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A review by veronicafrance
The Quality of Mercy by Barry Unsworth
4.0
I finished reading this yesterday, and today I learned that Barry Unsworth had died. He was a very talented historical novelist, although none of his other books, including this, matched up to [b:Sacred Hunger|239592|Sacred Hunger|Barry Unsworth|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223676733s/239592.jpg|2781088], one of the best historical novels I've read.
That's not to say this isn't a good book, just that it doesn't have the intensity and drama of Sacred Hunger. It's about mercy and justice, much of it taken up with court cases, so inevitably it's less exciting and more contemplative. I didn't feel the different strands necessarily meshed together that well, and after a strong start with Sullivan, I was sorry we didn't see more of him in the rest of the book. But Erasmus' gradual acquisition of at least a hint of mercy under the influence of his love for Jane was quite convincing.
Unsworth is always good at adopting an 18th-century tone, and this novel, with its domestic settings, is positively Austen like -- especially the end. Although it can be read standalone, I highly recommend that you read Sacred Hunger first.
In the same parcel I received Hilary Mantel's [b:Bring Up the Bodies|13507212|Bring Up the Bodies (Wolf Hall, #2)|Hilary Mantel|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1330649655s/13507212.jpg|14512257] -- but I decided to save it, and read this first in case it couldn't stand the comparison!
That's not to say this isn't a good book, just that it doesn't have the intensity and drama of Sacred Hunger. It's about mercy and justice, much of it taken up with court cases, so inevitably it's less exciting and more contemplative. I didn't feel the different strands necessarily meshed together that well, and after a strong start with Sullivan, I was sorry we didn't see more of him in the rest of the book. But Erasmus' gradual acquisition of at least a hint of mercy under the influence of his love for Jane was quite convincing.
Spoiler
I couldn't help wondering what a marriage between him and Jane would be like, so I'm rather sorry there won't be a sequel -- it did seem to be set up for one.Unsworth is always good at adopting an 18th-century tone, and this novel, with its domestic settings, is positively Austen like -- especially the end. Although it can be read standalone, I highly recommend that you read Sacred Hunger first.
In the same parcel I received Hilary Mantel's [b:Bring Up the Bodies|13507212|Bring Up the Bodies (Wolf Hall, #2)|Hilary Mantel|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1330649655s/13507212.jpg|14512257] -- but I decided to save it, and read this first in case it couldn't stand the comparison!