The bestselling Richard and Judy Book Club pick and BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick.

For readers of Circe and The Handmaid’s Tale, Kiran Millwood Hargrave's The Mercies is inspired by real historical events – a story about the strength and courage of women.

‘Dark, dramatic and full of danger’ - Daily Mail

The storm comes in like a finger snap . . .
1617. The sea around the remote Norwegian island of Vardø is thrown into a vicious storm. A young woman, Maren, watches as the men of the island, out fishing, perish in an instant.

Vardø is now a place of women . . .
Eighteen months later, a sinister figure arrives. Absalom Cornet has been summoned to bring the women of the island to heel. With him travels his young wife, Ursa. In her new home, and in Maren, Ursa encounters something she has never seen before: independent women. But where Ursa finds happiness, even love, Absalom sees only a place flooded with a terrible evil, one he must root out at all costs . . .

A story about how suspicion can twist its way through a community, about a love that could prove as dangerous as it is powerful.

‘Gripping’ - Madeline Miller, author of Circe
‘Took my breath away’ - Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl With a Pearl Earring
‘A beautifully intimate story of friendship, love and hope’ - Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain
‘Something rare and beautiful’ - Marian Keyes, author of Again, Rachel
‘Chilling and page-turning’ - The Times

"The Mercies is among the best novels I’ve read in years. In addition to its beautiful writing, its subject matter is both enduring and timely" - New York Times Book Review

"This is a powerful story that gathers ever more momentum as it moves towards its conclusion" - Sunday Times

"Historical fiction fans looking for a Handmaid's Tale-style twist will love this novel . . . A story of danger, love and power - with Big Offred Energy" - Cosmopolitan

"Spun from real-life events, this lyrical novel charts the aftermath of a fatal storm in a 17th century Norwegian fishing village: a town almost exclusively composed of women and girls, and the violent witch-burning newcomer hell-bent on their conversion" - Vanity Fair

"Based on real events, this is a stunning, intensely told story about sisterhood, superstition and prejudice" - Good Housekeeping

"The Mercies is a gripping tale of love and obsession, inspired by the real events of a storm on the Norwegian island of Vardø in 1617 that prompted witch trials. Absalom Cornet, the man used to bring the women to submission, is a creepy creation by Millwood, in her debut adult novel" - i-news

"Elegant and chilling . . . an absorbing account of women finding power and grace and love even under the most harrowing circumstances" - USA Today

"A dark read filled with suspicion and fear" - Psychologies

"Passionate, stirring and conveying a terrifying atmosphere of claustrophobic oppression, Hargrave’s gripping tale of courageous women facing overwhelming odds is helped along no end by the vividness of her bleak island location and her depiction of the dynamics of a God-fearing fishing village as opposing factions struggle for control" - The Herald

"Based on the real-life witch trials of 1621, this is an immersive and beautifully written tale. Highly recommended" - Bookseller, Editor's Choice

"Dark and menacing, retelling the story of a witch hunt on the isolated island of Vardo, off the coast of Norway . . . Millwood Hargrave slowly builds an atmosphere of suspicion and superstition as new loyalties and old rivalries rear up." - Express