A Voice & Vibe Book Review
A Mercy. Toni Morrison. 2008.
Historical fiction. Literary fiction.
In 1680s colonial America a group of displaced women—bound together by servitude, isolation, and survival—weather the devastating psychological wounds of institutionalized racism and gender oppression.
Morrison adopts a polyphonic voice for this story that decentralizes the narrative and distributes agency amongst several characters. She does this to illustrate that, even in a patriarchy, history is a communal activity in which the powerless and invisible can participate—provided they are given a voice.
While Florens undoubtedly serves as the story’s main character, she is not a true protagonist. It is not her agency alone that drives the plot. Nor is she the only character to undergo change. By giving voice and agency to multiple characters, Morrison creates a protagonist who is, in fact, a community that is normally voiceless.
There is no question A Mercy is historical fiction. It has all of the necessary conventions and much of its vibe is historical. But it is also more than just this. It is also literary in ways that most historical fiction is not.
A scarcity of dialogue in favour of interiority and stream-of-consciousness narration creates a dreamlike atmosphere in which images are powered by emotions. These choices add a second layer to the existing historical vibe that is reminiscent of survival fiction.
But in this case, the antagonist challenging the characters is institutional as well as environmental. Both the patriarchy and its emerging acceptance of chattel slavery in this story are at least as dangerous to these women as the hostile environment of the frontier.
AUTHORS – I write short book reviews that focus on voice and vibe. They are useful to querying authors searching for comp titles. There are more like this on my website.