I've never been a big fan of Christian Romance novels, so when I started reading "Sweet Mercy" that's what I thought I was getting into. But I was hooked just by reading the Prologue. An elderly lady and her young grandson rummage around in the attic of an old Vacation Lodge, looking for a mysteriou... more

I've never been a big fan of Christian Romance novels, so when I started reading "Sweet Mercy" that's what I thought I was getting into. But I was hooked just by reading the Prologue. An elderly lady and her young grandson rummage around in the attic of an old Vacation Lodge, looking for a mysterious box. Her grandson talks her into telling the story of when she first came to the lodge and why the box is so important to her and we are thrust into a flashback we won't soon forget. And neither does Eve, our main character, who's memories take us to her 17th summer when she arrived at her Uncle's Lodge with her mother and father to begin a new life after her father loses his job in St. Paul. Set in the early 1930's during the depression as the battle over Prohibition raged along with jumping sounds of big bands like Duke Ellington. It was a wild time. St. Paul was filled with gangsters, rum runners and crooked politicians and Eve just wants to escape all the violence. She thinks she's done that by working and living with her family at her Uncle's lodge by the small town of Mercy. But we can never run from our past or our destinies for very long. Eve has some hard decisions to make about first love, family love and the love of God. All of which will propel her into adulthood (as all hard choices do) But at the core of this book is just a good, solid, interesting story made believable by the considerable writing talents of Ann Tatlock. Her knowledge of history and human nature give the events, characters and dialogue a ring of truth and familiarity, even though they are fictitious. I feel certain that I have met some of her characters before. And by picking the time of Prohibition to set her story, Tatlock gives us a view of the struggle between innocence and evil that many of us face still today. But whether you read this book in summer or winter, you will feel better for the doing. Learn a little, understand a little and be a lot entertained by the all-encompassing wonder of Sweet Mercy. P.S. If you read the "Official" book description attached to the book, there are some spoilers involved. But if you want to enjoy this book for all it's worth, just dive right in and take the trip along with Eve Marryat. P.P.S. I've attached the YouTube video "Keep a Song in Your Soul" by Duke Ellington, because they play it in the book, and it will enhance and enliven your enjoyment of the time period even more. So wander back to youth, first love, family loyalties and 1931 in the town of Mercy. ~ Laura-Lee