The Mercies, by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
On Christmas Eve 1617, a violent storm blows up suddenly around the remote Norwegian island of Vardo. As their wives, mothers and daughters watch from the shore, forty fishermen, the majority of the male population of the island, are lost to the sea. The women are left to pick up the pieces of their lives and take on additional work in order to survive. Tensions spring up amongst the women, further exacerbated by the rigid position of the church and whispers of witchcraft. Read More »