Mercy

by Lara Santoro

A transcendent and powerful first novel about two women seeking justice and hope in Africa.

With a swift, compressed narrative style and compassionate vision that recalls the works of Graham Greene, Lara Santoro offers an indelible portrait of Africa in the throes of an epidemic that will ultimately constitute the largest loss of life, love, memory, and hope in modern history.

Anna is an Italian-born journalist based in Kenya. What began as an exploratory three-week tour of Africa has turned into two years of tough assignments and hard living that have provoked a personal "'We don't do massacres,' Warren, my editor, warned, but what else was there to do? 'Give us the ray of light in the dark,' but there was no light to speak of. The longer I stayed, the angrier I became..."

Mercy is the large, flamboyantly dressed African woman who ambushes Anna in the market one day and talks herself into a job as Anna's housemaid. Soon Mercy is organizing interviews for Anna in Nairobi's worst slum and establishing much-needed order in the journalist's disheveled life. While tension and misunderstanding punctuate Anna and Mercy's developing relationship, the two women establish a genuine connection that gives each the courage to battle injustice, greed, and cynicism.

Smart, suspenseful, and ultimately heart-wrenching, Mercy is a powerful tale of moral outrage and personal transformation.

Genres: Fiction, Africa

288 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2007

Reviews

[Orsodimondo · Rating 3 out of 5]

L’AFRICA SENZA KAREN


La mia Africa

Lasciamo perdere La mia Africa, o noi che entriamo in queste pagine: siamo in ben altro territorio.
Vero, siamo sempre nella serie “l’Africa vista dai bianchi”, ma anche nel filone “inviati di guerra”.
E, soprattutto, siamo davanti a ben altra altezza, senza le meravigliose vertigini del capolavoro della Blixen.



Il personaggio della muzungu protagonista è piuttosto irritante e insopportabile (come si vedrà meglio nel seguito ambientato in New Mexico, Fine estate): giornalista italiana inviata nel continente nero, divide il suo amore, o meglio, il suo interesse erotico e sentimentale, tra un reporter americano impegnato e serio, e un inglese godereccio e colonialista.



Mercy, che presta il titolo all’originale, è un personaggio grandioso come il continente che l’ha generato, ma poco originale: è una Mamie un po’ alternativa, corpulenta e kitsch, dal gran cuore e acuta intelligenza pratica, che dopo un passato da spacciatrice di alcolici diventa leader politica e arriva a guidare una marcia di un milione di donne contro le case farmaceutiche per chiedere la liberalizzazione del brevetto dei farmaci anti AIDS.
Altro bel personaggio è quello del prete, meno stereotipato, liberamente ricalcato sul missionario comboniano Alex Zanotelli.

Romanzo d’esordio abbondantemente autobiografico (al 90% afferma Lara Santoro), un po’ melodramma e un po’ romanzo di denuncia, ha sviluppo d’intreccio consolatorio e improbabile, scrittura mediocre e dialoghi sciatti.

[Jenifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

so, this one's getting a little better. it's a first novel by a former journalist who reported from Africa. not surprisingly, the book (written in first-person) is about a journalist reporting from Africa. to which i say, sigh.

anyway, the writing is just ok. ms. santoro tries too hard sometimes, and the strain of it shows up in phrases like this: "As if on cue, the women started singing and a low melody of almost intolerable sweetness rose to the highest corners of the room. It rose above the dancing flames, into the grooves of the metal roofing, onto the back of the night."

note the exquisite "almost intolerable" and the evocative but ultimately meaningless "back of the night."

still, it is my opinion that we all should read more about africa. we should think more, and talk more about africa. certainly, we should do more. so i hope people read this book.

[Karyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Expected a bit more from the book, but it takes a look at Africa and it's fight against AIDS and what these people have to go through compared to the Western world. It shows the courage and determination of one African woman to make changes in her country.

[Leorah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is our book club read for March. It wasn't a compelling read. The characters weren't engaging to me althought the issues discussed in the book were important and heartbreaking.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compassionate portrait of hope amist the AIDS pandemic. One of the best novels of Africa!

[Heidi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story was just not for me. All the misery and depression is not a place I'm in nor a place I care to visit at this moment.

[Joy Norman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The atrocités that go on in Nairobi are upsetting and I. Ant fathom what it would be like to live in such a volatile country. I can I angine how distressing it would be to be a journalist and how so many end up crushed and ruin their own life. A book with multiple levels however I found it a little confusing at times and not sure what was going on very sad

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

intense, about a journalist in Africa

[Larisa Zimmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended by a friend who lives in Africa. I really enjoyed reading it. There are some great characters. The main character is pretty problematic, and I could see how that could be an issue for some readers, but I really liked the fact that she was messed up, and that her actions didn't always follow from rational thought. She is a foreign war correspondent, and the sense I got from the book is that you have to be crazy to do that kind of work. The people she works with are intense and difficult. I liked hearing some background, albeit fictionalized, on the people who send over news stories from distant countries. The character of Mercy is interesting too, well-drawn, believable, and extremely individualistic. This is a good, sad, story about Africa and how messed up things are there. It's not preachy or formulaic and I liked that.

[Ulli · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book. I really enjoyed it. It is very raw hence so powerful. The main character is totally fucked up yet you can't help liking her or at least being intrigued by her. The images are beautiful, stripped of any pretense just like the main character. It definitely grabs you and leaves you thinking.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable - one of those books where you wonder if its semi autobiographical. A story of a female journalist's self destructive tendencies and how an unexpected connection draws her into the fight against AIDs

[vida · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully written, characters you care about, insight into the AIDS crisis in Africa

[Jade17 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good God I adored this book!

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a fan. Main character really unsympathetic. Narrative doesn't pick up until the middle. Too bad, because the premise of the story is good, and the characters have potential.

[Bay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book-complex characters with lots of issues trying to sort them thru reporting on the struggles of others - easy read.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Got to the end and went straight back to the beginning.

[Julie White · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautifully written but characters never sucked me in and needed something more uplifting.

[Jennifer Baker]

Loved this book! Great love and self story of a women's life and thought provoking learning about Africa and other lives. Gives one much to think about and nice writing.

[JD]

A review in O magazine made me want to read this book. i'm looking forward to it!

[Ruthie · Rating 5 out of 5]

captivating and seductive. One of the best novels of Africa!!