I find that any book about witch trials creates first and foremost a feeling of impotent helplessness. The thing that makes men burn them them is the fear that their own power is being stolen. The appeal of being a witch is the embracing of women's power. Wearing trousers, fishing, taking too deep an interest in other women - these are the sins that will send them to the stake.

Instead they're accused of variations on two crimes: The first is finding comfort their pre-Christian religious traditions, and the second is acting like men. The women who the Commissioner comes for aren't really practicing magic arts. But The Mercies isn't really about witchcraft at all. Funny how, when women's rights are threatened, the zeitgeist turns to witchcraft in a desperate search for a supernatural power that women alone can wield. Witches have been having an ongoing moment in pop culture. Terrified of her husband, she hesitantly looks for comfort among Vardø's headstrong and independent women.īook Reviews 'Reverie' Dreams Outside The Box

He brings his new wife, Ursa, who is accustomed to a sheltered and privileged life and is wholly unprepared for the hardships of the far north. He has done this work before - the work of finding and burning witches.īut the Commissioner does not arrive in Vardø alone. It soon becomes clear that he has come with a dark purpose: to root out the magic that he is certain caused the storm and continues to corrupt the women of Vardø. It comes as a shock when, long after it seems like the world had forgotten them, a new Commissioner is summoned to oversee what remains of their village. Maren feels so alone, it's as if the storm washed away her entire life. Her mother is strange and distant, and her Sami sister-in-law draws into herself, not caring if the other women know that she's turning to non-Christian beliefs and charms for comfort. Her father, brother, and fiancé are all dead.

Maren lost almost everything in the storm. Left on their own, they swallow their grief and set about trying to survive. The women watch as the sea consumes their husbands, fathers, and brothers whole. A storm blows up so suddenly that it seems like evil magic and wipes out the entire male population of Vardø, a little fishing village off the coast of Norway. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title The Mercies Author Kiran Millwood Hargrave

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