The Secrets of Mercy is the story of an unlikely sisterhood in the name of freedom.
News of emancipation reaches the southern town of Mercy where within its boundaries four women journey to define freedom within their lives. They endure abuse, tend to unrequited love and ache from broken families. Suffering too long, only their dreams, desires and secrets hold them up each day.
Sylvia, the cook and confidant of her former mistress, hungers in silent desperation for a life with her sons who were sold years ago and for her husband who sleeps beside her filled with fury in his fists. She is not the only bruised soul on the plantation. Mistress Vivian Purvis moves about Mercy with a veneer of perfection, a fabricated likeness of the perfect wife to one of the town s wealthiest and distinguished men. He, too, is lined in a pretty caul to conceal his brilliant misimpression. In their suffering, the two women discover they can help each other stand up and heal.
The resounding news marks the lawful end of slavery for Blacks, yet, on a neighboring plantation, they do not scatter and run, they do not gather up their children and move their free limbs in a joyous, gallant departure. Instead, they are trepidatious not eager, frightened not doughty. The deaths of Blacks brave enough to leave the plantation behind have their legs stiff with fear as they watch their neighbors kick up dust pulling their belongings behind them. There, with sharp eyes and long ears resides, Nella Jo, First Lady, a black slave and the Master’s mistress, who lives in luxury and exploits her position among the other slaves. When the comforts of her life begin to dwindle at the onset of emancipation, frenzied and despondent, she strives to maintain the past to secure the future for herself and her daughter, Yuna. A woman with her own desires, Yuna, struggles against her mother’s manipulations and stingy love for a different life all her own.
In Mercy, secrets hide in sluggish water and misfortune roams upright, and without restraint. When freedom rings, each woman finds she is a prisoner grappling for some of it. Within their journeys, they discover the passageway to freedom resides within and always will.
Excerpt
Prologue
There was something beyond courage in them, something able to abandon fear and worry, and engage hefty ambitions. A piece of soap, two blankets for when the babies come, a clean dress, folded and rolled, a pair of pants and ripped pages from a Bible shoved deep down in a potato sack. Their minds were already there, rooted and growing hundreds of miles away in a place they never visited. The words on the letter read “…free and we are alive. Come.” Not used to happiness in excessive amounts, they gorged on their fantasies to ease their growing hunger and null the pain of letting go of the ones to be left behind. They know their sorrowful faces will be the heaviest bundle to carry and the most difficult to unload. In their minds, they know they must leave before they are gone to prevent them from looking back through the darkness. They would have to be tough and swift when they barge into the night hungry as lions, for if any sinister predator of the night got hold of them, it would be death.
Or torture.
Or both.
It would be machetes and vicious dogs turned loose on men, women and children. Canine razor teeth would strip the flesh from the bones until blood ran and soaked the ground. It would be strings of saliva dropping heavy with dangling meat of muscles formed by lifetimes of strenuous labor. Gaping cavities in arms, thighs and backs would reveal gnawed bones. Effusive laughter from the mouths of patrolmen amid the tormenting screams and cries would croon into the darkness. Vainglorious patrolmen would bring word and the remains in broad daylight. They would stand upon wide porches of masters for rewards of coins, a cool drink and a swift pat of their backs. All the while, mangled body parts would bake under the sun on the backs of wagons, open and exposed for all to see. A swarm of flies would indulge in the immoderate meal and mangy dogs would sink their dirty teeth into pieces of meat and run dragging the limb or intestine or torso. Oh, how the masters would be proud and the other Whites would be pleased.
Then those left behind, would dare to question God of his decision to choose the varmint over the lives of those they love, for it was they who prayed without ceasing, who clutched their faith and stuffed it in every open space of their beings. It was they who believed wholeheartedly and in their own way. Who called on His favor by performing at their best. In the extra attention they gave to wiping the molasses jar clean of the sticky syrup and gentle cuts to skin the dead deer. In the way they gave added pats to the soil around the crops, the way they picked fruit from the trees with tender tugs, and they did not complain about the hot sun. It was they who believed they transacted with Him when they dropped their eyes to give the Whites what they wanted in exchange for the lives of their loved ones on the run – and to hide their terror and to hide their joy.
Professional Reviews
Remarkable Experience of a Book...
Reading the book was a remarkable experience! I was sucked right in from the first few words. I did not want the book to end. It is fantastically written and the characters somehow made their way into my heart. I loved them all. The tragedies, the joys, the sadness - my emotions were on a rollercoaster and I loved it. Great book! It left me questioning ...if I lived back then during that time, what would I have done with my freedom? And most importantly, what am I doing with my freedom now?
Emotional, Heart Felt...
It is a strong, emotional, heart felt novel. Many of the chapters made you feel like you was right there watching, feeling, and partaking in some events. This novel was wonderfully written. Although times was terribly difficult for them, they found the strengh to keep going forward. They were not content with the way things were so with the help from God and their accepting changes, they were deter- mined to break the destructive cycles. Yes! This novel motivates and encourages me to take time to learn how to find serenity while also accepting my life as it is. Life isn't fair, predictable, or controllable, though it can be wonderfully rich in many ways. Purvis
The Story is Alive!
The story is alive with original characters who are full of love, sadness and rage. It is sweet as it is bitter. Set in the South just after Emancipation. This story will press on your chest, make you happy and make you cry. The characters will not leave you until days after you've finished reading the book. To the author, thank you for an amazing read!
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