A review by gillianhagenus
The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

5.0

One chapter into this book and I knew I would give it a five star review. In the beginning, it was the language that captured me; the ache of these women rendered so tangibly, the stark presence of their lives, the way you could feel yourself so solidly on the headlands of a small island in Norway in 1620 without ever having been anywhere even remotely like it. By the end, I knew I would have to give it five stars despite every visceral thing it pulled out in me. Because of every visceral thing it pulled out in me. It sounds dramatic; it sounds full on. But trust me when I say, if you are a woman, Hargrave's book will grip you tight and never let you forget it. It was at once tender and achingly beautiful, and storm-tossed and harrowing.