Mercy Street

A Novel

By: Jennifer Haigh

Narrated by: Stacey Glemboski

Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

“Ms. Haigh is an expertly nuanced storyteller long overdue for major attention. Her work is gripping, real, and totally immersive, akin to that of writers as different as Richard Price, Richard Ford, and Richard Russo.”—Janet Maslin, New York Times

The highly anticipated new novel by acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Haigh—“a gifted chronicler of the human condition” (Washington Post Book World)—is a tense, riveting story about the disparate lives that intersect at a woman’s clinic

For almost a decade, Claudia has counseled patients at Mercy Street, a clinic in the heart of the city. The work is consuming, the unending dramas of women in crisis. For its patients, Mercy Street offers more than health care; for many, it is a second chance.

But outside the clinic, the reality is different. Anonymous threats are frequent. A small, determined group of anti-abortion demonstrators appears each morning at its door. As the protests intensify, fear creeps into Claudia’s days, a humming anxiety she manages with frequent visits to Timmy, an affable pot dealer in the midst of his own existential crisis. At Timmy’s, she encounters a random assortment of customers, including Anthony, a lost soul who spends most of his life online, chatting with the mysterious Excelsior11—the screenname of Victor Prine, an anti-abortion crusader who has set his sights on Mercy Street and is ready to risk it all to protect the unborn.

Mercy Street is a novel for right now, a story of the polarized American present. Jennifer Haigh, “an expert natural storyteller with a keen sense of her characters’ humanity” (New York Times), has written a groundbreaking novel, a fearless examination of one of the most divisive issues of our time.

©2022 Jennifer Haigh (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Just amazing

Every novel she’s written is better than the last. A perfect novel for this time.

Be sure to finish

Listening, you will spend time with characters you won’t feel comfortable about - a white racist antiabortionist, a marijuana dealer, a disabled worker who clings to the structure of his neighborhood parish - all of whom have a connection to Claudia, who is an intake worker at Mercy Street clinic. Stick with it though because she knits the separate tracks into a believable thoughtful portrait of invisible people in post Trump America.

Good stuff.

GReat writing. Vivid characters. Recommend this wonderful talent. also the reader is totally excellent

Relevance..life in modern America

Genuine insight into modern America..the hussle and hassle of the everyday.Asute awareness of women's health/rights and the male/power agenda.Ignorance and arrogance Vs rationality and empathy.A balanced view from a compassionate author.

Great story, compelling characters

I truly loved this book. The themes of reproductive health and choice along with a very human protagonist made me sad when the story was over. Very timely..recommend!!

Disappointing, I’m sorry to say

It was disappointing. It’s several story lines that only vaguely intersect, and the characters are neither interesting nor sympathetically portrayed. Yet, others I know enjoyed it which is why I read it.

Lots of America here

(Spoiler alert) The intersection of the lives of such modern American characters with their varied upbringings, struggles, and opinions, set against an ugly Boston winter… I was expecting a catastrophic intersection that (happily) didn’t happen. Because the author lays out the characters but doesn’t judge, it would be a great one for a book group discussion of what I would call “American sinkholes.”

Interesting Characters

Subject matter uncomfortable but all points of view are fascinating and insightful. It seemed like there could have been a horrible culmination of events but instead each character found their own just reward.

disappointing ending

Multiple overlapping storylines that were all building throughout and fizzled out in such and unsatisfying way.

Timely

Found balance in the telling, understanding in choice and some humor and sadness in the depiction of one of the ignorant male characters.