The Mercies

sehr gut

✨ The Mercies is a historical fiction filled with drama and heart-wrenching stories of people residing in a fishing village of Vardo, Finnmark. All the women, on the Christmas eve of 1617, stood witness to the vicious storm, engulfing forty of their men. Stricken with grief, the women are left to survive on their own, for three years. Until a holy man, decides to intervene, claiming it was ungodly for women to perform those tasks which are traditional to be performed by men. The village formerly has been tolerant in their ways to approach and co-exist with the beliefs of Sami’s, an indigenous tribe in the North. Commissioner Cornet, however, has deemed them heretics and did not concur to their pagan ways. He is adamant about purging the village and evert them to the old days. Commissioner Cornet, though holy but possesses a chauvinistic demeanor. The narrative switches from Maren to Ursa, who develop an unlikely friendship in unimaginable circumstances.
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✨ This story is about a time when the witch-hunting which swept across Europe from 1450 to 1750 was culminating, the horrendous and terrifying fold of events marking the holocaust of those times. The active center of which was Scotland, where more than four thousand people were scorched in flames, a staggering number for such a small country, and double the number of executions in England. The instigator of witch-hunting was none other than, James VI and I, of England and Scotland, son of Mary, Queen of Scotland. His mothers’ untimely abdication and petrifying death, has been said to play a keen role in his fixation on the subject. In 1597, he released a pamphlet, Demonologie (the science of demons), probably the only Monarch in history, who transmuted into a religious zealot and misogynist despite his unprejudiced predecessors. His ideology and emphasis were especially on the women who he thought were frailer than men, therefore could be easily swayed in the Devil’s snares.
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✨ In 1618, King Christian modeled a law based on the draft introduced by King James, targeting the Sami people of witchcraft, as repercussions, hundreds of women were executed or burn. The Mercies tells us a story about strong women, who strived to survive. About men, who will never see a woman’s strength other than Devil’s work or dark magic. A woman’s independence has and will always be a threat to patriarchal culture. It’s an impeccably written yet a very disturbing read. Recommended but must not be read during low streaks! Happy Reading.