Book of the Month - September 2021
Date Added: 02/09/2021
The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
On Christmas Eve, 1617, the sea around the remote Norwegian island of Vardo is thrown into a reckless storm. As Maren Magnusdatter watches, forty fishermen, including her father and brother, are lost to the waves, the menfolk of Vardo wiped out in an instant. Now the women must fend for themselves.
Eighteen months later, a sinister figure arrives. Summoned from Scotland to take control of a place at the edge of the civilised world, Absalom Cornet knows what he needs to do to bring the women of Vardo to heel. With him travels his young wife, Ursa. In Vardo, and in Maren, Ursa finds something she has never seen before: independent women. But Absalom sees only a place untouched by God and flooded with a mighty and terrible evil, one he must root out at all costs.
Our book of the month is The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, a story about how suspicion can twist its way through a community, and about a love that could prove as dangerous as it is powerful. You can request a copy now through our library catalogue Arena, for collection at your local library, or request a copy on audiobook with BorrowBox, with just a library card number and PIN.
If you're not a member you can join online here. Don't know your PIN? Get it sent to you here.
Reading Well
Reading Well supports you to understand and manage your health and wellbeing using helpful reading. The books are all recommended by health experts, as well as people with lived experience of the conditions and topics covered and their relatives and carers. You can find the Reading Well books in our libraries now.
Reading Well for mental health provides helpful information and support for managing common mental health conditions, or dealing with difficult feelings and experiences. Some books also include personal stories from people who are living with or caring for someone with mental health needs.
Reading Well for young people recommends expert endorsed books about mental health, providing 13 to 18 year olds with advice and information about issues like anxiety, stress and OCD, and difficult experiences like bullying and exams. The books have all been recommended by young people and health professionals.
Reading Well for children provides information, stories and advice to support children’s mental health and wellbeing. The books have been chosen and recommended by leading health professionals and co-produced with children and families. The booklist is targeted at children in Key Stage 2 (aged 7-11), but includes titles aimed at a wide range of reading levels to support less confident readers, and to encourage children to read together with their siblings and carers.
Reading Well for dementia recommends books you might find helpful if you have dementia, are caring for someone with dementia or would like to find out more about the condition.
Reading Well for long term conditions provides information and support for people living with a long term health condition and their carers.
Look out for Reading Well in our libraries, or find the books on our library catalogue, Arena. Visit the Reading Well website for more information and a full list of the books.