The Speed of Mercy

Name: The Speed of Mercy
Brand: HighBridge Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Christy Ann Conlin
ISBN: 9781696604673

Author: Christy Ann Conlin

Narrator: Xe Sands

Unabridged: 10 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Highbridge Audio

Published: 08/03/2021

Categories: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Psychological

Synopsis

"Dark family secrets, the lore of the sea, and a tender, protective friendship between women all converge in The Speed of Mercy, an unusual and surprising story set in idyllic rural Nova Scotia. With subtle humour, Conlin picks the locks on the long-closed doors of two families and bares the ugly, painful skeletons everyone knew were there but chose to hide." —SYLVIA D. HAMILTON, author of And I Alone Escaped To Tell You

The Speed of Mercy captures the unbearable cost of childhood betrayal and what happens when history is suppressed, our past is forgotten—yet finding the truth can change the future. Christy Ann Conlin rips into the myths and stereotypes about older women and those on the edge of conventional society to reveal the timeless gift of mercy in this feminist tour de force.

"Christy Ann Conlin is a conjurer: of place, people, and the haunting past. I was instantly caught up in the darkly mysterious world and indelible characters she has brought to life. Gripping, suspenseful, and lyrically written, The Speed of Mercy caught me by the throat and didn't let go." —ALIX OHLIN, Scotiabank Giller Prize–shortlisted author of Dual Citizens

About Christy Ann Conlin

Christy Ann Conlin is the author of two acclaimed novels, Heave and The Memento. She is also the author of the short fiction collection Watermark, which was a finalist for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award and the Forest of Reading Evergreen Award. Heave was a national bestseller, a Globe and Mail Top 100 Book, and a finalist for the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, the Thomas H. Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award, and the Dartmouth Book Award. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals, including Best Canadian Stories, Brick, Geist, Room, and Numero Cinq. Her short fiction has also been longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the American Short Fiction Prize. Her radio broadcast work includes cocreating and hosting CBC's Fear Itself, a national summer radio series. Christy Ann studied theater at the University of Ottawa and screenplay writing at the University of British Columbia. She was born and raised in seaside Nova Scotia, where she still resides.

Reviews

Goodreads review by George on June 02, 2021

I grew up in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, and that is where this novel is set, in the Valley, and the North Mountain, the Bay of Fundy, the Minas Basin. The Cornwallis River makes an appearance. The landscape is eerily familiar, yet the names of the towns and the counties in this novel have......more

Goodreads review by Ian on June 01, 2021

In The Speed of Mercy, a middle-aged woman gradually recalls the harrowing events that left her mute and consigned to institutional care for most of her adult life. Stella Sprague, fifty-four, draws comfort and a sense of security from her daily routine at the Jericho County Care Centre, located in......more

Goodreads review by Doreen on March 26, 2021

Christy Ann Conlin is a Canadian author I had not yet read, so I was interested in reading her new book. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. It is an odd book which I think needs revision. The book alternates between two timelines: 2021 and 1980. In post-pandemic 2021, Malmuria Grant-Patel (Mal), a po......more

Goodreads review by Barbara on September 21, 2021

A mystery is what held my interest. I found it easy to keep track of the switching timeline from then to now. Each chapter clearly marked at the beginning. But what I never really got was the sense of danger. Even when Seraphina, “Danger is coming,” as she warns Mal (short for Malmuria) a black woman......more

Goodreads review by Malcolm on July 11, 2021

A unique book, The Speed of Mercy, is a mystery thriller fronted by 3 women, a young East Indian podcaster and two elderly, "crazy" women; one, 85 ,and the other, 54--there's a risk taken from the get-go, fronting a book with crazy old women. Maud Lewis (Canadian, self-taught, outsider artist) appea......more