A Mercy

Set in the 1680s, this compact historical novel follows Florens, a young enslaved girl, as she is traded from a Maryland plantation to a harsh frontier in the north. Through a fragmented, multi-voiced structure, Morrison explores the intersecting lives of Florens, her mother, a Dutch trader, and other displaced figures in early colonial America. The narrative examines the roots of slavery, religious intolerance, and the complex, often devastating dynamics of motherhood and survival in a wilderness where identity is constantly being forged and broken.

Description adapted from Open Library ↗.