Vardø is a place of cold winters and strong traditions, everything revolves around the kirke and fishing – the women keep house and care for children. “God provides,” says Toril, though the ache in Maren’s arms tells her it was not God but they who brought this catch home.” The boats go out again, and fish is brought in and shared around the community, the women of Vardø have saved themselves.
For many this is a quite shocking suggestion, but some brave women step forward to try, including Maren. One bold, forward thinking woman, Kirsten suggests to the community that they, the women left behind, take out the boats, as their men did before them, and fish the waters around Vardø. They are in the middle of a hard winter, and if they don’t do something to help themselves the community will starve.
The women must learn to fend for themselves – going against everything they have ever been taught, and believe to be decent. The small community is now a place of women – a couple of elders, a weak young pastor, and a few young boys the only males left. One young woman, Maren stands watching helplessly as the sea takes her father, brother, and fiancé.
In 1617 around the remote Norwegian island of Vardø a terrible storm arrives with appalling suddenness taking with it most of the men of Vardø who were out fishing. Kiran Millwood Hargrave has based her novel around the Vardø witch trials which took place in Finnmark, Norway in 1621. I realised during our book group discussion that I am used to hearing about the witch trials that took place in the UK and North America, but I wasn’t familiar with the stories of them happening elsewhere – but of course they must have done. A compelling novel with lots of feminist themes for us to get our teeth into. My book group chose The Mercies for our February read – and it proved an excellent choice.
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