To Love Mercy

by Frank S. Joseph

Frank S. Joseph's debut novel evokes nostalgia at the same time that it confronts difficult questions of race and ethnicity in segregated Chicago of the late 1940s. The book chronicles a day and night in the life of two young boys--one black, one white--who unexpectedly find themselves lost in the city, exploring with the innocent enthusiasm of children while their families tear each other apart in fear. The racial tensions threaded through the novel come to a climax as the families meet to reunite with their children and personal choices are weighed with a shattering clarity against the pressures of the city.

Paperback

Published January 1, 2005

About the author

Frank S Joseph's award-winning “Chicago Trilogy” novels -- TO LOVE MERCY, TO WALK HUMBLY and TO DO JUSTICE -- tell a story of lives forever changed by racial turmoil that marked and marred Chicago at mid century, a great city going up in flames.

Frank lived it. He came of age in the ’40s and ’50s as a sheltered White boy in comfortable South Side neighborhoods undergoing racial turnover and “white flight." And in his 20s, as an Associated Press correspondent, he covered the ’60s riots that wracked Chicago’s inner city as well as the '67 Detroit riot, where 37 died, and the notorious '68 Democratic National Convention street disorders.

Frank left Chicago in 1969, landed at The Washington Post during Watergate, and went on to a career as an award-winning journalist, publisher and direct marketer. His Chicago Trilogy novels have won award after award:

· TO DO JUSTICE, Trilogy Book III, won Book of the Year Honorable Mention (indie fiction) from the Chicago Writers Assn. Previously it won First Prize in CWA's novel contest. It has been named an IndieReader Best Book, and has garnered 5-Star reviews from IndieReader, Readers' Favorite®, Reedsy Reviews, Midwest Book Review and Boys’ Mom Reads! It is published by Key Literary/Bookbaby.

· TO WALK HUMBLY, Trilogy Book II, won the New Rivers Novel Contest. It is published by Key Literary/Bookbaby.

· TO LOVE MERCY, Trilogy Book I, won eight awards including the Eric Hoffer Award. It was first published by Mid Atlantic Highlands in 2006 and is pending republication by Key Literary/Bookbaby.

Frank and his wife Carol Jason, an artist and sculptor, live in Chevy Chase MD. They are the parents of Sam and Shawn.

Reviews

[Bonni McKeown]

Frank S. Joseph's "To Love Mercy," is a page-turner that brings post-WW II Chicago back to life. It will make you laugh and cry. The story is told mostly in plain language from the viewpoint of the Jewish boy Steve and his Black buddy Sass, but it's for grown folks. I'm not sure today's kids will understand it because so much of the landscape has changed. What hasn't changed much is the racial suspicions and disparities that magnify even the smallest injury. Steve's grandfather owns a Bronzeville theater patronized by Black people, where Sass's mother works. Sass's father is a minister and they have to scrap for every penny. When Sass and his friends annoy and beg Steve's grandfather and father for money after a White Sox game, Steve accidentally injures Sass and insists on visiting him in the hospital. They make friends while running all over Chicago on buses and L trains, only to worry their folks. Dora, who belongs to Sass's father's church and works as a maid for Steve's parents, worries even more that their mixing will lead to trouble. And Dora's long-ago traumatized son Joseph, unknown to her, haunts Southside alleys, picturing himself as a poetic king of the Ethiopian Hebrews. Every one of these characters, and the places they visit, comes alive so much it really did make me laugh and cry. The author, a former news reporter, adds a postlude with snippets of interviews with people who remembered that time and place. He apparently planned two sequels, but "To Love Mercy" stands alone as a fine novel.

[Olivia Bennett]

I went into this not knowing what to expect, and I was completely blown away. Frank S. Joseph has crafted something truly special here a novel that manages to be both a nostalgic coming-of-age story and a searing examination of racial tension in 1940s Chicago.

The structure is deceptively simple: one day and night in the lives of two young boys, one Black and one white, who get lost in the city together. But through this narrow lens, Joseph explores so much fear, family, innocence, and the devastating weight of societal expectations. The way he contrasts the boys' innocent exploration with their families' frantic, fear-driven search is masterful.

What really got me was the ending. I won't spoil anything, but the choices made in those final pages hit with a shattering clarity that left me staring at the wall for a good twenty minutes after finishing. This is a book that asks hard questions and doesn't give easy answers.

Joseph's prose is beautiful without being showy. He trusts his readers to understand the gravity of what's happening beneath the surface. The racial tensions aren't preached at you they're felt in every interaction, every unspoken fear, every desperate choice.

For fans of historical fiction, literary fiction, or anyone who appreciates a novel that makes you think and feel in equal measure. Highly recommend.

[Jennifer Rupp]

In a time when even having a discussion about race can erupt into controversy, this gentle but forthright story reminds us that we are not born with prejudice, we learn it. From chapter one, the reader is plunged into the deep end of Chicago during an era many readers won’t remember, but will picture clearly because of the author’s skill and because, ultimately, we are not all that different as people. Like the Old and the New Testament, moments of love and beauty temper the ugliness and fear of the real world. We may never achieve the equality and freedom the tenets of our constitution profess, but we can do more than hope. We can strive to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly. I received a signed copy of To Love Mercy from the author, Frank S. Joseph. I wanted to share the story, but I loved the book so much, I wanted to keep it for myself. So, I bought another copy to give to a friend and I recommend To Love Mercy to you. Read it with love.

[Scott Schneider]

A fun and engaging look at late 1940s Chicago and a friendship between a black boy and a white Jewish kid. They take a rollicking unauthorized tour of Chicago. The end has several interviews with residents of Chicago from that period. Looking forward to the sequels.

[Annm]

This is a good read. The characters seem real and there is a real sense of place.

[Gary A]

Amazing story told is an amazing way. A tale of friendship that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. Can't wait to read the next book in the series

[Ashley Hermes]

A moving and memorable story that captures childhood innocence against the backdrop of racial tension in 1940s Chicago. Thought provoking, emotional, and beautifully written.

[Solveig]

The tension and curiosity that characterized race relations in the 1950s are crystallized in this lively, but testy meeting of two boys--one Jewish and one African-American. The setting is Chicago, described in loving and authentic detail. In reading To Love Mercy, I learned that you can weep, laugh, and scream all at the same time.

[Elizabeth Bruce]

Urgent and brave, a tale of two boys, one black, one Jewish, modern Huck Finns both, holding us to moral consciousness and the rushings of their inner honesty in the Chicago of the 1940s. Stylistically taut. Told entirely in the voices and inner monologues of the characters.

[Tom Glenn]

Part of a multipart series. To Love Mercy tells a street tale intriguing in detail and authenticity. Much more to come in the final volume(s).