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Vardo, Norway, Christmas Eve 1617, a remote northern settlement where a storm of unusually immense and vicious proportions, completely wipes out the menfolk in this small fishing community, leaving the womenfolk bereft and without the means to provide for themselves.

Eighteen months later, the women have become adept at catching fish and are finally able to look after themselves, but their world is about to be turned upside down with the arrival of Absalom Cornet, a God-fearing man who has been summoned from his home in Scotland to bring the women of Vardo to heel, and to ensure that they too are God fearing, and worship at the local church, but primarily, unbeknownst to these women, he’s also a witch finder!

The main protagonists are Maren, born and bred in Vardo, who lost her father and brother in the storm, and Absalom’s wife Ursa, a woman of genteel breeding, born and brought up in the city of Bergen, who is trapped in a loveless arranged marriage. Despite the fact that they come from completely different backgrounds, Maren and Ursa soon form a bond, and find solace in each other’s company, but the whole village has much to fear where Absalom is concerned, including his wife.

The writing is beautiful, often crude, echoing the privations of an impoverished community at the mercy of a ghastly climate. The reader is overwhelmed by the bleak environment and the conditions it imposes. Knowing ‘The Mercies�� was based on the real events of the Vardo storm and the witch trials of 1621, makes it even harder to read, such is the brutality used against those accused of witchcraft, but it’s hauntingly beautiful and highly recommended!

*Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan, Picador, for my ARC for which I have given an honest unbiased review in exchange *