A Mercy

Toni has a way of guiding you to this window of peering into the past that feels so transportive and beautiful but so tragic and haunting. Her characters have a way of taking up space within you that you didn’t know you had. I will forever think of Lina, Florens and Sorrow. Although this book is very short the story itself is beyond measure. She builds upon the characters, land and history with such detail and intention that you feel the ground beneath you, you can hear the cicadas, you fear the house that houses those with smallpox, you can see the river where Lina bathed. It is so captivating and I think some of Toni’s best work truly. In my very proud opinion she is the greatest american writer ever. no matter the gender or race she is it. I miss her terribly. Thank you Toni for sharing your gift with the world.

By juxtaposing the ideas of abandonment versus love, new life versus death, Toni Morrison takes any stereotype that surrounds slave narrative and throws it out the window, instead delving into the personal side of slavery; even traditional narrative style is denied in favor of rapidly changing narrators. In effect, her most recent novel A Mercy pushes the reader to places he or she may not have been before and forcing him or her to reconsider preconceived notions of gender and what is considered merciful. With a rotating narrator, A Mercy illustrates how an individual's experience shapes the story of the whole. The reader follows the Vaants, a family unified by abandonment. With each new chapter, a different voice tells a different part of the story. With this method, Morrison allows the reader to connect with each character on a more fundamental level, learning what makes each individual different and damaged. When together, the characters work to heal one another, finding, in most cases, the companionship necessary to begin healing in their new family. The patriarch and slave owner, Jacob, trades goods across the north and rum across the ocean. The title of the novel comes from his accepting of a slavegirl, Florens, as partial payment of a debt. Though Vaant sees the act as merciful, Florens can only see her mother's abandonment. As the story progresses, we are introduced to a multitude of characters, including a cast of unique females: Rebekka, Vaant's mail-order bride who has lost every child she birthed, Lina, the sole survivor of a Native American tribe purchased by Vaant to keep Rebekka company, and Sorrow, the daughter of a sea captain and the only survivor after the ship sinks. While Rebekka, Lina and Florens form a group of their own, Sorrow is ostracized for her daftness and bad luck that Lina believes she carries, and yet she finds happiness when alone with her invisible friend, Twin. The modern reader would be able to recognize many of Sorrow's traits as symptoms of schizophrenia. A unifying quality among the women is an ability to love: Florens is consumed with desire for a freed slave working as a blacksmith, Rebekka loves her new home, husband and friend she finds in Lina, Lina ultimately adopts Florens as her own daughter and tries to protect her from the dangers she will face in the world and her travels, and Sorrow loves Twin at first, and finally her daughter. In less than 200 pages, the reader sees each individual struggle with challenges they face. First, Jacob falls into the glitzy trap set by selling rum - he starts out wanting to provide for his family, but becomes addicted to lavishness, building multiple houses on his property that he will never need and has no heir to inherit. While Jacob cannot accept not having an heir, Rebekka grieves for the losses of each of her four children. After losing her husband to small pox and coming close to death herself, Rebekka eventually withdraws into herself and becomes devastatingly jealous of Sorrow and her infant. Florens is sent to find the blacksmith, who holds the cure to Rebekka's illness and the key to Florens' heart. After finding herself with blood on her hands, Florens must find a way to live with her guilt. In Florens' absence, Sorrow struggles with the many farm chores, her progressing pregnancy and ostracization within the Vaant family. With one worker gone and one unable to work due to her pregnancy, Lina struggles to keep the farm in working order while trying to keep Rebekka alive. Together, the women all face the multitude of challenges and hardships that life provides. At first a challenging read while adapting to each narrator's voice (especially Florens' vernacular, stream-of-consciousness tongue), Morrison's unique writing style will keep the reader interested and provides a multi-faceted look at each situation. Furthermore, the rotating narrator (and lack of clues in chapter titles) forces the reader to get involved in order to identify with each character more, allowing him or her to feel what the character feels, be it a lover's emotion after feeling rejected, a mother's anguish of losing a child, or a woman's joy of finding her place and finally feeling Complete. Beautifully written with lyrical descriptions and vivid imagery, A Mercy is a novel that you will not want to put down - not a word or phrase is wasted in the 196 pages of text. Fast-paced and never dull, it provides a fresh take on an old topic, illustrating the turmoil while remaining an enjoyable read. Though I would have preferred more closure in Florens' story, I would have to put this novel in the top ten percent of my all-time favorite reads. It is works like this one that prove Toni Morrison worthy of her Nobel Prize, showing her ability to write a beautiful story in such a short amount of space.

Two decades after her first novel "The Bluest Eye", had been published in 1970, Toni Morrison disclosed in an Afterword that she was dissatisfied with the book's language and its structure, and that it 'required a sophistication unavailable to me', she had confessed. Be that as it may, whether that was the case or not, I believe her first novel stands on its own merits, although, the sophistication she referred to, if you will, can be found in her newest work, "A Mercy". Without question, in my view, it is very much a contemporary classic work which resonates, not only with sophistication, but wisdom as well, after all it has been 39 years since the writing of her first novel and Morrison's insights into human nature, especially within the context of race relations, is quite profound. Morrison has certainly put to good use her fertile mind, her imaginative ideas, and her passion to tell a story, a history of slavery that to her has always been too close for comfort but always within reach--emotionally within her grasp. Certainly her rich family ancestry has passed on to Morrison, many of the stories she so vividly talks about in all her books. The many heartfelt tales her wonderful characters portray and live out throughout her novels, in one form or another, are as breathtaking as they are heart-breaking, and more so, is the story told by Florens in this story. An unknown character, who we soon learn, named Florens, opens this tale with a confession. A bloody deed. She tells of how she plans and plots her way to YOU, as she refers to the reader's conscience, as I understand it. Almost as if she wants us to be co-conspirators, or witnesses to her crime. At first, this is a confusing, albeit a necessary ploy on Morrison's part. Confusing because the narrative, its syntax that is, is somewhat unusual, because of the narrator's awkward phrasing, and necessary because Morrison knows how to involve her readers'-her audience in a partnership. She's a master at getting her readers to participate and become an active part or a willing character in her stories and I believe she succeeds brilliantly in this case. But it is after that short, poetic, first chapter. The chapter you must read twice, in order to get it, that the story opens up as Jacob Vaark, the "white-man's conscience" in the story makes his entrance and stirs things up a bit. But of course, the very astute Morrison gives Vaark a formidable handicap: He is just as human as any other white man and therefore just as greedy, despite his admonition: "His distaste for dealing in flesh". Morrison goes on and makes wise use of her invisible, sinister, narrator that opens the story, by using this narrator to begin many other chapters, slowly and methodically cluing us in on her devious plot. The task, the errand at hand she has been sent to carry out in the name of justice. In the name of her mother, a minha mae. (Meaning, "my mother" in Portuguese.) It is all very intriguing and as always, Morrison's plots are very active and take many turns and multiple points of view, which adds a wonderful texture to her writing. If I had one tiny criticism, which I've justified in my own mind, it is that the ending sounds a bit preachy and authorial. Maybe even hard-hitting to those who receive the character's (and consequently, the author's) brave message. A message that Morrison has penned in subtler ways since her first novel. A message of her pain and the long-suffering among Blacks in a predominantly White world. The injustice wrought on her and her people throughout many generations. A strong admonition that nonetheless needs to be heard, and heeded. I just don't agree that it should be delivered so transparently in a work of fiction. (Could Toni Morrison be testing the waters for her take on an upcoming non-fiction account of slavery? We'll see.) The characters in this novel are also delineated superficially, which is most likely intentional, as the plot and it's main theme, namely, injustice, are at the center of this powerful and beautifully written story. If you're a newcomer to Morrison's writing, any of her great novels is a good place to start enjoying everything she has to offer. Start with her first, as mentioned, "The Bluest Eye", and work your way up, one by one, up to "A Mercy". So far her last story, but hopefully, not her last book. Reading this novel was like discovering an old 17th century relic that contained an important message with valuable seeds inside of it. Seeds that when sown inside your heart, grow magically and eternally into something profound. Something beautiful. Thank you for the courageous words, Toni Morrison, they are well-received. I applaud you and your wonderful words. (By-the-way, I bought and read this book right after its publication and wrote this review shortly thereafter, but for some reason hesitated posting it on Amazon. I bid you peace and much love, Toni Morrison. You are one of the literary greats of our time and I love your work. I can't wait for your next one. "Beloved" is a favorite too. Toni Morrison Set: "Song of Solomon," "Jazz," "Beloved," "The Bluest Eye."

This book was one of the selected books to be read in my multi culture literature class in college. It is well-written with the language and images from the time period it represents. As you read, the author is so descriptive that she takes you away from where you are and places you in that time period. The contrast between good and evil is prevalent throughout the book. It shows that it is really what is on the inside of a person that comes out. It also makes us aware of what happens when an evil person(s) is in power versus a good person. Vaark was at one time an orphan and so he has compassion and feeling for those who are misplaced or without a place in life. Also, a main theme is that of how a slave mother asks Vaark in a silent way to take her daughter. The daughter, Florens, feels the mother has done this out of rejection and choosing to keep her little brother over her. However, the truth is that the slave mother is being raped by the white slaveowner and she knows that it is just a matter of time before he will rape Florens. The slave mother recognizes the goodness in Vaark and wants to spare her daughter. Unfortunately, Florens does not know this and keeps looking for love and acceptance to fill the void put there by the loss of her mother. Rejection is a terrible feeling and I feel that many adopted children can identify with Florens. At the conclusion, one can go back and see where the name of the book comes from, A Mercy. When we think of mercy, we think of the mercy of God. However, this author makes us look at the mercy of man. One man's mercy spared so many from harm and heartache. He gave them a chance to live freely. Isn't that what mercy does. God gives us a chance to live freely. But often we fail to see that it also takes man to extend mercy in order to give hope to others. Could it be that God's mercy is extended through the mercy of men.

I will not repeat the plot of this novel or describe the characters in detail because many of the other reviews do this. Rather, I would like to point out other aspects of the book. For me, a problem with A Mercy is that the beginning, told in Florens's voice, might confuse rather than engage the reader. Florens, a young black slave girl, speaks in first person, but in a sort of elliptical dialect, and the reader is left to discover that her words are actually addressed to her lover. Moreover, she relates events for which the reader has no frame of reference. Thrown off balance, I retuned to this section several times, seeking to relate it in the text. This initial section is about seven pages long and is followed by Jacob Vaarek's narrative, which takes place in 1682 Maryland, a setting probably unfamiliar to many readers. It took about two sections before my frustration eased, but after that I was intrigued by the work. The story is not unified by the voice of an omniscient narrator. Instead, it is told in sections from the viewpoins of all its major characters, but only Florens speaks in first person, and every other section is told in her voice. The language is quite simple and beautiful, the form almost poetic, and the story minimized to bare bones. There are many incidents that the narrative will hint at but not fully describe. For instance, there are few actual narrative details of the dramatic and central scene that takes place between Florens and her lover. Yet, the book is certainly wonderful. It does deal with servitude, but I came away with the understanding that slavery is not limited to people owning other people but includes emotional, cultural, and religious bondage. This is almost a book that needs to be read more than once.

A mercy is a beautifully crafted tale of slavery,love,hatred and passion all intertwined.The author speaks with an authoritative voice that resounds in the different characters she has created.Whilst this is a good book,it is probably not her best work.However, I cannot be the arbiter here, as this is my introduction to Toni Morrison. The characters assume a certain ambiguity,voices rather than shape or form.Voices that fail to give full flesh to the characters they represent. The english, or rather, pigin english, heard through the mouths of Florens and the other women makes an arduous read at times.The poetry from their lips is at most times beautiful, but one questions the credibility of the enterprise.Can such beautiful words come from the mouths of illiterate women? The male characters make no literary pretensions and that was well captured in all their lines. The end of the book, with Florens's mother describing why she gave her child away seemed a bit rushed to me.Almost like there were some chapters that should have come before that.Perhaps this was the intention.Afterall it is a small novel. The intermingling of straight prose and the narratives in form of letters is a very good device and that did heighten the reading pleasure.A clever balancing act I must say. At the end of the day, I found several, beautiful chapters and pages that brought moments of excitement and a yearning to go on reading.Like I said, a good book but proabably not her best.I guess I shall have to read her other works and then compare.

I have been a Toni Morrison fan for years, since my time as an English major in college when we were assigned "The Bluest Eye" and "Beloved" as part of a modern literature class. Immediately I fell in love with her style, with the poetry in her prose and the way the language pulled me into her stories and made me part of the worlds she created. No one writes like Toni Morrison but Toni Morrison, and if you love her complex, languid style you will love her newest novel. Even at a scant 167 pages, "A Mercy" does not disappoint. The story is set in the late 17th century during the American colonial period. Florens is a slave girl who is given away from her master's house, where her mother lives, to settle a debt with Jacob, a trader. Florens then struggles to create ties in Jacob's home. After Jacob dies, his wife and servants must make their way without him, not an easy task in the 17th century. Florens falls in love with a blacksmith, but that relationship falters. In the end the story is a tragedy, but it offers a poetic insight into the lives of women during the tumultuous time of the American colonies. Morrison's prose in "A Mercy" has the same fluid flow of her other novels. She moves seamlessly between the voices of the different characters, from Florens to Lina, the Native American servant she bonds with, and from Jacob to his wife. We are drawn into their world, and we understand their struggles and their longings. Though the story is compact, it is complete, and Morrison's style remains one of the best in the English language today. She is an American master.

I somehow only recently discovered A Mercy by Toni Morrison, but the 17th century Americas POVs and exploration therein immediately drew me because I feel like many historical fiction narratives of enslaved people are set in the 19th century. A Mercy follows a small cast of characters, namely Florens, a young enslaved girl who is given up by her mother to a reverend with the hopes of ensuring a somewhat better life than she herself has had (her mother being the first of the generation to make the brutal, dehumanizing transatlantic passage.) The POV chapters from Florens have unique prose that may be a challenge for some readers in that, from this character's unique life experience, the sentence structure, syntax, grammar, etc. are not "standard." I know this book was written in 2008, but Florens' chapters really reminded me of the unique prose style Debra Magpie Earling's The Lost Journals of Sacajewea (2010.) The reader follows not just Florens, but the others on the property she is taken too: Lina, a Native American woman and sort of surrogate mother to Florens, Sorrow, a young woman of European heritage who fell on hardship and brutality at an early age, and Rebekka the wife of "Sir" and the Mistress of the property. Through artful prose, Morrison explores the backstories of each woman in the harsh world of late 17th century colonial America where brutality, dehumanization, and rape (TW there are a few scenes alluding to this subject matter throughout) are commonplace. The line that really struck me as the raw, emotional core and message of this book is, "To be female in this place is to be an open wound that cannot heal." A Mercy reads like a vignette of each woman's life. I would have liked to have explored their narratives further, but Morrison's precise and meaningful prose packs a punch in this short read.