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 ... Read More
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. Read Less
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $5.34, good condition, Sold by SELL BOOKS LTD rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from London, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2009 by Vintage.
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Our good condition books are generally good for reading but not for gifting or collecting. They could have imperfections such as creasing, fanning, inscriptions, margin notes, yellowing, staining on edge or cover or pages, bumps, scuffs, etc etc (sometimes multiple of these). It's a wide category that encompasses anything that isn't almost-new down to anything that is slightly better than poor. We would NOT recommend gifting Good books-these should be considered reading copies. Our books ar.
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $5.34, fair condition, Sold by SELL BOOKS LTD rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from London, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2009 by Vintage.
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Fair. Please see the condition note after this for details, if this is missing please consider Acceptable to mean poor quality that could include major staining, water damage, writing, missing dustjacket, etc etc. Our books are dispatched from a Yorkshire former cotton mill. We list via barcode/ISBN so please note that the images are stock images and may not be the exact copy you receive, furthermore the details about edition and year might not be accurate as many publishers reuse the same ISBN for.
Add this copy of Mercy, a to cart. $6.56, very good condition, Sold by Greener Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from London, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2008 by Chatto.
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Very good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! Greener Books.
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $6.65, very good condition, Sold by Greener Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from London, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2008 by Chatto and Windus.
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Very good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! Greener Books.
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $11.75, new condition, Sold by Kennys.ie rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Galway, IRELAND, published 2009 by Vintage.
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New. 2009. paperback. On the day that Jacob agrees to accept a slave in lieu of payment of a debt from a plantation owner, little Florens' life changes. With her intelligence and passion for wearing the cast-off shoes of her mistress, Florens has never blended into the background and now at the age of eight she is taken from her family to begin a new life. Num Pages: 176 pages. BIC Classification: FA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 196 x 129 x 12. Weight in Grams: 130......We ship daily from our Bookshop.
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $11.84, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2009 by Vintage.
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $12.16, new condition, Sold by Books2anywhere rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fairford, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2009 by Vintage Publishing.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $31.99, poor condition, Sold by Anybook rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2008 by Alfred A. Knopf.
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This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. Book contains pen & pencil markings. In poor condition, suitable as a reading copy. No dust jacket. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 450grams, ISBN: 9780676978308.
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $9.52, good condition, Sold by Hamelyn rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Coslada, SP, SPAIN, published 2009 by Vintage.
Add this copy of A Mercy to cart. $12.55, new condition, Sold by Booksplease rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Southport, MERSEYSIDE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2009 by Vintage.
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-
