Mercy Street audiobook

3.5 stars: I went into reading “Mercy Street” with the idea that I was going to read a literary suspense about abortion. Mercy Street is a women’s health clinic that provides an array of services; it is the abortion service that garners attention. Yes, this is a story about that clinic, the people who work there, the protesters outside. More than that, it is a social commentary on a slice of the American public; Author Jennifer Haigh investigates rural poverty and urban poverty so accurately that one gets diabetes just reading what is eaten. Let’s not forget religion. Mercy Street is in Boston, “the most Catholic city in America”. Most of the protesters have an affiliation with the church.All the main characters are complex; even the “evil” one, Victor, who wants to publicly shame the women who enter such clinics. Victor wasn’t born inherently evil. He’s had bad luck which resulted in rage against women and people of color. Yes, the reader feels some teeny-tiny piece of empathy for Victor, but one understands that we all have free choice. And there is Anthony, a man who is brain-damaged from work, who is taken advantage of by members of his church.The protagonist, Claudia, who works at the clinic is my favorite character. Claudia was born in poverty to a mother who took on “fosters” for money. Claudia was raised to take care of the fosters while her mom worked. She lived in a single-wide trailer, not a double-wide. The fact that Claudia went to university is a miracle.This is a character driven story that gets so much correct. First, Boston and the Combat Zone and the Methadone mile. I could argue that Boston, and its weather, is a character in the novel; anyone who lived through the winter of 2015 will feel reality. If I have qualms, it’s that it’s a bit slower than I expected. I thought, given the subject of abortion, that this would be a scary story. Haigh writes more of a calmed-down version of the abortion debate, no pipe bombs or deaths. Nonetheless, we forget that there are these clinics and women face the gauntlet everyday attempting to access female healthcare. Haigh wants to remind us that this is still happening to women because abortion involves race, religion, education, poverty, and politics.

Almost one in four American women will have an abortion during her lifetime. Unless she’s a woman in a literary novel, in which case she’s highly unlikely to.Almost 50 years after Roe v. Wade affirmed a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy, fiction writers seem reluctant to mention the procedure. Even now, as theocrats celebrate the imminent return to the era of back-alley butchers, our nation’s literature is eerily quiet on the subject.The exceptions only prove the rule: We’re still invoking “The Handmaid’s Tale” from 1985 to show what happens when women lose the right to choose. Margaret Atwood’s dystopia continues to set the literary tone, inspiring such brilliant apocalyptic novels as Leni Zumas’s “Red Clocks” and Naomi Alderman’s “The Power.”And even when abortion figures in works of realistic fiction, it tends to be the focus of the story rather than a natural element of the characters’ world. That’s an admittedly imprecise but telling marker of our awkward regard for the subject. For instance, abortion is a “hot-button issue” in Jodi. . . .To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/...

Often, the only anidote to a closed mind is an open book. That’s especially true in these polarizing times – and perhaps no subject is quite as polarizing as abortion.But the very people who would benefit from opening Mercy Street probably won’t because its main character is a 40-ish unmarried woman named Claudia, who counsels abortion patients at Mercy Street, a clinic in the heart of Boston.That would be a shame because Claudia is a nuanced character. Growing up in a trailer with a difficult mother, now rudderless in her personal life, Claudia could use a little mercy right now. For that matter, so could the other complex characters who inhabit this novel – Timmy, her pot dealer who befriends his customers without ever knowing their full name or details…Anthony, who collects disability and spends most of his life online…Victor Price, Anthony’s “second-best friend” who is an antiabortion zealot and a white supremacist.All these lives will come together, some in surprising ways, but Jennifer Haigh has bigger fish to fry. She broadens her lens to view our society at a crossroad, where so many of us are alienated and disconnected, where we soothe our emotional pain through the balms of online encounters, pot, and intimacies that are really anything but intimate. All the while, we deceive ourselves that we are actually on the “right side”, particularly when it comes to abortion – being fiercely protective of the unborn while, too many times, allowing that vulnerable baby to be utterly dependent on a woman who is unable to raise her and doesn’t want to.Filled with desperate characters who want to love and connect and don’t have an inkling how to, Mercy Street delivers a fair share of mercy even to the most unlikable. At times a sociological deep-dive into the times we live in, at other times a compelling saga of flawed human beings and our fervent yearning to connect. My thanks to Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐Genre: Literary FictionAt Mercy Street, a clinic in the middle of the city, Claudia has provided patient counseling for almost ten years. Mercy Street is a women's health center that offers a variety of clinical services including abortion which is the focus and cause of why there are protestors every day outside the clinic. The book is the story of this clinic, its workers, and their interaction with the protestors. Every morning, a tiny but vociferous group of anti-abortion protesters shows up at its door. Claudia’s stressful times working there are eased up by visiting her friend Timmy who is a pot dealer. Through Timmy, she gets to know more people like Anthony and Victor. Mercy Street is a character-based story that depends on the main protagonist and her interaction with all the different characters she encounters. The plot is not much focused and definitely does not have a clear direction. I do not consider this a negative thing because the characters were interesting and they worked for me. You have a variety of character traits that give some distinct personality to the characters and make them stand out in a good or a bad way. In the past, I have read a short story by Jennifer Haigh called Zenith Man and it was decent. But this book is more significant and relevant when it comes to our time. The subjects the author brings up here are important and make sense. There are many trigger warnings to be aware of and they could be of disturbing nature so just be careful if you are too sensitive. I liked it.

The blurb on the book/product description is slightly misleading—but not in a bad way. I thought it was going to be one kind of novel, but instead, it is another, but I don’t want to give the plot away, although it is not a plot-centered novel. Haigh penned a character-driven story of some colorful characters living in the Boston area, and connected by various degrees of separation. At the center is the women’s clinic on Mercy Street in Boston, a clinic that provides whole health services for women, which include abortion and morning-after pills. We meet a variety of characters that work there, protest there, or are acquainted with either. Tension builds slowly, and unpredictable events occur. Haigh captures the loneliness and longings of everyday people.Claudia is the main protagonist in this ensemble cast, a longtime employee of the Mercy Street women’s clinic. She’s 43, divorced, and childless. She was raised by a grim and wretched mother, Deb, who took in foster children to pay the expenses. Deb’s last foster child, Nicolette, was particularly without morals, lived outside the law, and had a baby in her teens. Deb treated Nicolette and her baby as her flesh and blood, neglecting Claudia emotionally. Claudia was eager to get an education and carve out her own life, but was still tied to Nicolette when Deb died of cancer. Her commitment was to the clinic. For relaxation, she smokes weed she buys from a man named Timmy. A loner, Claudia reads trashy novels at home and watches old episodes of Dateline.Timmy’s life revolved around weed—selling it, using it, and having entrepreneur dreams once he did some big deliveries. He was a kind man who led a narrow life. In fact, all the lives in Haigh’s new novel are fairly circumscribed. Anthony is a man with a Traumatic Brain Injury who spends a lot of time on the internet. He looks for like-minded individuals, who believe that abortion is first-degree murder. At times, Anthony seems to be unspooling. Victor is an older gent with too much time on his hands, like Anthony. They connect online but have not personally met.The focus is on characters, not plot, and the story unfolds in increments. Mercy Street is the location that connects them all, but whether you sell pot, or work at a women’s clinic, you know that danger lurks in any corner. This is a meditative novel that includes some vibrant people and unexpected lessons in life. Mercy Street isn't as coherent or tight as some of her earlier novels, like Faith, but it is animated and engaging.Thank you to Harper Collins for sending me an ARC to review.

Mercy Street is an exquisite mosaic of a novel. The lives of very different characters intersect in Boston during the blizzard season of 2015. That weather, causing swirling snowstorms, icy roads and forced isolation, becomes a controlling character itself.Mercy Street, the location of an abortion clinic, is at the center of the story. Claudia, product of a teenage pregnancy, has worked as a counselor at the clinic for years. She fled rural Clayburn, Maine for the city. Timmy is her friend and marijuana supplier. Anthony, another friend of Timmy’s, is an incel who lives in his mother’s basement. On disability since a construction accident, he spends his days in front of the clinic protesting abortion. Anthony has fallen under the spell of Victor, a deeply disturbed truck driver who calls himself Excelsior11. Winter will change all their lives in very different ways.The characters in Mercy Street have been beaten down by life. Claudia sees how poverty affects people. She grew up in a trailer where her mother took in foster children for money. One young woman still lives in the trailer with a daughter of her own, continuing generational poverty. At the clinic, Claudia sees how wealthier young women have family support, money and a future attending college. Poor women often can’t afford abortion and have the babies with little help. It’s a sad but true story. Mercy Street is thought-provoking, beautifully written and would make great discussion at a book club. 5 stars.Thank you to NetGalley, Ecco and Jennifer Haigh for this ARC.

I found this book very relatable on many levels. Claudia stands out to me as the most significant character on many levels. She is dedicated to her work at the Mercy Street Clinic for women. Among other female care issues, abortions are provided at Mercy Street. Of course there is strong opposition and protest against this clinic. (Oddly ONLY men are mentioned among the protesters.) For me this book resonates as I got pregnant BEFORE Roe vs Wade became law. The year was 1968. I was 19 years old, not employed, no insurance. Nothing! At that time it was nearly impossible to have an abortion. To get "approved" to have an abortion a woman would either have a life threatening illness that would certainly kill her if she continued with the pregnancy. OR, as in my case, be declared "INSANE", a danger to ones self. I went to a local free clinic that addressed many general health issues. Staffed by volunteers. I saw a gynecologist who arranged for me to plead insanity. I appeared in front of a panel of five me who would decide if I was sane or not. They found me insane and my abortion was approved. I had to pay for medical charges of $2,500 which was very difficult for me. I had to borrow my brother's entire savings. As Mercy Street well reminded me we will likely, very soon, face the restrictions that I faced in 1968. Roe vs Wade will be removed as a constitutional right and the issue of permitting a woman to make her choice will fall to States Rights. It's coming very soon!!

With each book, Jennifer Haigh seems to be adopting the place formerly occupied by Jodi Picoult. In her "ripped from the headlines" (I hate that phrase, but it fits here), character-driven explorations into issues polarizing the country ring with authenticity and purpose. Mercy Street, her latest, takes place on the eve of the tRump White House residency and its ensuing backlash. Focusing on a Boston women's health clinic, the story includes a 43-year-old employee, her attraction to Dateline and a mild weed addiction that leads her to her dealer, Timmy, and spools off into his story. Of the four central characters, the most surprising to me was Vince, a portrait of white supremacy, which provides at least one explanation of how tRump made it to power. Haigh sends her plot into unexpected directions, presenting several sides of the question free of melodrama, with compassion and sidebars of humor.

This author! Last year I read her book, Faith, focusing on the Catholic religion and abuse. It was my favourite. This is now my second read by her and this author writes about the hard subjects; controversial ones that can leave you having a strong opinion. This book is about abortion and women’s reproductive rights. This book is based in Boston and Claudia works in a clinic called, Mercy Street. For many women this clinic offers guidance and second chances. Mercy really. Although, I do have my own views on this subject, I do feel that the author opened me up to think harder and more wisely. Life would be easier if we can wrap it up in a neat little box. This is not an easy read. The author states 1 in 4 women have had an abortion. Trigger warnings are all over this book. Drug use is prevalent as well. BUT…. Seriously I just love the way she opens me up emotionally. I gave this book 5 stars but I can see someone giving it 1 star. I think it will be a hit or miss. For me it was a hit, - out of the park!

This book is not going to be for everyone but I absolutely LOVED it!! I loved that the author shines light on an unassuming woman who works at an abortion clinic in Boston and the stress and anxiety her work puts her under as anti-abortion protesters grow more and more vocal and threatening. Highly recommended for fans of Margaret Atwood. Great on audio narrated by Stacey Glemboski. A new to me author and narrator I couldn't put this story down. It could have been ripped from the headlines of any American newspaper but definitely does a good job setting the scene in Boston. Undoubtedly this will be a controversial read but also a much needed one to expand people's understanding of the importance of women's reproductive rights. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ALC!CW: abortion