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BOOK OF MERCY

A funny novel about a serious issue: censorship

by Sherry Roberts (author blog)

Antigone Brown has trouble reading road signs, keeps a stone in her pocket to help her remember right from left, and despairs of ever being a good mother to her unborn child. As she is quick to tell you, she is not hero material. She runs a deer farm and vegetarian cafe in Mercy, North Carolina, where textiles—not tourism—is king and where Irene Crump and the Mercy Study Club run the show.

But then Antigone takes in a homeless boy against her husband's wishes and the Study Club forces her best friend, the school librarian, to remove “undesirable” books from the school's collection. And soon Antigone finds herself challenging the controlling Irene and fighting for the very things that have made her life a misery—books. The dyslexic Antigone starts her own library and sets in motion a series of events destined to change Mercy forever.

ISBN: 978-0963888044 (print edition)

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• Book of Mercy Reader's Guide
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"If you are a book lover, you will love this book!"

— Faith Sullivan, author of Gardenias,
The Cape Ann, and The Empress of One.

"It's a serious topic—book banning—but handled in a responsible, fun way with quirky characters, and so-real dialogue. Author Sherry Roberts manages to fit marriage, pregnancy, binge driving, hubcap sculpture, homelessness, vegetarianism, and ESP into this homespun tale with characters that keep coming to mind long after the last page has been read. Librarians will cheer for the plucky heroine, Antigone Brown who stands up to the town bullies with the help of her oddly talented friends. Well-researched, well-written, a delightful read!"

— A librarian

"Everyone who cares about books should read Book of Mercy. And especially, read it if you like your books to be engaging, fun, and of literary merit. I don't know how the author, Sherry Roberts, does it, but she makes you care deeply about a wide range of characters, while reinforcing an important literary message. I loved it, and I'm telling every reader I know about it. From a tiny town in the south, to the dark alley where trouble lurks, to the mean streets of New York City, the characters and personalities in Book of Mercy run the gamut of human experience. I was sorry to see the book end. I loved every minute of it!"

— Lois West Duffy, author of Zillah's Gift