A haunting and redemptive novel inspired by the heartbreaking true events that occurred at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, A Tangled Mercy examines the horrifying depths of human brutality and our enduring hope for forgiveness.After the sudden death of her troubled mother, struggling Harvard grad student Kate Drayton walks out on her lecture—and her entire New England life. Haunted by … England life. Haunted by unanswered questions and her own uncertain future, she flees to Charleston, South Carolina, the place where her parents met, convinced it holds the key to understanding her fractured family and saving her career in academia. Kate is determined to unearth groundbreaking information on a failed 1822 slave revolt—the subject of her mother’s own research.
Nearly two centuries earlier, Tom Russell, a gifted blacksmith and slave, grappled with a terrible choice: arm the uprising spearheaded by members of the fiercely independent African Methodist Episcopal Church or keep his own neck out of the noose and protect the woman he loves.
Kate’s attempts to discover what drove her mother’s dangerous obsession with Charleston’s tumultuous history are derailed by a horrific massacre in the very same landmark church. In the unimaginable aftermath, Kate discovers a family she never knew existed as the city unites with a powerful message of hope and forgiveness for the world.
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Outstanding blending of 2 stories set 200 years apart
The book is a mixture of fact, including the tragic deaths of 9 people who are murdered during a prayer service, and fiction, Kate’s journey to learn family secrets. The book has a pleasant ending, kate’s discovery that she has not been left without close family members in the world.
I was torn between giving this book a 3 or 4 star rating. It is a good story, well-written, kept me reading, but throughout my perusal of its pages I found something lacking. At the close of the book, I was not satisfied. Told in chapters alternating between the future and present, a style that is becoming commonplace among historical fiction writers, the historical plot centers on the slave rebellion in Charleston of 1822. It focuses on Tom Russell, a black slave ironwork artisan who is somehow connected to a current Harvard history grad student, Kate Drayton. The story moves back and forth with some nice twists in the plot as the relationship of these two and the people around them is slowly revealed.
I found that the book fell short of being classified as a historical novel. The research was there, but the details that drives the reader to image that era of history were not compelling enough (at least for me). It may be that I know a great deal about this time period so I was expecting more out this novel than was appropriate.
In her desire to demonstrate the secrecy among characters due to race, societal pressures, and local customs, I felt out of touch with the characters and times put off by the brevity of their interactions. Please do not misinterpret my words, the characters in this story are well developed but for me, again something was lacking – I think in an effort to make her characters typify the societal elements of society past and present, they became too predictable. There were a few surprises but not enough to engender freshness in character development.
This is a good read. Jordan-Lake weaves a fine story in an intriguing format. I would recommend this book, though for me, I like to walk away with something that challenges my thinking, something to chew on and ponder about for a few days after finishing a novel. So far, for me, nothing has come to mind.