Sweet Mercy
Stunning coming-of-age drama set during the Great Depression and Prohibition
When Eve Marryat's father is laid off from the Ford Motor Company in 1931, he is forced to support his family by leaving St. Paul, Minnesota, and moving back to his Ohio roots. Eve's uncle Cyrus has invited the family to live and work at his Marryat Island Ballroom and Lodge.
Eve can't wait to leave St. Paul, a notorious haven for gangsters. At seventeen, she considers her family to be "good people," not lawbreakers like so many in her neighborhood. Thrilled to be moving to a "safe haven," Eve soon forms an unlikely friendship with a strange young man named Link, blissfully unaware that her uncle's lodge is anything but what it seems.
When the reality of her situation finally becomes clear, Eve is faced with a dilemma. Does she dare risk everything by exposing the man whose love and generosity is keeping her family from ruin? And when things turn dangerous, can she trust Link in spite of appearances?
Ann Tatlock
Ann Tatlock is the author of the Christy-Award winning novel Promises to Keep. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association "Book of the Year" in fiction for both All the Way Home and I'll Watch the Moon. Her novel Things We Once Held Dear received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her "one of Christian fiction's better wordsmiths, and her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories." Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina.
My Review
I haven't read many YA historical books. It was certainly different than everything paranormal I normally read. It was a great jump in genre for me, especially going back to a time I used to hear about from my Grandparents. Of course they weren't in the big cities where the gangsters ran ramp id, but it was a difficult time for our country.
I realized this was a Christian book, but to the point where it didn't stand out completely. The main character, Eve, being seventeen and naive about life has to learn there is no place for self righteousness, especially during a time of great turmoil and loss. Where people we love and care for may not be who we thought they were or maybe certain times call for certain measures.
This is a quick clean read with some action and even a little romance. Definitely something that teens and adults (like myself) can all enjoy.
Excerpt:
From Chapter 8:
My Review
I haven't read many YA historical books. It was certainly different than everything paranormal I normally read. It was a great jump in genre for me, especially going back to a time I used to hear about from my Grandparents. Of course they weren't in the big cities where the gangsters ran ramp id, but it was a difficult time for our country.
I realized this was a Christian book, but to the point where it didn't stand out completely. The main character, Eve, being seventeen and naive about life has to learn there is no place for self righteousness, especially during a time of great turmoil and loss. Where people we love and care for may not be who we thought they were or maybe certain times call for certain measures.
This is a quick clean read with some action and even a little romance. Definitely something that teens and adults (like myself) can all enjoy.
Excerpt:
Jones pushed his hat back a notch and looked
over his shoulder after the two boats. “The Little Miami meets up with the Ohio
River not too far from here,” he said. “That’s probably where they’re headed.”
“Funny that they’re taking a bunch of castor
oil down the Ohio River.”
Jones turned again to look at me. I couldn’t
see his eyes but somehow I sensed they held amusement. My suspicions were
confirmed when he shook his head and laughed. “Castor oil, nothing,” he
muttered. “They’re hauling moonshine.”
For a moment I was speechless. I frowned and
wondered whether I had heard him right. “Moonshine?”
“Sure. People like them are up and down this
river all the time.”
It
can’t be, I thought. This
was Ohio, after all, birthplace of the Temperance Movement. I knew; I had done
the research; I had won first place in the essay contest. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure.”
“Don’t they know moonshine is illegal?”
Jones laughed again, louder this time.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“I’m not kidding, Jones. I can’t believe
they’re hauling that stuff right out here in the open. They could be arrested
and go to prison. They should be
arrested.”
“Yeah? And who’s going to turn them in? You?”
No comments:
Post a Comment