A gripping story

Little Mercies by Heather Gudenkauf

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another great story from Gudenkauf that held me my interest from the beginning right up to the end. While not as thrilling as The Overnight Guest, it was very well written and wove two separate plot lines together in a convincing and sympathetic way. A social worker Ellen is overworked with a demanding career, three children and a pleasant but slightly needy husband. We are then introduced to Jenny who has lost her mother and relies heavily on a father who while supportive has constant money and alcohol problems. The author blends these two major characters into a story about two determined females, who while suffering tragedies in their lives, manage to overcome the odds.

I love a lot of the author's descriptions and prose such as this example- "Blindly I make my way out of the unit and wander the halls until I find a public bathroom. I go inside, lock the door behind me, sit on the floor and cry. I do my best to keep my sobs quiet, but they come from a place that I
didn’t know existed and I’m sure the sounds of my cries slip out beneath the door and into the hallway. I cry until there are no more tears, vomit into the toilet, stand on shaky legs, wash my hands and face, step out into the hall."
She has a great knack in describing the inner emotional of the two leading characters.

Shawn Callon, author of The Simon Montfort Spy Series, wrote this review.



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Little Mercies