The Shape of Mercy

I vaguely remember studying about the Salem witch trials in school. I was intrigued by The Shape of Mercy: A Novel, the story of a modern-day college student who agrees to transcribe the diary of a young woman who was accused of being a witch in Salem.

It's a haunting, riveting read...one I'll share more about at 5 Minutes for Books in the near future. In the meanwhile, here's some info to whet your appetite.

Lauren Durough is a college student who finds herself on the road to self-discovery as she is hired by octogenarian Abigail Boyles to transcribe the journals of Mercy Hayworth, a seventeenth-century victim of the Massachusetts witch trials. Almost immediately, Lauren finds herself drawn to this girl who lived and died four centuries ago. The strength of her affinity with Mercy forces Lauren to take a startling new look at her own life, including her relationships with Abigail, her college roommate, and a young man named Raul. But on the way to the truth, will Lauren find herself playing the helpless defendant or the misguided judge? Can she break free from her own perceptions and see who she really is?


To find out more about the author, Susan Meissner, visit her website.