The Mercy Seat
-
- $179.00
-
- $179.00
Descripción editorial
The acclaimed novel by the author of The Why of Things tackles "the Deep South during the Gothic worst of Jim Crow times . . . truly a bravura performance" (Geoffrey Wolff).
"One of the finest writers of her generation," and author of three previously acclaimed novels, Elizabeth H. Winthrop delivers a brave new book that will launch her distinguished career anew (Brad Watson).
On the eve of his execution, eighteen-year-old Willie Jones sits in his cell in New Iberia awaiting his end. Across the state, a truck driven by a convict and his keeper carries the executioner's chair closer. On a nearby highway, Willie's father Frank lugs a gravestone on the back of his fading, old mule. In his office the DA who prosecuted Willie reckons with his sentencing, while at their gas station at the crossroads outside of town, married couple Ora and Dale grapple with their grief and their secrets.
As various members of the township consider and reflect on what Willie's execution means, an intricately layered and complex portrait of a Jim Crow era Southern community emerges. Moving from voice to voice, Winthrop elegantly brings to stark light the story of a town, its people, and its injustices. The Mercy Seat is a brutally incisive and tender novel from one of our most acute literary observers.
"Artful and succinctly poetic . . . A worthy novel that gathers great power as it rolls on propelled by its many voices."—The New York Times Book Review
"A miracle of a novel, with rapid-fire sentences that grab you and propel you to the next page . . . It's a breakout. It's a wonder."—Dallas Morning News
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Winthrop (The Why of Things) grapples with the ravages of Jim Crow in Louisiana in this staggering multivoiced novel set during World War II. African-American Willie Jones is set to be executed at midnight after being wrongly convicted of the rape of a young white woman. Over the course of Willie's final day, Winthrop cycles through the perspectives of a host of local characters in short, powerful chapters. Willie's father, Frank, rushes to see Willie before the execution date, carrying with him Willie's headstone, which he will never pay off. District Attorney Polly regrets his role in seeking the death penalty, which he was forced to do after local men kidnapped his son as a warning. Father Hanigan disguises his failing faith as he attempts to comfort Willie. Lane, the prison trustee driving the truck containing the electric chair that will be used to execute Willie, proves more honorable than the loathsome, alcoholic guard. Ora frets about her soldier son's safety while her husband Dale struggles to tell her about the letter informing them of his death. Winthrop's survey of these divergent lives compounds their individual pain into a withering critique of a cancerous society. This potent novel about prejudice and the constraints of challenging the status quo will move and captivate readers, especially those looking for socially conscious historical fiction.
