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Small Mercies
Instant New York Times Bestseller
“Small Mercies is thought provoking, engaging, enraging, and can’t-put-it-down entertainment.” — Stephen King
The acclaimed New York Times bestselling writer returns with a masterpiece to rival Mystic River—an all-consuming tale of revenge, family love, festering hate, and insidious power, set against one of the most tumultuous episodes in Boston’s history.
In the summer of 1974 a heatwave blankets Boston and Mary Pat Fennessy is trying to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors. Mary Pat has lived her entire life in the housing projects of “Southie,” the Irish American enclave that stubbornly adheres to old tradition and stands proudly apart.
One night Mary Pat’s teenage daughter Jules stays out late and doesn’t come home. That same evening, a young Black man is found dead, struck by a subway train under mysterious circumstances.
The two events seem unconnected. But Mary Pat, propelled by a desperate search for her missing daughter, begins turning over stones best left untouched—asking questions that bother Marty Butler, chieftain of the Irish mob, and the men who work for him, men who don’t take kindly to any threat to their business.
Set against the hot, tumultuous months when the city’s desegregation of its public schools exploded in violence, Small Mercies is a superb thriller, a brutal depiction of criminality and power, and an unflinching portrait of the dark heart of American racism. It is a mesmerizing and wrenching work that only Dennis Lehane could write.
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Reviews
This book was not what I expected—that's not necessarily bad. I was glad it wasn't filled with violent busing-protests, racial-violence, mob street-riots with store break-ins and total community chaos. There's plenty of ugly, but it's subtle, insidious. I'm unfamiliar with the tribal-like, ethnic communities that form the back-ground of this novel, where fearful, mean-spirited, and/or ignorant groups hand down frightening tales over decades to younger tribe members: the danger of “the others”, whoever they may be, so that fear of “the other” is entrenched in the young as almost like genetic material. Thus, this “story” depicted the power of “stories” and their influence on societies for good and/or evil. I watched a miracle as the protagonist, Mary Pat, entered Mattapan and witnessed the transformation of a dangerous threat across the street as he quietly morphed into simply just another fearful person like herself—their fears dissipating into thin air. At that point she understood the falsity of the tribal tale and realized what she had done in having passed the story along to her daughter without critical review. This book reveals the purpose and power of “stories”. My only problem with the novel is that I could not accept the portrayal of Mary Pat's grieving process or lack thereof. She was, indeed, tribal, ferocious, more warrior-like than any female character I’ve come across in a novel. I couldn’t buy it . . . her reaction to all that went down. My interest was held throughout, my disbelief suspended up to the last several chapters, but Mary Pat's actions in the end were a too much for me. Had her response been one I could accept, I’d have given the book 5 stars.
By Gerithegreek
Great book. Hard to put down. Wonderful character development. You feel like you almost know these people by the end of the book.
By ElliotPepper
Now I’m ready for the film adaptation.
By norab
Great portrayal of Southie woman.
By loopandwave
What a great book! I grew up in Boston during the 70’s and remember so much of what the busing did to our city. Fabulous book!
By socalmusefan