bestseller lists also and put a request in at the library for the audiobook. It’s good to have a heads up about the first few chapters before I begin.

  4. Samara says

    January 23, 2009 at 7:31 pm

    This book is in my TBR pile next to my bed. Sounds like it will be a good read. The synopsis in the catalog caught me but your review has really clinched it for me. I like a challenge and books with ‘character’. Hehheh!

  5. Olga says

    January 23, 2009 at 7:42 pm

    Toni Morrison is definitely hard to read. I read Beloved several years ago, yet I feel like I haven’t read it at all, because it was so hard. I believe it was a little too hard for my age at the time. It’s nice to see that I’m not the only one who has had trouble reading her stuff, though. The book sounds very interesting. Perhaps I’ll give her another try with A Mercy.

  6. drey says

    January 25, 2009 at 7:22 pm

    I almost picked this up last year, but it’s now on my library list. Thank you for reading & reviewing it. =)

Trackbacks

  1. Saturday Review of Books: January 24, 2009 at Semicolon says:
    January 26, 2009 at 11:37 pm

    […] Carrie, RtK (Family Shoes)6. Semicolon (The Disreputable History of Frankie-Landau Banks)7. 5M4B (A Mercy)8. 5M4B (The Strictest School in the World series)9. 5M4B (The Little Giant of Aberdeen County)10. […]

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Welcome to 5 Minutes for Books. We are a team blog dedicated to sharing reviews and information about children's lit, fiction, memoir, and more. Read More…

Reviews

5 Minutes for Books

Jennifer Donovan
Managing Editor

MEET OUR TEAM



Connect With Us


Pinterest

Community

Cybils Logo Draft 3

Disclosure:

Find out about our relationships with publishers and affiliate networks in our full disclosure statement.

Recent Posts

  • Gillespie Field Groove
  • If I Had a Hammer
  • Hyphenated Relations
  • The Vanishing at Castle Moreau
  • Tending the Fire that Burns at the Center of the World

Categories

Privacy Policy    |     Disclosure Policy
Terms & Conditions
© 5 Minutes for Mom

Let’s Socialize

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Pinterest is Our FAVORITE!

Find and Follow Us at
pinterest.com/5min4books

Copyright © 2023 · Tasteful theme by Restored 316