{"id":707,"date":"2008-10-13T20:37:01","date_gmt":"2008-10-14T00:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=707"},"modified":"2021-05-30T21:38:51","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T01:38:51","slug":"the-shape-of-mercy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/707","title":{"rendered":"The Shape of Mercy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Shape of Mercy<\/em> (2008) Susan Meissner<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I received The Shape of Mercy<\/em> to review, and when I read the first couple chapters I had a sinking feeling–I don’t typically like books about young women finding themselves. But I knew I’d be getting a sub story about a young Puritan girl who was a victim of the Salem witch trials, so I read on.<\/p>\n

And was hooked by the second chapter.<\/p>\n

Lauren is a daughter of privilege who feels she has never lived up to her father’s desire for a son. While at college she takes a part time job working with an older woman transcribing the diary of a young woman from Salem who was accused of being a witch. The older woman, Abagail, wants not just a transcription, but a translation from the language of the 1600s to a more modern cadence.<\/p>\n

Lauren is not only pulled into the story of Mercy Hayworth, but begins to see parallels in her own life, and into the life of the woman who wants the transcription. <\/p>\n

I have to admit that initially what fascinated me most were the “transcribed” diary entries. They provide a look at a time when fear and terror gave power to a handful of teenage girls whose whims condemned nineteen women to hang. What a horrible power, the ability to accuse those you dislike or do not trust, and have them sent to their deaths. <\/p>\n

Although the story of Mercy first drew me into the book, I soon became interested in Lauren. I can’t say I understood her, but I started to become interested in her attempts to put give her life some meaning, and to solve what she saw as mistakes and errors on her part.<\/p>\n

But the best part of the book really was the story of Mercy, and the discovery of what happened after her death.<\/p>\n

Although this book is not one I would normally read, I’m glad I was sent it, because I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will add it to my grandmother’s “to read” list as well. I think she’ll also enjoy it immensely.
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Shape of Mercy (2008) Susan Meissner I received The Shape of Mercy to review, and when I read the first couple chapters I had a sinking feeling–I don’t typically like books about young women finding themselves. But I knew I’d be getting a sub story about a young Puritan girl who was a victim […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,14,291],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-fiction","category-paper"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-bp","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6284,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6284","url_meta":{"origin":707,"position":0},"title":"Moon Called","author":"Michelle","date":"December 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Moon Called (2006) Patricia Briggs I learned my lesson years ago, although sometimes I'd forget, this time I remembered: after reading Guy Gavriel Kay, I must read something absolutely different. If I read any kind of historical fantasy after Guy Gavriel Kay, I am always sorely disappointed. Since I was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/moon-called.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4843,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4843","url_meta":{"origin":707,"position":1},"title":"Moon Called","author":"Michelle","date":"September 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Moon Called (2006) Patricia Briggs I started listening to the Audible version of Moon Called, and I don't know if it was the narrator, the fact that I've been so blown away by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith who reads Ben Aaronovitch's Peter Grant series, or a combination of both, but I just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/moon-called.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3980,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3980","url_meta":{"origin":707,"position":2},"title":"Night Watch","author":"Michelle","date":"August 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Night Watch (2006) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield This is not the first or even second time I've re-read this book (series, really). The book Night Watch is split into three separate story arcs, Destiny, Among His Own Kind, and All for My Own Kind, each building upon the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Nightwatch.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":245,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/245","url_meta":{"origin":707,"position":3},"title":"Moon Called","author":"Michelle","date":"May 9, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Moon Called (2006) Patricia Briggs I have to say, Moon Called was a lot of fun to read. I had no expectations of the book at all (I bought it because I liked other books by Patricia Briggs), so everywhere the story went was a surprise. And a pleasant surprise\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/moon-called.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9566,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9566","url_meta":{"origin":707,"position":4},"title":"Silence Fallen","author":"Michelle","date":"January 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Silence Fallen (2017) Patricia Briggs I have no idea how I did it, but I somehow completely missed reading this when it came out last spring. This story is slightly different in that for most of the book the POV switches between Adam and Mercy. Mercy is first person, Adam\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/silencefallen.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1315,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1315","url_meta":{"origin":707,"position":5},"title":"Mercy Thompson: Homecoming","author":"Michelle","date":"August 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Mercy Thompson: Homecoming (2009) Patricia Briggs, David Lawrence, Francis Tsai, Amelia Woo What is it with supernatural fantasy authors and comic books? First Jim Butcher, now Patricia Briggs. Not that I'm complaining. It's fun to spend time with characters I enjoy in a medium other than I'm used to, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"mercy_homecoming","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/mercy_homecoming.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}