The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner

The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner

I blinked. "A love story."
"Yes."
A love story? I saw no hope for Mercy and John Peter's love for each other. None. I had two months of Mercy's entries left to transcribe, and I knew in that time she'd be accused, tried, and hanged.
She'd be dead.
That didn't seem like a love story to be remembered.

Synopsis:

Leaving a life of privilege to strike out on her own, Lauren Durough breaks with convention and her family’s expectations by choosing a state college over Stanford and earning her own income over accepting her ample monthly allowance. She takes a part-time job from 83-year-old librarian Abigail Boyles, who asks Lauren to transcribe the journal entries of her ancestor Mercy Hayworth, a victim of the Salem witch trials. 

Almost immediately, Lauren finds herself drawn to this girl who lived and died four centuries ago. As the fervor around the witch accusations increases, Mercy becomes trapped in the worldview of the day, unable to fight the overwhelming influence of snap judgments and superstition, and Lauren realizes that the secrets of Mercy’s story extend beyond the pages of her diary, living on in the mysterious, embittered Abigail. 

The strength of her affinity with Mercy forces Lauren to take a startling new look at her own life, including her relationships with Abigail, her college roommate, and a young man named Raul. But on the way to the truth, will Lauren find herself playing the helpless defendant or the misguided judge? Can she break free from her own perceptions and see who she really is?

My Thoughts: 

Wow. 

I finished reading this Saturday night and I LOVED it. Three stories are told and done so well that I was captivated. (I actually put off completing some homework assignments just to finish this.)

Of course the story of the Salem Witch Trials is the core one. It's the one that starts and ends during the course of the book. And it was delightful. I loved it. Really. Mercy is such a likeable character and she saw through the façade of the Witch Trials for what I think they really were--a farce. A joke that got out of hand. But then again, I haven't done much research. And true to her name, Mercy protects the man she loves and forgives her excusors. 

Lauren was also pretty great. I did enjoy reading her story. It was rather eye opening for me to realize that in seeing through Lauren's eyes (thanks to her being the narrator) I often drew the same conclusions as her. My perception did change how I view people around me and situations now. 

The story of Abigail was pretty sad, but I have to admit that I didn't really feel that drawn into her story. We spent so little time on Abigail that all of my emotions were tied to Mercy or Lauren. It wasn't a bad story, it just lacked the emotion that the other two stories had. 

Recommendation: PURCHASE IT!!!!!

Rating: 5/5 stars