So what's the verdict? Did this librarian's recommendataion align well with what I was expecting, considering I used Kindred as an example??
No.
Really the only thing these two books have in common is that there are slaves and it takes place in the past. Oh, I guess you could add that they are both written by women and feature female main characters. But there is about 200 years difference in the time periods, the writing style is so incredibly different that they are not even comparable, and the plots are nothing alike. Even the appeals, like tone, mood, and storyline differ greatly. I don't think this was a very good recommendation...Like I said, the only things they seem to have in common are slaves and the past...that's just not enough to go off of (in my opinion). If I had to give this a rating, it'd be maybe 2/5 stars. I just couldn't get into it...it wasn't horrid, but I wouldn't reread it, nor would I be likely to recommend it to a friend-it just wasn't for me, plus it wasn't at all reminiscent of Kindred.
Anyway, on to the annotation!
Title: A Mercy
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Date: November 11th 2008
Number of Pages: 167
Geographical Setting: New York
Time Period: 1690’s
Plot Summary:
Jacob
Vaark, a farmer and trader, is owed a debt by a Portuguese settler who has
nothing to offer but slaves. Though
Vaark is originally horrified by the idea (he prefers to deal in goods and
gold, rather than ‘flesh’) he spots a mother and children and decides to take
the mother, certain that the settler will refuse and settle the debt by other
means. Vaark, however, leaves the
plantation with not the mother but her daughter, Florens. This may not be all bad, however, as Vaark
considers his wife who lost several of her own children and may enjoy having a
new young girl around. And so Florens
joins Mrs. Rebekkah Vaark, Lina and Sorrow (two other servants) back on the New
York farm.
Though
the story is woven together with lyrical storytelling from multiple points of
view, A Mercy mainly tells the story
of Florens, growing up a slave girl in 1690’s America, abandoned
by her own mother and without anything to call her own.
Subject Headings (from
WorldCat):
Slavery -- United States -- History -- 17th
century -- Fiction.
Mothers and daughters -- Fiction.
United States -- Social conditions -- To
1865 -- Fiction.
African American girls -- Fiction.
Prejudice -- Fiction.
Historical fiction.
Appeals: Lyrical, character driven, and haunting.
3 terms that best describe
this book: Dense, stylistically
complex, and atmospheric.
3 Relevant/Similar Fiction Works and Authors (from Novelist):
-Property by Valerie Martin: The
tragedies and emotional repercussions of slavery in the antebellum South are
seen through the eyes of slave owner Manon Gaudet, who marries the owner of a
sugar plantation, only to see her own slave, Sarah, become her husband's
mistress. (Similar appeals, writing
style, and subjects)
-Beloved (or probably any other title) by Tony Morrison: Sethe,
an escaped slave living in post-Civil War Ohio with her daughter and
mother-in-law, is persistently haunted by the ghost of her dead baby girl. (Similar appeals and subjects; Morrison’s signature
writing style)
-Ines of My Soul by
Isabel Allende: A work of historical fiction chronicles the brave deeds and
passionate loves of a spirited woman who journeyed to the New World and helped
found a nation. (Similar writing styles and appeals, and similar subjects
though with different countries)
3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works
and Authors (from WorldCat):
- Indian Slavery in Colonial America by
Alan Gallay: European enslavement of American Indians began with
Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World. The slave trade expanded with
European colonies, and though African slave labor filled many needs, huge
numbers of America's indigenous peoples continued to be captured and forced to
work as slaves. Although central to the process of colony-building in what
became the United States, this phenomena has received scant attention from historians." "Indian
Slavery in Colonial America examines the complicated dynamics of Indian
enslavement. How and why Indians became both slaves of the Europeans and
suppliers of slavery's victims is the subject of this book. The essays in this
collection use Indian slavery as a lens through which to explore both Indian
and European societies and their interactions, as well as relations between and
among Native groups. (One of the other workers on Vaark’s farm is an American
Indian)
-Slavery and the Making of America
by James O. Horton and Lois E. Horton: The history of slavery is central to
understanding the history of the United States. Slavery and the Making of
America offers a richly illustrated, vividly written history that illuminates
the human side of this inhumane institution, presenting it largely through
stories of the slaves themselves. Readers will discover a wide ranging and
sharply nuanced look at American slavery, from the first Africans brought to British colonies in the early seventeenth
century to the end of Reconstruction. The authors document the horrors of
slavery, particularly in the deep South, and describe the valiant struggles to
escape bondage, from dramatic tales of slaves such as William and Ellen Craft
to Dred Scott's doomed attempt to win his freedom through the Supreme Court….
(partial description).
- First Generations: Women in Colonial America
by Carol Berkin: The Indian, European,
and African women of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century America were defenders
of their native land, pioneers on the frontier, willing immigrants, and
courageous slaves. They were also - as earlier scholars tended to overlook - as
important as men in shaping American culture and history. First Generations is one of the first books to examine these
women's experiences…(partial description).
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