A Mercy
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
Synopsis
Florens, a slave girl, lives and works on Jacob Vaark's rural New York farm.
Lina, a Native American and fellow labourer on the Vaark farm, is one of a handful of survivors of a smallpox plague that destroyed her tribe.
Rebekkah arrives on a ship from England to be married to Vaark, a man she has never seen. The voices of these characters bereft of their roots and struggling to survive in a new and alien environment filled with danger and disease form A Mercy.
When smallpox threatens Rebekkah's life in 1692, Florens, now sixteen, is sent to find a black freedman who has some knowledge of herbal medicines.
Her journey is dangerous, ultimately proving to be the turning point in her life.
A Mercy was nominated one of the 10 best books of 2008 by the New York
Times
‘Morrison is at the very height of her powers’ Daily Mail
‘Toni Morrison writes with a fierce possessive poetry and sympathy that proclaims her as an exciting star in the firmament’ Guardian
‘Ms. Morrison’s versatility and technical and emotional range appear to know no bounds’ Margaret Atwood
‘One of the most compelling writers at work today’ The Times
‘A beautiful and important book’ Sunday Times
Author Biography
Toni Morrison was born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18, 1931. She is a Nobel Prize-winning American author, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and rich detail; among the best known are her novels The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, and Beloved, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988.
Cast of Characters
Florens
A young girl given by her mother into slavery at Jacob Vaark's farm
Lina
Native American and sole survivor of a smallpox outbreak that decimated her people. Friend of Rebekkah and surrogate mother to Florens.
Sorrow
A melancholy young girl found washed ashore and orphaned – taken to the
farm by Jacob as help for his pregnant wife
Rebekkah Vaark
Wife of Jacob,
Synopsis
Florens, a slave girl, lives and works on Jacob Vaark's rural New York farm.
Lina, a Native American and fellow labourer on the Vaark farm, is one of a handful of survivors of a smallpox plague that destroyed her tribe.
Rebekkah arrives on a ship from England to be married to Vaark, a man she has never seen. The voices of these characters bereft of their roots and struggling to survive in a new and alien environment filled with danger and disease form A Mercy.
When smallpox threatens Rebekkah's life in 1692, Florens, now sixteen, is sent to find a black freedman who has some knowledge of herbal medicines.
Her journey is dangerous, ultimately proving to be the turning point in her life.
A Mercy was nominated one of the 10 best books of 2008 by the New York
Times
‘Morrison is at the very height of her powers’ Daily Mail
‘Toni Morrison writes with a fierce possessive poetry and sympathy that proclaims her as an exciting star in the firmament’ Guardian
‘Ms. Morrison’s versatility and technical and emotional range appear to know no bounds’ Margaret Atwood
‘One of the most compelling writers at work today’ The Times
‘A beautiful and important book’ Sunday Times
Author Biography
Toni Morrison was born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18, 1931. She is a Nobel Prize-winning American author, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and rich detail; among the best known are her novels The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, and Beloved, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988.
Cast of Characters
Florens
A young girl given by her mother into slavery at Jacob Vaark's farm
Lina
Native American and sole survivor of a smallpox outbreak that decimated her people. Friend of Rebekkah and surrogate mother to Florens.
Sorrow
A melancholy young girl found washed ashore and orphaned – taken to the
farm by Jacob as help for his pregnant wife
Rebekkah Vaark
Wife of Jacob,