Description of A Mercy (published 2008) Chapters are not named nor numbered. The story takes place around 1682. The story is not linear, but is made up from memories and images, much like a long poem where the hints are given along the way. The sexism, classism, and religious intolerance is just as present as the racism. At this time, white indentured servants are pretty much slaves as well as the Africans. The events have all happened in the past and are described mostly by Florens, a sixteen-year-old black slave girl. Florens belongs to Jacob Vaark (who she calls Sir) and his wife Rebecca. Included in the household are Lina, a Native American woman whose village was wiped out, and Sorrow, a mixed race woman who had been reared by her father on a ship. There are also two white male indentured servants from a nearby farm who are “hired-out” to work for Jacob Vaark. Their New England farm is remote and the group is quite isolated. The one person who seems to co...
The Urban Life Experience Book Discussion Series meets approximately once every six weeks at the Courtland S. Wilson Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library in New Haven, CT.