Finished: The Mercies (Hargrave) A very good, chilling story based on real life events off the small coastal town of Vardo in the northernmost territory of Norway known as Finnmark. In 1617 a sudden, deadly storm breaks out on the seas, just outside the harbor of Vardo, killing all 40 of the men who lived in the town. Every woman in Vardo loses a husband, father, son or betrothed as the merciless storm takes them all down. Twenty year old Maren watches in shock, along with the other towns-women, as her father, her brother and her betrothed all go down with their boats. The women barely know what to do with their grief, much less how to survive in this world where the men had always provided the food and shelter. One brave woman, Kirsten, rallies the other women and tells them they must take over the duties of the men if they want to eat, to survive. Though the district has sent a male clergyman to guide them, he is very passive and doesn't believe the women should go out in fish, but depend on God's will for survival. Several of the women, Maren included, go with Kirsten as they catch fish enough for the town on their first outing, and continue to provide food for everyone...even those women who believe that by doing so they are close to performing sorcery. There is a divided belief in the town: those who believe in God and religiously attend the kirke (church), and those who believe more in the natural spirits of nature, for example, calling upon runes to bring a safe wind for their fishermen. Maren's sister-in-law, Dinna, is one of those women. She is from a group of people known as the Sami, and she is looked down upon by the other women as unholy. She has lost her husband, Maren's brother, in the storm and has just given birth to his son. She is a strong woman, but in despair without her husband. Still, she refuses to attend the kirke or to bond with the other women of the town. The women have begun to have a rhythm of survival and self-reliance when a commissioner is assigned to their town. He is to come and be the voice of reason and law. His name is Absalom Cornet and he brings with him a young Norwegian wife, Ursa, who he has just recently married and barely knows. Ursa is ripped from the only home she's ever known, and from her very ill sister and widowed father because her father thinks this will be a good marriage for her, and specifically, because he thinks it will bring the highborn family some much needed financial assistance since his own inadequate business dealings have left them nearly broke. As actually happened in the 1600's in Norway, Commissioner Cornet is really being sent to Vardo on a witch hunt. King Christian IV, having not much influence in the worldwide politics, set his sights on "cleaning up" his own country, starting with what he considered to be the untamed territory of Finnmark in the north. As the commissioner begins to wield his religious influence and power, the town's women further divide with the religious zealots reduced to actually accusing neighbors they have known all their lives of witchcraft. Maren and Kirsten are already close friends, but Maren worries for Kirsten's safety, and that of her sister-in-law, as the noose tightens around the necks of  "those who are named" by others. Ursa befriends Maren and they strike up a very deep bond, one that neither of them saw coming. They are comforted by each other and protective of each other. When Ursa tells Maren that Dinna has been "named" to her husband, Maren rushes to warn Dinna, and she escapes in the night with her young son just hours before Absalom and his men come for her. That doesn't slow him down, though. His next stop is Kirsten's house. :-( Maren insists on going to speak on behalf of Kirsten, but Ursa begs her not to, saying there is nothing that can stop the mob now and if she speaks on her behalf, she will endanger herself. It's an awful time of terror and disbelief for everyone in the town, to have not only lost their families, but to now be losing all control of their own lives. The book is so well written and the characters so vivid. I was emotionally attached to Kirsten and Maren and Ursa, and I was in horror of the women who had the ear of the commissioner and turned on the other women so easily. The book has a tragic ending as Kirsten and another woman are burned alive. Maren and Ursa have finally discovered a love they never knew could exist in each other, but then Maren is "named" and must flee the town. Before she can flee, Absalom realizes what is between his wife and Maren and, enraged, he storms to Maren's house and begins to drown Maren in a tub. Ursa hits him over the head (more the once lol) with a stone rolling pin and kills him! Ursa begs to go with Maren, but she convinces her to go home and report her husband missing the next morning. When they finally find him dead at Maren's, she will be long gone and will assume that Maren killed him. Ursa, now a widow, would be free to go home to her father and sister as she has truly always wanted. Though they have found love with each other, Ursa and Maren will be separated, but safe to live on.