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The Miracle of Mercy Land: A Novel

3.28 of 5 stars 3.28 · rating details · 82 ratings · 31 reviews

What if you had the power to amend choices you made in the past? Would you do it even if it changed everything?

Mercy Land has made some unexpected choices for a young woman in the 1930s. The sheltered daughter of a traveling preacher, she chooses to leave her rural community to move to nearby Bay City on the warm, gulf-waters of southern Alabama. There she finds a job at t...more

Paperback, 352 pages

Published September 7th 2010 by WaterBrook Press

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Jul 07, 2012 Tammi rated it 3 of 5 stars

I choose this book to review because I liked the premise. I have often wondered how things would be different if I had made different choices. This story explores this idea, in a very interesting way, when a mysterious book suddenly shows up on Doc's desk. Doc and Mercy discover that they are able to see into other people's lives and how their choices affected the present, both for good and bad.

River Jordan has written an interesting book. Her use of description is powerful, and I can still pict...more

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Apr 06, 2011 Cafelilybookreviews rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Miracle of Mercy Land is a story about being given the power to change the past.

Mercy Land works as the assistant editor of the Banner, the only newspaper available in the little town of Bay City, Alabama. When her boss Doc, who is also her mentor, finds a mysterious book on his desk that shows up out of nowhere, things begin to change for Mercy and Doc and those whose secrets are hidden in the book.

Keeping the book a secret at first, Doc and Mercy spend hours upon hours looking into the li...more

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Mar 26, 2011 Nikole Hahn rated it 4 of 5 stars

The cover is the first thing that I notice in a book. It’s what compels me to investigate the back flap. Some Amish romances temporarily got my interest, but I wasn’t really in the mood for another Amish romance. I wanted something deeper and more turn-your-brain-inside-out kind of stories like I had read in Mike Duran and James Patterson’s books. This cover had a magnolia flower surrounded by light and lots of pink. It told me nothing about the book. That aside, the book blew me away.

A sudden...more The cover is the first thing that I notice in a book. It’s what compels me to investigate the back flap. Some Amish romances temporarily got my interest, but I wasn’t really in the mood for another Amish romance. I wanted something deeper and more turn-your-brain-inside-out kind of stories like I had read in Mike Duran and James Patterson’s books. This cover had a magnolia flower surrounded by light and lots of pink. It told me nothing about the book. That aside, the book blew me away.

A sudden flash of light occurred, and then nothing but the darkness. And that dark was complete. We were not actually sitting in the dark at all, but by comparison all other light was like unto darkness. Mercy moved to place the book back in the box and into the cabinet with me wanting to shout, No, stop. I must see more! But I could not speak. Yet she turned back as if she’d heard me, leaving the book as it was. (Pg. 216, John Quincy’s POV)

Mercy Land grew up in Bittersweet Creek. She moved to the city in the 1930s before Hitler grew in power across the Atlantic. She lives on the Gulf and is the newspaper’s go-to girl, or Doc’s girl. Doc is an old man who emotionally relies on Mercy as a friend. He lost his wife a few years prior. The book as told mainly by Mercy Land in first person flows with an abundance of love for her Bittersweet Creek folks and family. She loves the city and the smell of the newspaper. She doesn’t struggle with singledom and happens to be quite content in this state much to her friends and family’s disappointment.

This is not a romance book, but romance does bud about halfway through the story. It’s not your typical story. In fact, it’s not your typical romance either. Usually, romances are easy to predict. This book doesn’t give you that luxury. It’s unpredictable. Doc magically receives a book. It’s a book of light where names float to the top and if you dip your hand in you see the choices that were and were not made in a person’s life.

“Look,” he said again, “it’s a book.” He said this like he was trying to reassure me of something, but it didn’t work. I caught my breath and blinked back tears. It was a book, all right. Or at least a type and shadow of maybe a book. It was a book if you wanted to call it a book. And I guess to call it anything else, well, where would you begin? It did appear somewhat like a book in the shape of things, but when I looked at it, I knew better. On the cover, the letters—if you could even call them that—moved. That is, the words themselves were formed from gold, and that gold moved like liquid fire. (Pg. 9, Mercy Land’s POV)

The Miracle of Mercy Land becomes the story of a battle against a dark force over a person’s soul. It becomes a longing for home. It becomes a story about how a person’s choices can affect a stranger. It talks about brokenness. The language of the writer beautifully describes her love of family. I couldn’t understand why the publisher would choose such a mundane cover for such a powerful story. It’s the only reason why I gave this book four and a half stars. Otherwise, it has earned a place on my permanent bookshelf.

Publisher provided the book to review. All reviews are done objectively. (less)

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Feb 05, 2011 Kylin Larsson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: novels

To read this book is to glimpse the magnificence of the human condition. I want to write essays about how good and important this book is, but I don't have time. Do yourself a favor and read it.

Mercy Land, the protagonist (and a state of mind, when you get right down to it), is thoroughly charming. She was raised in the backwoods in Missouri and works as a newspaper editor in a small town on the coast in Alabama in the late 1930s, early 1940s. Her on-the-river upbringing instills in her a steadi...more

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Sep 23, 2010 Malcolm rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: shelf-of-wonders

This wise, well-told 1930s-era story about a young woman from the back woods of Bittersweet Creek, Alabama, who moves to a nearby city to work for the newspaper will haunt the jaded cloak off a cynic and the bloom off a Southern Magnolia in the arena of pure beauty.

A preacher's daughter, protagonist Mercy Land is steeped in the spiritual and plain-spoken common sense of the rural South. She carries her heritage deep in her humble soul when she begins work for Doc on the Bay City "Banner." While...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Tim George rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mercy Land is an ordinary girl from the unincorporated and mostly unrecognized community of hardy souls who live near Bittersweet Creek. They are, as Mercy puts it, “a knotty gathering of simple people” who live in a place that is “no more than a boot stomp”. But all will change when Mercy heads off to the big town of Bay City.

Author River Jordan weaves a southern gothic story of discovery and mystery worthy of a title like, The Miracle of Mercy Land. Mercy moves to Bay City, Alabama in a time w...more Mercy Land is an ordinary girl from the unincorporated and mostly unrecognized community of hardy souls who live near Bittersweet Creek. They are, as Mercy puts it, “a knotty gathering of simple people” who live in a place that is “no more than a boot stomp”. But all will change when Mercy heads off to the big town of Bay City.

Author River Jordan weaves a southern gothic story of discovery and mystery worthy of a title like, The Miracle of Mercy Land. Mercy moves to Bay City, Alabama in a time when innocence is about to be shattered by World War II. And there, through her association with Doc, his newspaper, and a strange book known to only the two of them, her innocence will not be allowed to wait another day.

The book is more a mystery than the mysteries it holds. In some unexplained way, it immerses Doc and Mercy in the lives of the people of Bay City who depend on Doc for news of the town and beyond. Each time one of them opens the book, they find themselves pulled along the pathways of other people’s “should have beens” and “maybe wills”.

Before long Mercy realizes, as a good a man as Doc is, he is using the book for a mostly noble yet somewhat selfish purpose. An oddly familiar yet too perfect man shows up in town, called there by Doc, for reasons Mercy can’t understand. Though attracted to the man she is also untrusting and fearful of him. His presence is both what is right about the peaceful town of Bay City and what is wrong.

Characters and setting are River Jordan’s strengths in this story that is labeled magical realism by some. Mercy’s Aunt Ida is her north star, always reminding her of who she is and the stuff of which she’s made. More than once, Ida only has to remind Mercy where and how she was born to calm her fears and strengthen her resolve.

For some, the plot moves a bit too slowly. Like Bittersweet creek, it isn’t in a hurry to get you to the end. There is no doubt some will want more at the end. This isn’t a story where everything is wrapped up in a neat package. There are still questions. There is still … mystery and wonder.

But for me, it is that almost yet not quite explained air of wonder that makes this story unique. The depth of the main characters, the unexplained pasts and futures of others and the lure of the Bittersweet is what makes this story of Mercy Land a true miracle of story-telling.(less)

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Jan 31, 2011 F. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Cover: It is ok. Not as sophisticated like other books I have seen.

The Miracle of Mercy Land: A NovelMercy Land, a native of backwoods Bittersweet, has moved into Bay City in Alabama, working as 'Doc's girl', an assistant editor to Doc Phillips, editor and owner of the local daily newspaper in the 1930s. Mercy knows almost every secret of Doc's, except one when a magical book appears in Doc's Office.

Doc calls Mercy into his office to figure out what is the purpose of the magical book. They are a...more

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Jan 12, 2011 Stephanie rated it 1 of 5 stars

Oh, mercy me. I am a fairly positive person by nature, and I've struggled and struggled with this review. Why? I didn't like the book. I've tried and tried to read it with fresh eyes, determined that today I am going to like this story. The premise is fascinating. The book feels good. (I know, strange. But I like it when the paper and cover are nicely made. It makes reading more enjoyable for me.) The cover art is beautiful. The storyline is exciting, but... I'm not quite sure if I just don't fi...more

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Feb 25, 2011 Theresa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Set in the early 1930's, a time in which a young woman is expected to marry and start a family, our protagonist Mercy Land bucks that tradition, with the support of her eccentric Aunt Ida. Right away we find that Mercy Land is not like other young women of her time. Born in a bolt of lightning on the banks of the Bittersweet, Mercy leaves her small town and moves to Bay City, where she soon becomes the assistant to Doc Philips, the publisher and editor of the town newspaper, quickly earning the...more

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Oct 25, 2010 Kathleen Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished

This book is a spiritual thriller with a bit of supernatural thrown into the mix. The story takes place in a small town in Alabama in the 1930's. About a book that is found by the owner of a newspaper, that has the ability to change the people in the book and their destinies. A young woman who is a reporter and general girl Friday to the owner/editor, Mercy is one of the main characters. She loves working at the newspaper and especially working with her boss, Doc. She finds out about the book an...more

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Feb 02, 2011 Mike rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2011

As she works for Doc Phillips at the local paper, Mercy Land does what is necessary to become indispensable. Then, early one morning, Mercy gets information about a huge story, the biggest she has ever worked on, but she can't print any of it. Mysterious things start happening like: Mercy meeting a man named John Quincy in her dreams (will he help or hinder her), a book floats in the window onto Doc's desk, words are constantly moving on the pages, and Mercy and Doc can see lives when their hand...more

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Oct 15, 2010 Holly (2 Kids and Tired) rated it 2 of 5 stars

A beautifully written story about choices and their consequences on others. But, while the writing is very lyrical and evocative and the characters are memorable, it just never clicked for me. It's a slow moving story and I found myself impatient for it to be finished.

Magical realism is used in fiction to help the characters and readers see a deeper meaning to something. Magical elements are portrayed as normal and, here, the book is just that: a magical book that suddenly appears and seems to...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Krystal rated it 5 of 5 stars

Right away we find that Mercy Land is not like other young women of her time. Set in the early 1930's, a time in which a young woman is expected to marry and start a family, our protagonist Mercy Land bucks that tradition, with the support of her eccentric Aunt. The Miracle of Mercy Land is an enjoyable read that ended much too soon for me. Although I enjoyed the plot and felt the characters were complex and believable, I did feel a little let down that many questions were never answered. Where...more

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Mar 11, 2011 Dawn Cronk marked it as to-read

River Jordan once again writes a very interesting book. Mercy has an interesting entry into the world at birth that has made her able to use her "gift." She works at the Banner newspaper working for Doc who has received a strange present that could potentially undo the community with the secrets it holds. Along comes a stranger who just might be what Mercy's been looking for, but is he good or evil? I found this to be a light and fun read and certainly not the norm in christian fiction. This wil...more

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Apr 04, 2011 Beverly Frisby rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book of River Jordan's that I have read and I was not disappointed. The first few sentences on the back book jacket certainly grabbed my attention: "What if you had the power to amend choices you made in the past? Would you do it even if it changed everything?"

The story is set in the 1930's on the Gulf shores of Alabama. Mercy moves from the backwoods of Bittersweet Creek to the nearby town of Bay City, looking for work. She goes to work at the local newspaper, the "Banner," wh...more

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Apr 01, 2011 Tammy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Miracle of Mercy Land by River Jordan is one of those unforgettable reads that leaves you with the knowledge that choices we make in life are ever so important and may affect more than "the today" of our lives.
Mercy Land is a traveling preacher's daughter with a sweet disposition and a faith that is hard.as.a.rock. She begins working with Doc at the small town newspaper in Bay City called The Banner. Doc is another lovable character with a heart as big as Texas but sometimes his kindness is...more

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Apr 27, 2011 Tabitha Steinbock rated it 1 of 5 stars

I had very high hopes for The Miracle of Mercy Land when I read the back of the book. However, I was sadly disappointed. One of the questions in the reader’s guide at the end asks “When you turn the last page…what is the strongest impression the novel leaves with you?” I’m left feeling confused.

I felt that the author, River Jordan, carried out suspenseful plots way too long and in some cases not really providing any answers.

SPOILER ALERT
Like…was Cilla Satan? Why does Aunt Ida suddenly become a m...more

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Jan 17, 2012 Julie (julie37619) rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: christian-fiction

It's the story of a woman who works at a small town newspaper who, along with her mentor, Doc, finds a mysterious book that tells the secrets of everyone in the town. It's listed as inspirational fiction, but honestly if I hadn't known the publisher I would have had no idea. I would classify it as magic realism, except that makes it sound good. Sadly, this one did not live up to my expectations.

The Writing:
No. Just no. We are talking plot holes as big as the Grand Canyon. One of my huge issues w...more It's the story of a woman who works at a small town newspaper who, along with her mentor, Doc, finds a mysterious book that tells the secrets of everyone in the town. It's listed as inspirational fiction, but honestly if I hadn't known the publisher I would have had no idea. I would classify it as magic realism, except that makes it sound good. Sadly, this one did not live up to my expectations.

The Writing:
No. Just no. We are talking plot holes as big as the Grand Canyon. One of my huge issues with the writing was that I felt like the author had done no research. The book is set in the 1930's in rural Alabama. From the beginning the narrator tells us that she was born in a tiny community called Bittersweet Creek. She moves to a larger city, but we are told over and over how small this town is. Everyone knows everyone, rural, etc, etc. But then the narrator tells us she has a car. And she goes to a dance hall and knows how to waltz.

From my five minutes of research on the rural South during this time period, neither of those things would be a possibility. Where did she get the money for a car? We hear all about how humble her family is and how she just makes enough money for a boarding house (remember we are talking a single woman in the 1930's) - but she has her own car? And she learned to dance? Don't tell me about how she grew up running wild on the banks of a creek in rural Alabama and then have her ballroom dancing a few paragraphs away.

Another issue was the multiple narrators. Multiple narrators are typically not a problem for me, but I think it's weird to tell half the story in alternating voices and then to randomly insert two chapters in a third voice. It was just obviously used as a device to show us what was happening in the third character's head or let us know what he was doing when he was "off stage". I think there are better ways to do that then the sudden and random addition of a third voice for two chapters.

Finally, the dialects. There is nothing worse than poorly written Southern dialect. At the very least try to keep it consistent. If a character is going to have to use country phrases to show us how backwoods she is, then use them all the time. Don't have her occasionally throw out a "ya'll" or a "down in the holler" and then on the next page have her speaking perfectly grammatical English with no accent.

So yeah, the writing gets a big time no from me.

MST3K Review:
Again, this is a no go. Not entertaining. The entire book is this huge buildup about the secret book. Why do they have it? What is its purpose? Where did it come from? Then we have the big finale with a showdown between the good guys and the bad guy (who only appears at all in the last 50 pages). And the showdown ends, the good guy and the good girl live happily ever after, and the book? Nah, who cares about that. The girl fell in love! She found a man to complete her! Who needs to know why we just read 354 pages all about this mysterious book - what really matters is that a man loves the female main character. Isn't that what we should be concerned about? We get our happy ending?

My apologies to the author and the publishing company. I really wanted to like this one. But I didn't. At all. It's a do not recommend.(less)

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May 15, 2011 Julie Smith (Knitting and Sundries) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: blogging-for-books, reviewed

This review first appeared on my blog: http://www.knittingandsundries.com/20...

FIRST SENTENCE: I was born in a bolt of lightning on the banks of Bittersweet Creek.

It is 1938, and Mercy Land, 27 years old, is an editorial assistant to Doc Philips, who is 77 years old, the owner of The Banner, Bay City's oldest newspaper. She was born and raised in Bittersweet Creek, not really a town, more of a bump in the road, and with her Aunt Ida's encouragement that she was meant to see more of the world, w...more

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Oct 25, 2010 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

From my book review blog Rundpinne. ..."Beautiful, lyrical, and full of hope, The Miracle of Mercy Land by River Jordan is an unforgettable book."...the full review may be read here.

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Feb 17, 2012 Lyndi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed, it was so different than most books that I have read. Even though it is considered Christian fiction, God wasnt a big part of it, but the premise that you can change your life was refreshing. This was my first book by this author and I really look forward to reading more by her.

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Jun 29, 2011 Lauren rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit

I definitely thought this book was a waste of time. I thought the beginning had potential, but the further I read into it the more I disliked the characters, plot and writing style. I ended up scanning the last third of the book to get through it faster.

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Jul 26, 2010 Kaya rated it 5 of 5 stars

River Jordan's words are so delicious that I read her books aloud just so I can taste them in my mouth. She is, without question, one of the very best literary voices in America today.

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May 22, 2011 Deborah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Love River's novels. Very thoughtful and spiritual. Makes you think about the choices you make each day and how they effect others.

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Dec 02, 2011 Coyla rated it 3 of 5 stars

Enjoyed reading this novel but I thought the ending fell flat.

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Apr 09, 2011 Kate rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-books, christian-fiction, paranormal-supernatural

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 25, 2012 Virginia Winfield rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not expecting a fantasy type, but it was okay.

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Aug 14, 2012 Joanne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Every word of this book, every syllable and choice of syntax, from the birth and naming of the protagonist to the final acknowledgement, is perfectly and magically placed to set and tell this story of miracles and Mercy. I will now avidly search for more by this author.

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Feb 03, 2013 Amy Lee Ellis rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not a bad book, but something of a roughly written one. I thought the author had a good idea, but there were too many unnecessary loose ends left undone and too much glossing over of things. I'd give this 2.5 stars if we could do half stars.

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Feb 27, 2013 Brandy Vallance rated it 3 of 5 stars

I loved the concept of this story and "the book." However, the story got a little slow for me in the middle. I found myself skipping pages. The ending wasn't as big as what I would have liked.

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