A mercy
(Book)
Author:
Published:
New York : Vintage International, 2009.
Format:
Book
Edition:
First Vintage International edition.
Physical Desc:
195 pages ; 21 cm
Status:
Description
A powerful tragedy distilled into a jewel of a masterpiece by the Nobel Prize—winning author of Beloved and, almost like a prelude to that story, set two centuries earlier.
In the 1680s the slave trade was still in its infancy. In the Americas, virulent religious and class divisions, prejudice and oppression were rife, providing the fertile soil in which slavery and race hatred were planted and took root.
Jacob is an Anglo-Dutch trader and adventurer, with a small holding in the harsh north. Despite his distaste for dealing in “flesh,” he takes a small slave girl in part payment for a bad debt from a plantation owner in Catholic Maryland. This is Florens, “with the hands of a slave and the feet of a Portuguese lady.” Florens looks for love, first from Lina, an older servant woman at her new master’s house, but later from a handsome blacksmith, an African, never enslaved.
There are other voices: Lina, whose tribe was decimated by smallpox; their mistress, Rebekka, herself a victim of religious intolerance back in England; Sorrow, a strange girl who’s spent her early years at sea; and finally the devastating voice of Florens’ mother. These are all men and women inventing themselves in the wilderness.
A Mercy reveals what lies beneath the surface of slavery. But at its heart it is the ambivalent, disturbing story of a mother who casts off her daughter in order to save her, and of a daughter who may never exorcise that abandonment.
Acts of mercy may have unforeseen consequences.
In the 1680s the slave trade was still in its infancy. In the Americas, virulent religious and class divisions, prejudice and oppression were rife, providing the fertile soil in which slavery and race hatred were planted and took root.
Jacob is an Anglo-Dutch trader and adventurer, with a small holding in the harsh north. Despite his distaste for dealing in “flesh,” he takes a small slave girl in part payment for a bad debt from a plantation owner in Catholic Maryland. This is Florens, “with the hands of a slave and the feet of a Portuguese lady.” Florens looks for love, first from Lina, an older servant woman at her new master’s house, but later from a handsome blacksmith, an African, never enslaved.
There are other voices: Lina, whose tribe was decimated by smallpox; their mistress, Rebekka, herself a victim of religious intolerance back in England; Sorrow, a strange girl who’s spent her early years at sea; and finally the devastating voice of Florens’ mother. These are all men and women inventing themselves in the wilderness.
A Mercy reveals what lies beneath the surface of slavery. But at its heart it is the ambivalent, disturbing story of a mother who casts off her daughter in order to save her, and of a daughter who may never exorcise that abandonment.
Acts of mercy may have unforeseen consequences.
Copies
Location
Call Number
Status
Middlefield/Coe Adult Collection
FIC HIS MORRISON
On Shelf
More Details
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780307276766, 0307276767
Accelerated Reader:
UG
Level 6.1, 7 Points
Level 6.1, 7 Points
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)
Morrison, T. (2009). A mercy. First Vintage International edition. New York, Vintage International.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Morrison, Toni. 2009. A Mercy. New York, Vintage International.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Morrison, Toni, A Mercy. New York, Vintage International, 2009.
MLA Citation (style guide)Morrison, Toni. A Mercy. First Vintage International edition. New York, Vintage International, 2009.
Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
538e3257-6e44-1f74-499b-e22b027958a0
Record Information
Last Sierra Extract Time | Apr 26, 2024 12:46:21 AM |
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Last File Modification Time | Apr 26, 2024 12:46:42 AM |
Last Grouped Work Modification Time | Apr 26, 2024 12:46:26 AM |
MARC Record
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003 | OCoLC | ||
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