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A Question of Mercy
Adam Finney, a young man who is mentally disabled, faces sterilization and lobotomy in a state-supported asylum. When he is found dead in the French Broad River of rural North Carolina, his teenaged stepsister, Jess, is sought for questioning by their family and the police.
Jess's odyssey of escape across four states leads into dark territories of life-and-death moral choices where compassion and grace offer faint illumination but few answers. A Question of Mercy, set in a vivid landscape of the mid-twentieth-century South, is the fifth novel from Robert Penn Warren Award–winning writer Elizabeth Cox. As she challenges notions of individual freedom and responsibility against a backdrop of questionable practices governing treatment of the mentally disabled, she also stretches the breadth and limitations of the human heart to love and to forgive.
Jess Booker, on the run and alone, leaves the comfort of her home near Asheville, recklessly trekking through woods and hitchhiking her way to a boarding house in tiny Lula, Alabama, a perceived safe haven she once visited with her late mother. Pursued by a mysterious car with a faded "I Like Ike" sticker, Jess is also haunted by memories of her mother's early death, her father's distressing marriage to Adam's mother, the loving bond she was able to form with Adam despite her initial resistance, and her boyfriend Sam's troubling letters from the thick of combat in the Korean War. In Lula, Jess finds, if only briefly, a respite among a curious surrogate family of fellow displaced outsiders banded together under one roof, and there she finds the strength to heed the call homeward to face the questions she cannot answer about her stepbrother's death.
Through her vibrant depictions of characters in crisis and of the lush, natural landscapes of her southern settings, Cox brings to the fore the moral, ethical, and seemingly unnatural decisions people face when caring for society's weakest members. Grappling with the powerful bonds of love and family, A Question of Mercy recognizes the countless ways people come to help one another and the poor choices they can make because of love?choices that challenge the boundaries of human decency and social justice but also choices that can defy what is legal in the course of seeking what is right.
Jess's odyssey of escape across four states leads into dark territories of life-and-death moral choices where compassion and grace offer faint illumination but few answers. A Question of Mercy, set in a vivid landscape of the mid-twentieth-century South, is the fifth novel from Robert Penn Warren Award–winning writer Elizabeth Cox. As she challenges notions of individual freedom and responsibility against a backdrop of questionable practices governing treatment of the mentally disabled, she also stretches the breadth and limitations of the human heart to love and to forgive.
Jess Booker, on the run and alone, leaves the comfort of her home near Asheville, recklessly trekking through woods and hitchhiking her way to a boarding house in tiny Lula, Alabama, a perceived safe haven she once visited with her late mother. Pursued by a mysterious car with a faded "I Like Ike" sticker, Jess is also haunted by memories of her mother's early death, her father's distressing marriage to Adam's mother, the loving bond she was able to form with Adam despite her initial resistance, and her boyfriend Sam's troubling letters from the thick of combat in the Korean War. In Lula, Jess finds, if only briefly, a respite among a curious surrogate family of fellow displaced outsiders banded together under one roof, and there she finds the strength to heed the call homeward to face the questions she cannot answer about her stepbrother's death.
Through her vibrant depictions of characters in crisis and of the lush, natural landscapes of her southern settings, Cox brings to the fore the moral, ethical, and seemingly unnatural decisions people face when caring for society's weakest members. Grappling with the powerful bonds of love and family, A Question of Mercy recognizes the countless ways people come to help one another and the poor choices they can make because of love?choices that challenge the boundaries of human decency and social justice but also choices that can defy what is legal in the course of seeking what is right.
- GenresFiction
224 pages, Hardcover
First published October 4, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 6, 2017
Onvan : A Question of Mercy - Nevisande : Elizabeth Cox - ISBN : 1611177227 - ISBN13 : 9781611177220 - Dar 224 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2016
June 2, 2016
Too rarely a book comes along that totally pulls you into its pages to the point that it's hard to distinguish the story in the book from your real life. This is one of those special books. I walked along North Carolina roads with Jess and I mourned Adam's death with her. I am still thinking about these characters days after I read the last page and I know that this will be one of those books that I remember for a long time.
When Jess's father remarries, his new wife brings her son into their home. Adam is mentally disabled and as his body matures, he starts getting into trouble because he is different. His mother feels that the only place he can live safely is in a state hospital where the doctors plan to lobotomize and castrate him. The book takes place in the early 1950s and this was still the approved method to control the mentally challenged in North Carolina. Jess is aware of the plans and is totally opposed because she knows the procedure will cause Adam to lose what makes him Adam. After Adam's death, Jess runs away from home looking for peace and acceptance.
The novel isn't just about love and family - it's about how society cares for its weakest members and how families form not just by birth but also out of love and concern for each other.
This is a powerful novel and one that definitely needs to be read and talked about. If I could, I would give it more than five stars!
(Thanks to the publisher Story River Books for a copy of this book for a fair and honest review.)
When Jess's father remarries, his new wife brings her son into their home. Adam is mentally disabled and as his body matures, he starts getting into trouble because he is different. His mother feels that the only place he can live safely is in a state hospital where the doctors plan to lobotomize and castrate him. The book takes place in the early 1950s and this was still the approved method to control the mentally challenged in North Carolina. Jess is aware of the plans and is totally opposed because she knows the procedure will cause Adam to lose what makes him Adam. After Adam's death, Jess runs away from home looking for peace and acceptance.
The novel isn't just about love and family - it's about how society cares for its weakest members and how families form not just by birth but also out of love and concern for each other.
This is a powerful novel and one that definitely needs to be read and talked about. If I could, I would give it more than five stars!
(Thanks to the publisher Story River Books for a copy of this book for a fair and honest review.)
August 30, 2019
A beautiful coming of age novel that challenges and reveals American attitudes toward the mentally handicapped during the 1950s. It's hard to believe that such things as lobotomy and castration were accepted practices to "deal" with the sexuality of people considered only possibly harmful to society. The characters and their struggles felt real and immediate and the setting was interesting and unusual. A very good read.
March 21, 2017
My first book of Elizabeth Cox. It was a lovely read, the book made me cry. It's a story of a mentally challenged kid, loved by his family but always misunderstood by many.
November 1, 2018
This was an amazing read. So well written.
When you start, you are immediately drawn into the story. You are placed in the heart of Adam's family and his situation.
You see Adam is a young man who is mentally disabled, He lives with his mom, step-dad and step sister, Jess. Adam is no longer a small boy and people around are afraid of what he may do. For this reason, society is stating that he is to be placed in an institute in a few days , where he faces sterilization and a lobotomy. This was the law of society at the time.
You cannot help but feel for all of the family members and what they are feeling. Jess has become very close to Adam and has helped him in many ways. They are very close. She loves him dearly. She does not want him to be sent to the institute, nor does she believe that he should be sent to such a place. She believes it is a terrible place for anyone. She does not believe that it is right thing to do. His mother believes the institute is the best place for him and better than jail, which is were he could end up. And of course Adam does not want to go .
What is right? Sending him to the institute. Just because it is the law, does it make it right . What other option is there? What would you do?
Cox has created a story about courage, humanity, love and compassion .
You will not forget this book. It tugs at your heart strings !!!!
A must read.
When you start, you are immediately drawn into the story. You are placed in the heart of Adam's family and his situation.
You see Adam is a young man who is mentally disabled, He lives with his mom, step-dad and step sister, Jess. Adam is no longer a small boy and people around are afraid of what he may do. For this reason, society is stating that he is to be placed in an institute in a few days , where he faces sterilization and a lobotomy. This was the law of society at the time.
You cannot help but feel for all of the family members and what they are feeling. Jess has become very close to Adam and has helped him in many ways. They are very close. She loves him dearly. She does not want him to be sent to the institute, nor does she believe that he should be sent to such a place. She believes it is a terrible place for anyone. She does not believe that it is right thing to do. His mother believes the institute is the best place for him and better than jail, which is were he could end up. And of course Adam does not want to go .
What is right? Sending him to the institute. Just because it is the law, does it make it right . What other option is there? What would you do?
Cox has created a story about courage, humanity, love and compassion .
You will not forget this book. It tugs at your heart strings !!!!
A must read.
Read
November 29, 2016What a beautiful, wonderful book! The characters are so true to life that you will feel as though you have gained new friends. It tells the story of Jess and Adam, her mentally challenged step-brother, whom she adores. When Adam drowns in the French Broad River near their home in North Carolina, Jess flees without letting anyone know what happened or where she is headed. The reader is carried along on Jess's odyssey and becomes her companion. The book contains themes of love, honor, and sacrifice and addresses the issue of mental health care in the 1950's; it presents a character in Jess who is willing to fight injustice no matter the cost. Elizabeth Cox has done a commendable job and this book deserves the highest accolades.
December 28, 2016
This book is capital G, Good. I picked this up on a whim from my local library and boy am I glad I did. The story is so fully developed as are the characters. Elizabeth Cox just did a wonderful job building this whole world and I am very sad to leave it.
December 19, 2018
A well-written story, on many levels, about the grittiness and complexity of mental disabilities in the mid-1900s, particularly in the South. It's easy to sit back now and pass judgment, forgetting that much was unknown and yet to be understood by even medical professionals during that time. Shock treatments and lobotomies seemed almost as common to use as coping measures for particular mental disabilities as C-sections are now for convenience.
In this two-hundred page story, Cox crafts every sentence to deeply develop her characters causing the reader to develop a relationship with each one. Quite well-written.
This book ended up on my shelves because of Pat Conroy's desire to mentor and edit new Southern fiction authors and the avenue of Story River Books to publish those original stories.
In this two-hundred page story, Cox crafts every sentence to deeply develop her characters causing the reader to develop a relationship with each one. Quite well-written.
This book ended up on my shelves because of Pat Conroy's desire to mentor and edit new Southern fiction authors and the avenue of Story River Books to publish those original stories.
January 16, 2018
Emotionally charged and well written
This book supplies lots of things to ponder. While it is a sad book of love and loss,it offers some hope for better times to come.
The writing is so intentional and in many places poetic. Her characters are well drawn. It’s hard to understand how Jess could survive while on the run. Her time at the boardinghouse and it’s many characters is sweet,sincere and sad all at the same time.
I
I recommend this book, not as a joyful read...but rather as a thoughtful one. The hope is to give one a deeper understanding and empathy for those who are different.
This book supplies lots of things to ponder. While it is a sad book of love and loss,it offers some hope for better times to come.
The writing is so intentional and in many places poetic. Her characters are well drawn. It’s hard to understand how Jess could survive while on the run. Her time at the boardinghouse and it’s many characters is sweet,sincere and sad all at the same time.
I
I recommend this book, not as a joyful read...but rather as a thoughtful one. The hope is to give one a deeper understanding and empathy for those who are different.
August 7, 2023
Depressing but with glimpses of joy or optimism. This isn't a fault with the author as the subject and time period all but requires a darker attitude. Taking in the perspective of the usual victims of political forces was a choice that paid off well. I only took a star off because there were a sufficient number of typos, especially in the latter half of the book, that they did become distracting. Characters were well built and the story itself felt fairly organic.
October 20, 2017
This is a great read that builds suspense and involvement with the characters who all face heart-wrenching decisions and calls for forgiveness in their lives. Cox reminds us of the misunderstood innocence of special needs young adults whose presence in our lives can enrich us all if we are aware of the possibilities. Beautifully written! The last few chapters are especially moving.
June 28, 2021
A blended family, a young man with a disability, and an agonizing decision. Will he end up in the state mental institution? Some disturbing choices have to be made. Well-written about a difficult subject.
May 23, 2017
Such a beautifully written story about the treatment of the mentally ill in the 50's. The main character, Jess, reminded me of Harper Lee's Scout.
January 6, 2018
Enjoyed the prose
Developed the characters nicely
Would recommend
17 years old girl ,first love, retarded step brother, road trip, Korean War=strong story
Developed the characters nicely
Would recommend
17 years old girl ,first love, retarded step brother, road trip, Korean War=strong story
February 26, 2021
My first Elizabeth Cox book. It was a very sensitve read. Conditions at that time for the mentally ill were deplorable.
March 18, 2024
3.5 stars
February 26, 2017
Quite disturbing to me.
Read
January 24, 2017Inappropriate material
April 14, 2017
What an incredible story. Terribly sad, disturbing, triumphant, and heartfelt all in one. I'm still a bit breathless awaiting the long awaited to end to Jess and A dam's stories.
May 2, 2017
Good character development and a story about a subject I hadn't really formed an opinion about. Seems so old fashioned/illegal to sterilize or institutionalize a child today, but is it happening? Can't imagine it.
Read
July 4, 2018Excellent. Gives food for thought!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews