'Every once in a while, a modern day parable, perfectly told, reflects all that could happen in a world gone mad. A searing historical novel.'- Naomi Wood, author of The Hiding Game and Mrs. I won't forget this story of these women in a Norway I knew little about.

It opened up a completely new chapter of history to me, and I loved the way it told its story in such beautiful language. Kiran has masterfully built up an incredible claustrophobic atmosphere, shot through with delicate intimacy.'- Tracy Chevalier, New York Times bestselling author of Girl With a Pearl Earring I read it with equal parts hope and dread. A beautifully rendered portrait of a community, a landscape, and a relationship. 'Spun from real-life events, this lyrical novel charts the aftermath of a fatal storm in a 17th century Norwegian fishing village: a town almost exclusively composed of women and girls, and the violent witch-burning newcomer hell-bent on their conversion.'- Vanity Fair ' The Mercies smolders more intensely than a pyre, whirling history's ashes defiantly into the wind.'- NPR.org an absorbing account of women finding power and grace and love even under the most harrowing circumstances.'- USA Today For such a novel to center on a cast of powerful women characters seems as appropriate to its historical context as it is to our time.'- Emily Barton, New York Times Book Review to remind us of the dangers of being swept up in a maelstrom of demagogy. Four hundred years after the events The Mercies portrays, we need stories.

In addition to its beautiful writing, its subject matter is both enduring and timely. The Mercies is among the best novels I've read in years. 'Hargrave spares the reader no gory details, whether of birth, miscarriage or the scent of a body burning at the stake. In clean, gripping sentences the author is wonderfully tuned to the ways and gestures of a seemingly taciturn people.'- Kirkus Reviews 'This chilling tale of religious persecution is served up with a feminist bite.

Kiran millwood hargrave the mercies