Small Mercies Paperback – 25 February 2020
Set in post-apartheid Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, this realistic story traces protagonist Mercys quest to speak up for truth and, consequently, for herself. [ ] Sensitive, funny, and tender. Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Mercy lives in modern-day Pietermaritzburg, South Africa with her eccentric foster auntstwo elderly sisters so poor that they can only afford one lightbulb. A nasty housing developer is eying their house. And that same house suddenly starts falling apartjust as Aunt Flora does, too. Shes forgetting words, names, and even how to behave in public. Mercy tries to keep her head down at school so nobody notices her. But when a classmate frames her for stealing the schools raffle money, Mercys teachers decide to take a closer look at her home life.Along comes Mr. Singh, who rents the back cottage of the house on Hodson Road. When he takes Mercy to visit a statue in the middle of the city, she learns that the shy, nervous Mohandas he tells stories about is actually Gandhi, who spent a cold and lonely night in the waiting room of the Pietermaritzburg train station over a hundred years earlier. It marked the beginning of his lifes quest for truth, and the visit to his statue marks Mercys realization that she needsjust like Gandhito stand up for herself.Mercy needs a miracle. But to summon that miracle, she has to find her voice and tell the truthand that truth is neither pure nor simple.
Categories: Action & Adventure
