Books like A Mercy by Toni Morrison


In the 1680s, when the transatlantic slave trade was nascent, *A Mercy* follows Florens, a young African girl sold into slavery as part payment for a debt in Catholic Maryland. She finds herself under the control of Jacob, an Anglo‑Dutch trader, and later settled at a plantation where she seeks love and freedom. Through the interwoven stories of Florens, her mother, a servant woman named Lina, a blacksmith, and others, the novel explores how prejudice, religious intolerance, and the commodification of human lives shape lives in early colonial America. The book ultimately presents a poignant meditation on the complexities of mercy and the painful consequences of survival in a world built on oppression.
First publish date: 1998
Genre: Historical Fiction/19th Century Historical Fiction
Authors: Toni Morrison
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3.7 (3 community ratings)

A Mercy by Toni Morrison

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