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Mercy Snow
In the tiny town of Titan Falls, New Hampshire, the paper mill dictates a quiet, steady rhythm of life. But one day a tragic bus accident sets two families on a course toward destruction, irrevocably altering the lives of everyone in their wake.
June McAllister is the wife of the local mill owner and undisputed first lady in town. But the Snow family, a group of itinerant ne'er-do-wells who live on a decrepit and cursed property, have brought her -- and the town -- nothing but grief.
June will do anything to cover up a dark secret she discovers after the crash, one that threatens to upend her picture-perfect life, even if it means driving the Snow family out of town. But she has never gone up against a force as fierce as the young Mercy Snow. Mercy is determined to protect her rebellious brother, whom the town blames for the accident, despite his innocence. And she has a secret of her own. When an old skeleton is discovered not far from the crash, it beckons Mercy to solve a mystery buried deep within the town's past.
June McAllister is the wife of the local mill owner and undisputed first lady in town. But the Snow family, a group of itinerant ne'er-do-wells who live on a decrepit and cursed property, have brought her -- and the town -- nothing but grief.
June will do anything to cover up a dark secret she discovers after the crash, one that threatens to upend her picture-perfect life, even if it means driving the Snow family out of town. But she has never gone up against a force as fierce as the young Mercy Snow. Mercy is determined to protect her rebellious brother, whom the town blames for the accident, despite his innocence. And she has a secret of her own. When an old skeleton is discovered not far from the crash, it beckons Mercy to solve a mystery buried deep within the town's past.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
104 people are currently reading
2985 people want to read
About the author
Tiffany Baker
10 books240 followersTiffany Baker is the New York Times bestselling author of The Little Giant of Aberdeen County. She lives outside San Francisco with her husband, three children, and tiny hyperactive dog. Her new novel, The Gilly Salt Sisters, will be released from Grand Central Publishing in March 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 453 reviews
May 15, 2020
this book is a somewhat more women's fiction-y counterpart to russell banks' The Sweet Hereafter with a very slight sprinkling of magical realism for sparkle. like the banks, this begins with a school bus accident in the icy winter of a small northern town, and the way the accident's aftershocks ripple through the community.
baker captures the small new england town mentality perfectly. in this case, it is a town completely reliant upon their sole industry of the local paper mill, and indebted to the family that owns it. this breeds feelings of gratitude and resentment both; a willingness to superstitiously guard the secrets of the mcallister family, but also a simmering discontent as the mill begins to fail and the future of the town is uncertain.
the bus accident serves to foment these repressed simmerings, and some of the emotional fallout is directed at the recent arrivals to the town; nineteen year old mercy snow, her older brother zeke, and their younger sister hannah, a wise and wild eight year old. they arrive in town with nothing to their name after the recent death of their mother, to find that their estranged father has also passed, and his house deep in the woods by the river has been abandoned and fallen into disrepair. they barely remember their father, except that he was a violent drunk, but the town knew him as an ill-tempered hermit who was connected in mysterious ways to one of the town's darkest secrets. zeke is blamed for the bus crash after his car is found totaled near the scene of the accident, and he escapes into the woods until he is able to clear his name while the two girls stay in their father's shack, enduring cold and hunger, with no one to turn to for help.
one of the other POV perspectives is june mcallister. she is a wonder of determined reinvention; having married well and put her poor florida childhood behind her as she readily conformed to the life of a new england mill owner's wife and all that entails: the sewing circles, the well-appointed table, the sweater sets and the overseeing of all the other women in the town. on the surface, she is complete composed perfection, but inside, she is still struggling to live up to the life she has fallen into, and she will do anything to protect her family and their reputation. june is definitely the most interesting character in the book - the disparity between what she is and what she presents to the world is very nicely handled, and particularly the way other characters resent the parts of her she is struggling so hard to maintain because she thinks it is what is expected of her, when the sad reality it that she would probably have been more well-liked if she had been less artificially maintained. her relationship with her husband cal is another one of those toxic marriages reminiscent of The Silent Wife, and summed up perfectly here:
Her need to reinvent her life perfectly matched Cal's need for someone to be wholly consumed by his world and his alone.
and for a while, this works for them, but the bus accident's ripples have far-reaching consequences.
this book is very successful at presenting characters who are memorable and consequential, especially june. it is also very successful at revealing the petty understructure of smalltown life. as crime fiction, it is somewhat less successful.
there are a couple of things i don't understand at all. there is a piece of physical evidence that becomes THE big secret. and as characters learn about its existence, it is alternately the whispered threat, the vaulted secret, the ace in the hole. but all by itself, it doesn't prove anything, so i don't understand why so much emphasis is placed upon it. would it lead to questions? yes. are those questions easily handled by anyone needing to hide the truth? yes. same for the Thing That Was Witnessed. it doesn't mean anything at all, not on a criminal level. socially awkward, yes, and had it come to light earlier, before nature had its way with the crime scene, maybe i could have been significant, but time has passed. it is not threatening. get better clues!
oh, and the ending.... it was kind of Tess of the d'Urbervilles-y, so that was not my favorite. but there are a lot of good things about this book, even as it straddles the line between "interesting descriptions" and "occasionally purple"
but overall, i would say "yes" to someone looking for one of those "family stories set in bleak america" types of book.
come to my blog!
baker captures the small new england town mentality perfectly. in this case, it is a town completely reliant upon their sole industry of the local paper mill, and indebted to the family that owns it. this breeds feelings of gratitude and resentment both; a willingness to superstitiously guard the secrets of the mcallister family, but also a simmering discontent as the mill begins to fail and the future of the town is uncertain.
the bus accident serves to foment these repressed simmerings, and some of the emotional fallout is directed at the recent arrivals to the town; nineteen year old mercy snow, her older brother zeke, and their younger sister hannah, a wise and wild eight year old. they arrive in town with nothing to their name after the recent death of their mother, to find that their estranged father has also passed, and his house deep in the woods by the river has been abandoned and fallen into disrepair. they barely remember their father, except that he was a violent drunk, but the town knew him as an ill-tempered hermit who was connected in mysterious ways to one of the town's darkest secrets. zeke is blamed for the bus crash after his car is found totaled near the scene of the accident, and he escapes into the woods until he is able to clear his name while the two girls stay in their father's shack, enduring cold and hunger, with no one to turn to for help.
one of the other POV perspectives is june mcallister. she is a wonder of determined reinvention; having married well and put her poor florida childhood behind her as she readily conformed to the life of a new england mill owner's wife and all that entails: the sewing circles, the well-appointed table, the sweater sets and the overseeing of all the other women in the town. on the surface, she is complete composed perfection, but inside, she is still struggling to live up to the life she has fallen into, and she will do anything to protect her family and their reputation. june is definitely the most interesting character in the book - the disparity between what she is and what she presents to the world is very nicely handled, and particularly the way other characters resent the parts of her she is struggling so hard to maintain because she thinks it is what is expected of her, when the sad reality it that she would probably have been more well-liked if she had been less artificially maintained. her relationship with her husband cal is another one of those toxic marriages reminiscent of The Silent Wife, and summed up perfectly here:
Her need to reinvent her life perfectly matched Cal's need for someone to be wholly consumed by his world and his alone.
and for a while, this works for them, but the bus accident's ripples have far-reaching consequences.
this book is very successful at presenting characters who are memorable and consequential, especially june. it is also very successful at revealing the petty understructure of smalltown life. as crime fiction, it is somewhat less successful.
there are a couple of things i don't understand at all. there is a piece of physical evidence that becomes THE big secret. and as characters learn about its existence, it is alternately the whispered threat, the vaulted secret, the ace in the hole. but all by itself, it doesn't prove anything, so i don't understand why so much emphasis is placed upon it. would it lead to questions? yes. are those questions easily handled by anyone needing to hide the truth? yes. same for the Thing That Was Witnessed. it doesn't mean anything at all, not on a criminal level. socially awkward, yes, and had it come to light earlier, before nature had its way with the crime scene, maybe i could have been significant, but time has passed. it is not threatening. get better clues!
oh, and the ending.... it was kind of Tess of the d'Urbervilles-y, so that was not my favorite. but there are a lot of good things about this book, even as it straddles the line between "interesting descriptions" and "occasionally purple"
She never told Cal about the encounter, and over the years she forgot all about it until Pruitt's death and the subsequent arrival of his estranged children picked the skin off that wound and left it as exposed as the tattoos she sometimes glimpsed etched onto the mill worker's backs - fiery, fanged creatures posed with wild eyes and claws drawn, yet trapped forever in the pale of human flesh.
but overall, i would say "yes" to someone looking for one of those "family stories set in bleak america" types of book.
come to my blog!
August 19, 2016
Four and a half stars
I became thoroughly immersed in the story of the small New Hampshire town of Titan Falls and the characters who inhabited it. A tragic bus accident that sees one young woman dead and the bus driver in a critical condition, starts rumours and suspicion flowing. These largely centre on Zeke Snow but his sister Mercy cannot believe he is responsible. The Snow family are considered losers by most of the tight knit community. Meanwhile June McAllister, wife of the paper mill owner, finds out more than she would rather know about her husband, Cal. How far is she prepared to go to protect the life she has? How far will Mercy go to try and prove Zeke’s innocence? Caught like a pawn between them, is Mercy and Zeke’s young sister Hannah. Other characters, like Hazel whose husband Fergus was the bus driver, are also caught in the middle of this drama played out in Titan Falls.
I thought this was an interesting comment about attitudes with regard to Hazel’s thoughts at one stage about Mercy, ’It wasn’t anything the girl did really. It was more all the uncomfortable little truths she made Hazel realize about herself.’ We may often feel similarly about others. Also liked this other question raised, ’Where did one person’s influence on another ever begin or end?’ Food for thought.
Then there are who the healings that happen and seem to be attributable to Mercy Snow. When a skeleton is found on Snow land it only adds to the mysteries in this mill town with its river polluted because of the mill that affects most of the town’s inhabitants in one way or another.
I loved the writing in this novel, and the characters. They were so real. This book is about prejudices, class differences, loss, choice, secrets and one that raises thought provoking questions like how far a person will go to protect those they love or how influenced people are by the attitudes and opinions of others. I wasn’t thrilled with one event that happened towards the end, only because I loved the character, but thinking about it afterwards conceded that maybe it had to be. My emotions were engaged throughout this book and there were tears as well as anger at times. I would recommend this book as a great read and will look for more by this author.
I became thoroughly immersed in the story of the small New Hampshire town of Titan Falls and the characters who inhabited it. A tragic bus accident that sees one young woman dead and the bus driver in a critical condition, starts rumours and suspicion flowing. These largely centre on Zeke Snow but his sister Mercy cannot believe he is responsible. The Snow family are considered losers by most of the tight knit community. Meanwhile June McAllister, wife of the paper mill owner, finds out more than she would rather know about her husband, Cal. How far is she prepared to go to protect the life she has? How far will Mercy go to try and prove Zeke’s innocence? Caught like a pawn between them, is Mercy and Zeke’s young sister Hannah. Other characters, like Hazel whose husband Fergus was the bus driver, are also caught in the middle of this drama played out in Titan Falls.
I thought this was an interesting comment about attitudes with regard to Hazel’s thoughts at one stage about Mercy, ’It wasn’t anything the girl did really. It was more all the uncomfortable little truths she made Hazel realize about herself.’ We may often feel similarly about others. Also liked this other question raised, ’Where did one person’s influence on another ever begin or end?’ Food for thought.
Then there are who the healings that happen and seem to be attributable to Mercy Snow. When a skeleton is found on Snow land it only adds to the mysteries in this mill town with its river polluted because of the mill that affects most of the town’s inhabitants in one way or another.
I loved the writing in this novel, and the characters. They were so real. This book is about prejudices, class differences, loss, choice, secrets and one that raises thought provoking questions like how far a person will go to protect those they love or how influenced people are by the attitudes and opinions of others. I wasn’t thrilled with one event that happened towards the end, only because I loved the character, but thinking about it afterwards conceded that maybe it had to be. My emotions were engaged throughout this book and there were tears as well as anger at times. I would recommend this book as a great read and will look for more by this author.
January 23, 2016
This was my first encounter with a Tiffany Baker book. I really enjoy novels set in New England and this one didn't disappoint. Regionally, individuals are true to themselves, and at the same time, they absorb a certain persona from the "speak" and the ways of their surroundings.
"It had been twenty-odd years since June had stood in the dizzying swirl of being two people at once, the one you let people see and the one you kept buttoned close to your chest."
And that is the fine thread that weaves through Mercy Snow. Like Eleanor Rigby from the Beatles' tune of "the face that she kept in a jar by the door" so go the characters of this book. Tiffany Baker introduces us to life in the small New Hampshire town of Titan Falls where lives are controlled and affected by the paper mill industry. Are the characters' destinies determined by their happenstance in life or more affected by their choices? And what exactly triggers the inclination toward a particular fork in the road?
The female characters are showcased a step above their male counterparts. I was particularly intrigued with the character of Hazel who seemed to stay true to herself and to her commitments, and yet, she stretched across the page with growth and reinvention. I'd love for Ms. Baker to bring about a story seen through the eyes of Hazel....a woman's questionable past overlaid with footprints reaching towards a higher plane of existence.
I definitely will be checking out previous books by Tiffany Baker and looking forward to future offerings.
"It had been twenty-odd years since June had stood in the dizzying swirl of being two people at once, the one you let people see and the one you kept buttoned close to your chest."
And that is the fine thread that weaves through Mercy Snow. Like Eleanor Rigby from the Beatles' tune of "the face that she kept in a jar by the door" so go the characters of this book. Tiffany Baker introduces us to life in the small New Hampshire town of Titan Falls where lives are controlled and affected by the paper mill industry. Are the characters' destinies determined by their happenstance in life or more affected by their choices? And what exactly triggers the inclination toward a particular fork in the road?
The female characters are showcased a step above their male counterparts. I was particularly intrigued with the character of Hazel who seemed to stay true to herself and to her commitments, and yet, she stretched across the page with growth and reinvention. I'd love for Ms. Baker to bring about a story seen through the eyes of Hazel....a woman's questionable past overlaid with footprints reaching towards a higher plane of existence.
I definitely will be checking out previous books by Tiffany Baker and looking forward to future offerings.
January 17, 2014
feel I've been on a very fortunate trip having just finished "Mercy Snow." It's one of those books that puts the heart back into reading. I felt such a loss of reading material that excited me over the holidays...and since that time, "Burial Rites" and "Mercy Snow" have both resurrected my belief in good books and fantastic authors. Tiffany Baker, in particular, is a gifted writer whose work is just captivating. I fell in love with her as an author when she wrote "The Gilly Salt Sisters," but I have to say that this book really rivals that one!
This is a haunting and gorgeously written book. There is much to be said about the workings of the characters. Their psychology leaves their outward appearance secondary as we become absorbed in their thought processes and machinations. As June, the mill owner's wife, spins her web catching herself up in it as well as the townswomen, we are reminded of how easy it is to fall in our own folly. We become desperate and hungry with Mercy and Hannah. And, we look with frustration at a situation that is both hateful and unfair from the goldfish bowl of the Gods...far above the action of the novel.
This is a magical and meaningful book. Mystical and mythological bits and pieces dot the storyline reminding us that all that we see in the world may not be all there is to it. It's a story that draws you in and keeps the pages turning. There's more than one moral to this story.
The mystery at the center of the novel keeps dancing at the edges of every chapter, leaving us grasping at it like a willow-the-wisp. While we are given a good deal of the actual mystery at the onset, the deeper ones are withheld from us, and we know it! This gives depth and richness to the storyline.
I loved this book. It was one of those I wished would never end. I could happily have gone on reading about these characters...
This is one of those books you just have to read this winter. It's a show-stopper of a novel. I highly recommend it!
5 stars Deborah/TheBookishDame
This is a haunting and gorgeously written book. There is much to be said about the workings of the characters. Their psychology leaves their outward appearance secondary as we become absorbed in their thought processes and machinations. As June, the mill owner's wife, spins her web catching herself up in it as well as the townswomen, we are reminded of how easy it is to fall in our own folly. We become desperate and hungry with Mercy and Hannah. And, we look with frustration at a situation that is both hateful and unfair from the goldfish bowl of the Gods...far above the action of the novel.
This is a magical and meaningful book. Mystical and mythological bits and pieces dot the storyline reminding us that all that we see in the world may not be all there is to it. It's a story that draws you in and keeps the pages turning. There's more than one moral to this story.
The mystery at the center of the novel keeps dancing at the edges of every chapter, leaving us grasping at it like a willow-the-wisp. While we are given a good deal of the actual mystery at the onset, the deeper ones are withheld from us, and we know it! This gives depth and richness to the storyline.
I loved this book. It was one of those I wished would never end. I could happily have gone on reading about these characters...
This is one of those books you just have to read this winter. It's a show-stopper of a novel. I highly recommend it!
5 stars Deborah/TheBookishDame
March 6, 2014
Story about the fallout from a suspicious bus accident in a paper mill town in the northeast. The main character in this book is the town and the "culture" of living in a town dominated by a paper mill. The author goes on endlessly and repetitively about the family who owns the paper mill, the no good Snow family, and devotes too much ink to describing the murky river polluted by the mill and how murky it is, and oh, have we mentioned how polluted it is? (We get it. Move on).
I made it through about 80 pages or so. I felt the characters were stereotypes/cliches. The sweet Mercy Snow (misunderstood, victim of her no-good family), the son of the mill owner (sweet, misunderstood, doesn't want to follow in the family business as is expected), the wife of the paper mill owner (cold-hearted, focusing on appearances, and yes, misunderstood), and the paper mill owner (mean, suspicious, underhanded), the old batty lady who raises sheep and sees Mercy's heart of gold. Blah blah blah.
I was interested in reading a novel set in a paper mill town as I work in a town founded around a paper mill (said mill still in existence) and while I'm not originally from this area and don't work in the paper mill, I found a lot of the description and "culture" presented here to be over-dramatized and cliched.
I made it through about 80 pages or so. I felt the characters were stereotypes/cliches. The sweet Mercy Snow (misunderstood, victim of her no-good family), the son of the mill owner (sweet, misunderstood, doesn't want to follow in the family business as is expected), the wife of the paper mill owner (cold-hearted, focusing on appearances, and yes, misunderstood), and the paper mill owner (mean, suspicious, underhanded), the old batty lady who raises sheep and sees Mercy's heart of gold. Blah blah blah.
I was interested in reading a novel set in a paper mill town as I work in a town founded around a paper mill (said mill still in existence) and while I'm not originally from this area and don't work in the paper mill, I found a lot of the description and "culture" presented here to be over-dramatized and cliched.
January 13, 2014
The Androscroggin River is a real waterway and the paper mills that lined its shore, the people that lived along its path all tell an important part of history. The author refers to this in her afterword and it served as a reminder to me that history takes many various shapes and forms.
The MacAllister's have owned and run the paper mill for ages, they are town royalty. The mill is in Titan Falls, New Hampshire and most of the people there owe their livelihoods to this family. This novel is the story of an unwinding of a decades old mystery, of a marriage and a family, and of a town and way of life. Secrets always have a way of coming back to haunt those involved and once the secret is known, many find their lives changed. Some for the good, some for the bad, but inevitable all the same.
June McAllister, a young woman whom in the past had married above her station into the MCAllister clan, feels that in many ways her husband had saved her from the horrible life she had lead before. She will do anything to protect that, even if a tiny voice says maybe she is wrong.
The Snows are a family that the town considered losers, beneath them, corrupt, no good hangers on. They are a big part of the secret, in the past and the present. Hannah Snow is a youth girl who bones seem to talk to and Mercy Snow, a young woman is wise beyond her years, will do her best at healing the town, as she protects her family.
Well written, wonderful mix of magical realism, very atmospheric with oh so interesting characters and a glimpse into the harm secrets can hold. To bring together or to tear apart. Love the ending as well, not everything ends happily nor should it, no matter how one wishes it could. Will not forget the character of Mercy, her name says much.
The MacAllister's have owned and run the paper mill for ages, they are town royalty. The mill is in Titan Falls, New Hampshire and most of the people there owe their livelihoods to this family. This novel is the story of an unwinding of a decades old mystery, of a marriage and a family, and of a town and way of life. Secrets always have a way of coming back to haunt those involved and once the secret is known, many find their lives changed. Some for the good, some for the bad, but inevitable all the same.
June McAllister, a young woman whom in the past had married above her station into the MCAllister clan, feels that in many ways her husband had saved her from the horrible life she had lead before. She will do anything to protect that, even if a tiny voice says maybe she is wrong.
The Snows are a family that the town considered losers, beneath them, corrupt, no good hangers on. They are a big part of the secret, in the past and the present. Hannah Snow is a youth girl who bones seem to talk to and Mercy Snow, a young woman is wise beyond her years, will do her best at healing the town, as she protects her family.
Well written, wonderful mix of magical realism, very atmospheric with oh so interesting characters and a glimpse into the harm secrets can hold. To bring together or to tear apart. Love the ending as well, not everything ends happily nor should it, no matter how one wishes it could. Will not forget the character of Mercy, her name says much.
March 20, 2014
A lot of readers seemed to really like this book, but I wasn't one. The characters had no depth or subtlety; the homespun vernacular used in both the dialogue and much of the POV exposition seemed unrealistic and overdone; and the rampant symbolism was as murky as the river running through the center of the story. Though I believe the time period of most of the action was meant to be about the mid-nineties, the old-fashioned scenes and settings seemed more like pre-WW2. Odd! Most egregious of all, the one character who so needed a comeuppance for the denouement to have any balance or satisfaction for me didn't really get it. Meh.
December 17, 2013
If I had to describe this book in two words, they would be QUIET and POWERFUL. It's the kind of story that stays with you long after you have finished it. It takes place in a New England town that after while you begin to inhabit, thanks to the wonderful prose from author Tiffany Baker. The characters are all deeply flawed, giving weight to the events in the story. Highly recommend.
(I received an advance copy of this book)
(I received an advance copy of this book)
May 24, 2016
This is a book about what it is like to live on the wrong side of the tracks in a small town where one family, the mill owners, rule the roost.
It is probably a very good social commentary, but that is not what I was looking for when I picked this book to listen to.
A tragic bus accident is blamed on Zeke Snow, one of the family group living in poverty on the outskirts of town. It is quickly apparent who is actually to blame for the accident, and a lot of time is spent on how it is covered up. The characters are all very black and white. In this case rich equals bad, and poor equals good. I would have preferred that people were a little more multi-faceted. It would have provided me with a far more satisfying read.
It is probably a very good social commentary, but that is not what I was looking for when I picked this book to listen to.
A tragic bus accident is blamed on Zeke Snow, one of the family group living in poverty on the outskirts of town. It is quickly apparent who is actually to blame for the accident, and a lot of time is spent on how it is covered up. The characters are all very black and white. In this case rich equals bad, and poor equals good. I would have preferred that people were a little more multi-faceted. It would have provided me with a far more satisfying read.
March 26, 2014
Titan Falls is a mill town. The livelihoods of almost all the residents depend on the paper mill and the McAllister family has owned it for generations. Cal and his wife June are Titan Falls royalty for whom opinions are not voiced, lips are sealed and secrets are kept … generations of secrets. Everyone knew the Snows were good for nothing n’er-do-wells so the town breathed a collective sigh of relief when they thought the last of them had died. Soon enough a battered and rusty RV pulls into town carrying Mercy Snow, her brother Zeke and younger sister Hannah who have arrived to lay claim to their family’s property. On the heels of their arrival, on a snowy night, the school bus is returning from taking the students on an evening trip to the movies and it is run off the road by an unknown car. Zeke’s car is found not too far up the road wrapped around a tree and he is nowhere to be found. To all concerned its quite obvious who should be blamed for the driver’s injuries and a young teen’s death. But things are rarely as simple as they seem, especially in a town so very good at keeping grudges and even better at keeping secrets.
I was quite excited to see another book by Ms. Baker as I enjoyed “The Gilly Salt Sisters” and “The Little Giant of Aberdeen County” so much. Her books always have a folksy, almost fairy tale, feel to them that I find appealing. This one is no exception. It has its share of mysticism, folk tales and remedies and people who are good at the core yet find themselves in difficult situations because of preconceived notions. Her good characters are never completely good, as her bad characters are never completely bad and the worst mess usually happens through good intentions.
Ms. Baker never fails to draw me in to both the story and the setting with her writing. I would not hesitate to recommend this book and am looking forward to another from her soon.
I was quite excited to see another book by Ms. Baker as I enjoyed “The Gilly Salt Sisters” and “The Little Giant of Aberdeen County” so much. Her books always have a folksy, almost fairy tale, feel to them that I find appealing. This one is no exception. It has its share of mysticism, folk tales and remedies and people who are good at the core yet find themselves in difficult situations because of preconceived notions. Her good characters are never completely good, as her bad characters are never completely bad and the worst mess usually happens through good intentions.
Ms. Baker never fails to draw me in to both the story and the setting with her writing. I would not hesitate to recommend this book and am looking forward to another from her soon.
April 16, 2014
Mercy Snow
By
Tiffany Baker
Title...
Author...
My " in a nutshell" summary...
This book was about a small town, a paper mill, a wealthy privileged owner, poverty, drinking and some very sad and unfortunate events. Sheep and a red hand knit mitten were key elements of this book.
My thoughts after reading this book...
This book is about a bus accident that occurs on the way home from a field trip. It affects lots of people. Secrets long hidden are uncovered when Mercy Snow tries to prove her brother was not the driver who caused the bus to go off the road. Cal and his wife June own this paper mill. They are not very nice people. I liked June less and less throughout this book. They hold the life of this town in their hands and they are not admirable in their actions...at all.
What I loved about this book...
I so loved Mercy Snow...poor, hungry, sad and brave. I loved her little sister Hannah, too. I loved Hazel and her sheep and her yarns. This was a harsh story but it was filled with sweet bits of tenderness.
What I did not love about this book...
I did not love some of the sad parts with Hazel and her sheep but only because I love animals so much. Cal...so not fond of cheating Cal. He did not appear to be very honest or like able. I first thought that his wife June would be my favorite character but she turned out to be my least favorite.
Final thoughts...
Would this be a good choice for you...potential reader? Yes...I loved the writing, I loved the idea of this book, I loved the way this book sort of gently unfolded. It was sad and sweet and lovely all at the same time.
By
Tiffany Baker
Title...
Author...
My " in a nutshell" summary...
This book was about a small town, a paper mill, a wealthy privileged owner, poverty, drinking and some very sad and unfortunate events. Sheep and a red hand knit mitten were key elements of this book.
My thoughts after reading this book...
This book is about a bus accident that occurs on the way home from a field trip. It affects lots of people. Secrets long hidden are uncovered when Mercy Snow tries to prove her brother was not the driver who caused the bus to go off the road. Cal and his wife June own this paper mill. They are not very nice people. I liked June less and less throughout this book. They hold the life of this town in their hands and they are not admirable in their actions...at all.
What I loved about this book...
I so loved Mercy Snow...poor, hungry, sad and brave. I loved her little sister Hannah, too. I loved Hazel and her sheep and her yarns. This was a harsh story but it was filled with sweet bits of tenderness.
What I did not love about this book...
I did not love some of the sad parts with Hazel and her sheep but only because I love animals so much. Cal...so not fond of cheating Cal. He did not appear to be very honest or like able. I first thought that his wife June would be my favorite character but she turned out to be my least favorite.
Final thoughts...
Would this be a good choice for you...potential reader? Yes...I loved the writing, I loved the idea of this book, I loved the way this book sort of gently unfolded. It was sad and sweet and lovely all at the same time.
March 21, 2017
Listened to this one on audio during my commute. It was really slow-paced in the beginning, and I almost gave up on it. Glad I didn't though, the ending was good, if a bit draggy again. Overall a good story.
December 11, 2015
I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable read. It was hard to put the book down, truly, and even though I am not immediately happy with the ending (it felt abrupt) the characters were well developed and the message was delightful. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys being drawn into the world of their books and left with a few stay bits to muse over after the final chapter is finished.
December 23, 2015
I liked this story. I liked the characters. They were all trapped in their own class and they were terrified of change or of anything new that swam against the norm. For a small town, some suffered from the 'me and mine first'mentality. But it was balanced out by others who had a different outlook. Overall, I enjoyed this.
July 12, 2016
The reflective nature of the prose elevates this novel to 5 stars. Characters and setting both come alive and haunt the reader even when not reading. Loved it.
December 14, 2020
Set in a small, New Hampshire town ruled by the local mill owner. The beginning of this book is a tragic accident on a narrow road leading to the death of a young girl. As the story behind the accident starts to come out it is obvious that the history is not all in the recent past. I liked the different threads of the narrative but found it difficult to feel much about any of the characters.
June 21, 2018
Stories that feature the unearthing of secrets are some of my favorites. Mercy Snow features secrets and symbols; the murky Androscoggin River, polluted by the McAllister family who, for generations, appear to poison everything they touch (*ahem* June *ahem*)
Another element near and dear to my heart is the de-throning of small-town royalty. These characters—shallow, pretentious, and surrounded by ass-kissers—are flat and one-dimensional in literature because they are flat and one-dimensional in life, and there are few things I adore more than seeing one of these insufferable creatures escorted down from their lofty pedestal and made to stand amid the unwashed masses right where they belong.
With that said, I sailed through this novel, thoroughly enjoyed it, and would have happily bestowed five-stars toward it had the most loathsome of the royalty met a much more grievous, lonely, and punitive fate. As it ended, though….
4 Stars
Another element near and dear to my heart is the de-throning of small-town royalty. These characters—shallow, pretentious, and surrounded by ass-kissers—are flat and one-dimensional in literature because they are flat and one-dimensional in life, and there are few things I adore more than seeing one of these insufferable creatures escorted down from their lofty pedestal and made to stand amid the unwashed masses right where they belong.
With that said, I sailed through this novel, thoroughly enjoyed it, and would have happily bestowed five-stars toward it had the most loathsome of the royalty met a much more grievous, lonely, and punitive fate. As it ended, though….
4 Stars
September 23, 2016
Also read my review here: http://bookbum.weebly.com/book-review...
The real trick to holding two things together, June was coming to see, wasn’t how rightly they were bound but how well. Sometimes a loose thread was a saving grace.
This is more a review on the characters than the overall novel because the plot took a back step to the characters stories.
Beautiful writing style! It’s so elegant and well formed. Easy to read yet full of vivid imagery and scenery. Every character, no matter how small, was really well formed and interesting to read about. Unfortunately, there were some really dislikable characters in this novel.
I thought I liked June, I thought she was a brave outsider doing her best to assimilate but it just turns out she’s selfish! You would have thought that a woman who knows what it feels like to be on the outside of everyone else would sympathise with the likes of Mercy and her family, but instead she does whatever she can to get rid of them, all for her own selfish needs and even after she knows how heart broken her son is. I thought maybe it had something to do with Cal, as it was obvious he was angry and controlling at times, but I still couldn’t sympathise with her because, in the end, she could have just left the Snow’s alone, rather than torment and threaten them.
Mercy, of course, was supposed to be every reader’s hero. She was the kind of person you wish you could be. She was gentle and kind, she was obedient and caring, and most of all, she was selfless. She held no grudges against anyone, even those who were plotting against her, all she wanted to do was help people prove her brother's innocence, and that her family weren’t the ne’er-do-wells everyone believed them to be.
Although Mercy was lovely, Hazel was by far my favourite character because she was so genuine. She wasn’t perfect, she had her doubts and silly thoughts, Hazel supposed she ought to thank her, but instead she felt a hot flush across her chest. They were her sheep, and Fergus was her man, but she tried her best to do what was right and that made her a really likable person.
Nate really grew as a character throughout the novel. To begin with, he remained a bit of a nothingy addition to the story, but he gradually became one of the nicest characters to read about. He was so warm and kind, he didn’t take after his father at all, which is clearly a good thing! He was a total cutie as well, the part with the lamb birthing almost had my heart melting! (although it was also a little too TMI when it talked about his hand in her really warm uterus…. *shudder*)
Cal doesn’t even get a paragraph because of what a twat he was.
This was a lovely book, full of morals and thought-provoking subjects. What started out as a bit of a boring and weird read for me, turned into something really wonderful. I’m glad I picked this up.
The real trick to holding two things together, June was coming to see, wasn’t how rightly they were bound but how well. Sometimes a loose thread was a saving grace.
This is more a review on the characters than the overall novel because the plot took a back step to the characters stories.
Beautiful writing style! It’s so elegant and well formed. Easy to read yet full of vivid imagery and scenery. Every character, no matter how small, was really well formed and interesting to read about. Unfortunately, there were some really dislikable characters in this novel.
I thought I liked June, I thought she was a brave outsider doing her best to assimilate but it just turns out she’s selfish! You would have thought that a woman who knows what it feels like to be on the outside of everyone else would sympathise with the likes of Mercy and her family, but instead she does whatever she can to get rid of them, all for her own selfish needs and even after she knows how heart broken her son is. I thought maybe it had something to do with Cal, as it was obvious he was angry and controlling at times, but I still couldn’t sympathise with her because, in the end, she could have just left the Snow’s alone, rather than torment and threaten them.
Mercy, of course, was supposed to be every reader’s hero. She was the kind of person you wish you could be. She was gentle and kind, she was obedient and caring, and most of all, she was selfless. She held no grudges against anyone, even those who were plotting against her, all she wanted to do was help people prove her brother's innocence, and that her family weren’t the ne’er-do-wells everyone believed them to be.
Although Mercy was lovely, Hazel was by far my favourite character because she was so genuine. She wasn’t perfect, she had her doubts and silly thoughts, Hazel supposed she ought to thank her, but instead she felt a hot flush across her chest. They were her sheep, and Fergus was her man, but she tried her best to do what was right and that made her a really likable person.
Nate really grew as a character throughout the novel. To begin with, he remained a bit of a nothingy addition to the story, but he gradually became one of the nicest characters to read about. He was so warm and kind, he didn’t take after his father at all, which is clearly a good thing! He was a total cutie as well, the part with the lamb birthing almost had my heart melting! (although it was also a little too TMI when it talked about his hand in her really warm uterus…. *shudder*)
Cal doesn’t even get a paragraph because of what a twat he was.
This was a lovely book, full of morals and thought-provoking subjects. What started out as a bit of a boring and weird read for me, turned into something really wonderful. I’m glad I picked this up.
February 16, 2014
The town of Titan Falls, New Hampshire is ruled by its paper mill. The mill has always been a powerful fixture in the town and it still employs most of the men. Its success or failure has a direct effect on the well-being of the town, and its byproducts have tainted the Androscoggin River for years, certainly leading to a number of deaths and illnesses.
One night a tragic bus accident rocks the town, holding two families in its sway—the McCallisters, who run the mill, and the ne'er-do-well Snows, who had only recently returned to Titan Falls and now live on its fringes. When Zeke Snow is accused of causing the accident despite his innocence, his younger sister, Mercy, is determined to prove his innocence, while starting to embrace the mysterious gifts that have been handed down through generations of women in her family. All Mercy wants is normalcy, but trouble and scandal seem to follow her family wherever it goes.
June McCallister, wife of the mill's owner, reinvented herself from the poor Florida girl she once was to the woman whose actions are followed by everyone in town. When she discovers some facts about the night of the accident, and how her own family was far more involved in events than anyone knows, she is determined to protect her husband and her son at any cost, no matter what it takes—intimidation, innuendo, bribery, lies, even putting others at risk. June doesn't really want to know the full truth, about the accident or the Snows' ancestor, Gert, whose skeleton was uncovered the night of the accident, and to whom her husband's family may very well be linked.
Mercy Snow is a book with a gothic feel. It's one where no one is quite what they seem, and there are more secrets than truths. It's a story about a town where the power of some has held dominion over others, no matter what the cost, and no one wants to be the one to speak out or ask questions. It's also a story about the strength of familial relationships and all that we'll do to protect the ones we love.
This was an interesting and compelling book, and Tiffany Baker has a very evocative use of language. I wished there were a few more surprises in this book than there were; I felt as if once I got a handle on the plot and where it was going I was able to fairly accurately predict how the story would resolve itself. I also don't particularly enjoy books or movies where one character or group of characters hold all the cards and can manipulate everyone into doing what they want, even though it's wrong, although I know this happens in real life. But in the end, the star of this book is Baker's storytelling ability and the town of Titan Falls itself, both of which made the book worth reading.
One night a tragic bus accident rocks the town, holding two families in its sway—the McCallisters, who run the mill, and the ne'er-do-well Snows, who had only recently returned to Titan Falls and now live on its fringes. When Zeke Snow is accused of causing the accident despite his innocence, his younger sister, Mercy, is determined to prove his innocence, while starting to embrace the mysterious gifts that have been handed down through generations of women in her family. All Mercy wants is normalcy, but trouble and scandal seem to follow her family wherever it goes.
June McCallister, wife of the mill's owner, reinvented herself from the poor Florida girl she once was to the woman whose actions are followed by everyone in town. When she discovers some facts about the night of the accident, and how her own family was far more involved in events than anyone knows, she is determined to protect her husband and her son at any cost, no matter what it takes—intimidation, innuendo, bribery, lies, even putting others at risk. June doesn't really want to know the full truth, about the accident or the Snows' ancestor, Gert, whose skeleton was uncovered the night of the accident, and to whom her husband's family may very well be linked.
Mercy Snow is a book with a gothic feel. It's one where no one is quite what they seem, and there are more secrets than truths. It's a story about a town where the power of some has held dominion over others, no matter what the cost, and no one wants to be the one to speak out or ask questions. It's also a story about the strength of familial relationships and all that we'll do to protect the ones we love.
This was an interesting and compelling book, and Tiffany Baker has a very evocative use of language. I wished there were a few more surprises in this book than there were; I felt as if once I got a handle on the plot and where it was going I was able to fairly accurately predict how the story would resolve itself. I also don't particularly enjoy books or movies where one character or group of characters hold all the cards and can manipulate everyone into doing what they want, even though it's wrong, although I know this happens in real life. But in the end, the star of this book is Baker's storytelling ability and the town of Titan Falls itself, both of which made the book worth reading.
September 27, 2014
The characterization in this novel is lovely. It kept me going long after most books would have, given the lack of plot and suspense. I very much wish that Baker had married this characterization to a more compelling story.
I am not all about crazy suspense or action. I believe that any suspense or action must be equally balanced by true depth of character. Most novels, unfortunately, are action/plot heavy and characterization light. This book is unusual in that it reverses that balance.
A bus accident occurs right at the beginning of the story. Very soon thereafter, we know who caused the accident. The rest of the book is simply character interaction and development, loosely hanging on the fact of that accident. The vast majority of characters don't know who caused the accident, but, and this is significant, the reader does. Wondering if the characters are going to discover the truth doesn't really create any suspense. That is the mistake that Baker makes. If the reader knows, even if the characters don't, suspense is minimal.
So, not much happens plot-wise for most of the book. Then all of a sudden, at the very end, there is a very quick rush of a denouement, in which truths are revealed and death occurs. The plot goes from zero to sixty in about 10 pages. Very abruptly. Unsatisfying.
Baker clearly can write. Again, the characterizations are lovely. So I can't wait until she can join characterization with plot. Now THAT is a book I would like to read!!!!
I am not all about crazy suspense or action. I believe that any suspense or action must be equally balanced by true depth of character. Most novels, unfortunately, are action/plot heavy and characterization light. This book is unusual in that it reverses that balance.
A bus accident occurs right at the beginning of the story. Very soon thereafter, we know who caused the accident. The rest of the book is simply character interaction and development, loosely hanging on the fact of that accident. The vast majority of characters don't know who caused the accident, but, and this is significant, the reader does. Wondering if the characters are going to discover the truth doesn't really create any suspense. That is the mistake that Baker makes. If the reader knows, even if the characters don't, suspense is minimal.
So, not much happens plot-wise for most of the book. Then all of a sudden, at the very end, there is a very quick rush of a denouement, in which truths are revealed and death occurs. The plot goes from zero to sixty in about 10 pages. Very abruptly. Unsatisfying.
Baker clearly can write. Again, the characterizations are lovely. So I can't wait until she can join characterization with plot. Now THAT is a book I would like to read!!!!
January 21, 2014
This is a very good book, a page-turner in fact, but its flaws keep it from being a literary contender. The story, Empire Falls meets Winter's Bone (minus the meth), tells the tale of Mercy Snow and her ne'er do well, hard-luck, dirt-poor family in a dying mill town facing hunger and corruption and drawing the ire of the town's matriarch, June, wife of the mill owner and town bully. The prose are earthy, the characters well-drawn and the story is quite good overall. What kept if from being great for me were three key things - an overuse of cliche in the folksy dialogue, one particular glaring technical detail/misstep (see: glove pocketed by naked girl) and a hurried climactic scene towards the book's end that felt sloppy and careless. I can't imagine what possessed the book's editor to release this without a bit more work - it the author had sat with the story just a little while longer and followed a savvy editor's prompts, this really could have been a great read. On the strength of what did work here, I give it a solid 3 and a half stars.
October 8, 2014
this book was a very quick read....an interesting tale of the tangled up but very separate social classes in a small manufacturing town. The entire town revolves around the paper mill and its owner, Mr. McAllister and his much secretly disliked wife, June. Yes, Cal cheats on June and his indiscretions end up causing a bus accident in which a mill worker's daughter is killed, but June is no sympathetic figure. She is well aware of what happened and constantly schemes to cover it up in one way or the other. She tries bribery, she tries threats but all her sneaky ways dont work on Mercy Snow, the sister of the man being blamed for the accident. There is really no "happy ending" for anyone in this book. I will not spoil it for others, but eventually June escapes the mill town and there may be some decency in her alone away from her crudball husband. Hannah, the sister of Mercy, also escapes and fares well. Im not understanding the reviews that call this "chick lit" or "women's fiction"...no real love story or hapless heroine here, just small town life at its worst.
July 2, 2015
There's something about a suspense novel set in the winter, when the season itself becomes a character, adding another delicious layer of tension to the story. MERCY SNOW begins with a deadly bus accident just before Thanksgiving in the small New England mill town of Titan Falls, and the tragedy raises many questions for the people in this bleak place. The author's descriptions were so vibrant and detailed, that I could easily feel the chill of the air and smell the decay of the polluted Androscoggin River.
MERCY SNOW was an intriguing mystery, but it was the cast of complex characters that really pulled me in. My heart went out to them, especially Mercy and her young sister Hannah. The ending was such a shock to me, and it gave me a lot to think about. I was so glad that the author provided an epilogue to let readers know what became of the main characters. MERCY SNOW is a dark and atmospheric tale, sad, but well worth reading.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
MERCY SNOW was an intriguing mystery, but it was the cast of complex characters that really pulled me in. My heart went out to them, especially Mercy and her young sister Hannah. The ending was such a shock to me, and it gave me a lot to think about. I was so glad that the author provided an epilogue to let readers know what became of the main characters. MERCY SNOW is a dark and atmospheric tale, sad, but well worth reading.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
April 16, 2014
I picked this up because the setting is a (fictional) New Hampshire town on the Androscoggin River near Berlin, NH. and I did like the setting and descriptions of the river and the paper mill. The story itself was fairly interesting but could have been told much better. The characters were stereotypes, and some of the writing was pretty bad. I particularly disliked the overdone metaphors that just kept coming--for example: "Marriages cooled. Theirs strings loosened and stretched, like the sagging plastic strips on old lawn furniture. It didn't mean you had to rush off and buy a new set." And on and on. I did like the ending, though. Just okay. This was somewhat reminiscent of "The Sweet Hereafter" by Russell Banks, but that one was much better.
April 16, 2014
I picked up this book as I have read the other 2 books by this author and enjoyed them both. Plus, this one sounded like an intriguing one. Sadly, I was not feeling this book hardly at all. I liked Mercy but that was about it. No one else really stood out in this book for me. I found everyone else to be all about themselves but boring at the same time. I spent probably about a third of the way into the story before I skimmed part of the middle for a few and finally I just jumped ahead the the ending. No big surprise how the ending ended. In fact, I did not feel any relief for Mercy. I do hope the author's next book is better as I know she can do way better.
October 7, 2013
Tiffany Baker continues to impress me with her writing skills. She takes you right into the heart of small town and makes you a resident - in all three of the novels that she has created. MERCY SNOW brings you to New Hampshire paper mill country where a bus accident threatens to reveal secrets of the 'ruling family'. Young Mercy Snow is just as strong a character as Truly Plaice from Baker's wonderful debut, LITTLE GIANT OF ABERDEEN COUNTY. Fans of Baker will not be disappointed, and new readers should want to grab her first two books to find out how talented she really is.
January 18, 2023
Although starting with a bang, this slow moving, but interesting read was full of the secrets of a small town. Small towns can either be full of charm, or busybodies who want to know everyone's business. This story was about the later, but also the isolation of the 'bad' kids, the Snows.
The main characters were likeable enough, where you did feel bad for their situation - but it just didn't make me want to know more. I felt quite detached from the characters for the most part. It just didn't hit the spot, but at least it had some pieces that kept me drawn in.
The main characters were likeable enough, where you did feel bad for their situation - but it just didn't make me want to know more. I felt quite detached from the characters for the most part. It just didn't hit the spot, but at least it had some pieces that kept me drawn in.
June 29, 2017
This is a book about a long-standing feud between two families that comes to a head after a tragic bus accident. Mercy Snow's brother is blamed for the accident but she knows it isn't true. She's determined to clear his name. June McAllister knows who did cause the accident but she's determined to see Mercy's brother blamed and her whole family run out of town.
Full of long buried secrets and an unsolved mystery or two, this book is sure to please any mystery fan.
Full of long buried secrets and an unsolved mystery or two, this book is sure to please any mystery fan.
January 30, 2018
I liked the wintery New Hampshire setting for this book. The images she creates of the Androscoggin River fouled by the logging industry and seemingly alive as it over-spreads its banks were vivid. The characters are intensely loyal and the siblings' struggle to care for each other is memorable. I would have liked more to have been written at the conclusion of the story. I felt chopped off from the emotions and experiences of the characters.
April 7, 2019
I really liked the secondary characters in this novel. Hazel was probably my favorite, because she was such a mixture of grit, sensibility and sureness, and then Hannah, for her innocence and smarts, and her love of books.
It certainly didn't turn out the way I thought it would, but I had figured out the whodunnit part pretty early on.
I was worried that I wouldn't like ths all that much. I read The Gilly Salt Sisters a while back and wasn't thrilled with it, but this turned out to be a little better.
It had the elements of innocence of childhood, small town living, and secrets. A decent read.
It certainly didn't turn out the way I thought it would, but I had figured out the whodunnit part pretty early on.
I was worried that I wouldn't like ths all that much. I read The Gilly Salt Sisters a while back and wasn't thrilled with it, but this turned out to be a little better.
It had the elements of innocence of childhood, small town living, and secrets. A decent read.
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