A Mercy

I liked the structure of this with the alternation between Florens and all the other characters. Florens had the most unique narrative voice, the most literary voice, so I was glad it wasn't constantly like that. Morrison has the ability to use all kinds of narration and shows that here.

For much of the book I was surprised at how standard the story felt. It does get weirder toward the end, which I appreciated. I wouldn't say it enters magical realism territory like Beloved does, but it touches on some strange beliefs and happenings. It also gets dark in a way that I wasn't expecting.

I appreciated how much Morrison did with each voice she created. Each character felt like a full person with a past impacting their present. Morrison is a remarkably compassionate woman. I listened to a snippet of an interview with her at the end of the audiobook (I read just the last chapter on audiobook because I had to go to work and wanted to finish), and she describes all of these characters as products of their environments and choices made around them. That they aren't really to blame for their choices or views. That was an interesting take from the author herself.

Honestly, I read this too fast to appreciate it as much as I could have!

Favorite quote:
But then Job was a man. Invisibility was intolerable to men. What complaint would a female Job dare to put forth? And if, having done so, and He deigned to remind her of how weak and ignorant she was, where was the news in that? What shocked Job into humility and renewed fidelity was the message a female Job would have known and heard every minute of her life.