Small Mercies - Dennis Lehane

Crime Fiction

Rating: 9/10

This magnificent novel is set in Boston in the summer of 1974 during the tumultuous months leading up to the violence that exploded following the announcement of the city’s desegregation of its public schools. One night Mary Pat’s daughter doesn’t come home. That same night a young Black man is found dead on the subway tracks. At a glance, the events don’t seem connected, that is until the author begins to peel back the layers to our gaze.

Propelled by desperation and armed with a balls to the wall fortitude, Mary Pat begins turning over stones the neighbourhood goons want left untouched. Despite threats to leave well enough alone, she is not only prepared to start any fight necessary, but she also sure as hell can finish them. They won’t see her coming.

This author’s way with words is nothing short of masterful. The beauty of his prose carry’s the reader through the horrors of the hard life that the characters are enduring, depicting a brutal and unflinching story of criminality and humanity. He will not let us hide from the fact that change, for those who have no say it, feels like a death to whatever dreams you had and whatever life you have made do with. You will not walk away from this read unscathed.

Mary Pat spends a lot of time thinking about the past and it reminded me that I have often thought that nostalgia is a form of refuge from sadness. In some measure it allows you to remember who you were, a momentary respite from sitting with who you are.

Footnote: this passage shows you the origin of the title…

“She has been dealt a series of traumas that have passed for a life. There are no more small blessings left to her, her only hope is small mercies.”

Book Pairing(s): We Begin At The End by Chris Whitaker, Mystic River by Dennis Lehane, These Women by Ivy Pochada