In the 1680s the slave trade was still in its infancy. In the Americas, virulent religious and class division, prejudice and oppression were rife, providing the fertile soil in which slavery and race hatred were carefully planted and took root. Jacob is an Anglo-Dutch trader and adventurer, with a smallholding 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 ...
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In the 1680s the slave trade was still in its infancy. In the Americas, virulent religious and class division, prejudice and oppression were rife, providing the fertile soil in which slavery and race hatred were carefully planted and took root. Jacob is an Anglo-Dutch trader and adventurer, with a smallholding 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', who can read and write and might be useful on his farm. Florens is hungry for love, at first from the older servant woman at her new master's house; but later, when she's sixteen, from the handsome blacksmith, an African, never enslaved, who comes riding into their lives...And all of them have stories: Lina, the native American servant, whose tribe was decimated by smallpox; their mistress Rebekka, herself a victim of religious fervour back in England; young Sorrow, daughter of a sea captain who's spent too many years at sea to be quite...normal; and, finally, there's Florens's own mother back home in Maryland. This is their plight - men and women inventing themselves in the wilderness. A Mercy reveals what lies under the surface of slavery, and the opening chapter of the story of sugar, that great maw which was to eat up millions of lives. But at its heart, like Beloved, this is the ambivalent, disturbing story of a mother and a daughter in a violent ad-hoc world - a world where acts of mercy, like everything else, have unforeseen consequences.
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Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $0.99, good condition, Sold by Dream Books Co. rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Denver, CO, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Knopf.
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Good. Gently used with minimal wear on the corners and cover. A few pages may contain light highlighting or writing but the text remains fully legible. Dust jacket may be missing and supplemental materials like CDs or codes may not be included. Could have library markings. Ships promptly!
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $0.99, good condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Knopf.
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Used book in good and clean conditions. Pages and cover are intact. Limited notes marks and highlighting may be present. May show signs of normal shelf wear and bends on edges. Item may be missing CDs or access codes. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $0.99, fair condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Knopf.
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Fair. Used book-May contain writing notes highlighting bends or folds. Text is readable book is clean and pages and cover mostly intact. May show normal wear and tear. Item may be missing CD. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $1.20, good condition, Sold by Books For Life rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Laurel, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Knopf.
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Book is in good condition. Minimal signs of wear. It May have markings or highlights but kept to only a few pages. May not come with supplemental materials if applicable.
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $1.92, fair condition, Sold by Goodwill of Orange County rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Ana, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Knopf Publishing Group.
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Fair. This is a USED book, it is subject to external and interior wear including, underlining, highlighting, annotations, water damage, minor scuffs and tears. This is a donated book accepted as is. Stickers and sticker residue on the cover should be expected, as well as spine wear from use. There are NO codes or disc(s) included. All items ship Monday-Friday within 2-3 business days. Thank you for supporting Goodwill of OC.
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $1.99, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Knopf Publishing Group.
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $1.99, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Knopf Publishing Group.
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $1.99, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Knopf Publishing Group.
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $1.99, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Vintage.
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $1.99, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Knopf Publishing Group.
A Mercy is not given enough attention. An important book and important part of Morrison's body of work.
Maggie1
Dec 29, 2009
a one day read
If you love Morrison, you know it usually takes a while to get through her complex books, but A Mercy is short enough- and simple enough- for an adult with a few hours of free time to read in one day. Morrison captures different characters by using different points of view skillfully and beautifully. A careful reader easily hears each person. If you're a mom, this book will resonate, as several of the women deal with child-related tragedy. I've read Beloved 6 times and loved it more each time, and A Mercy might not be "as good as" Beloved, but it is haunting, harsh, and gorgeous all at the same time.
bev47
Jan 30, 2009
Excellent Book- Very thought provoking yet easy to follow the different storylines. I LOVED the way to weaves in the significance of the title- You really feel the act as truly, A MERCY-
