Small Mercies: A Novel
In the summer of 1974 a heatwave blankets Boston and Mary Pat Fennessy is trying to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors. Mary Pat has lived her entire life in the housing projects of “Southie,” the Irish American enclave that stubbornly adheres to old tradition and stands proudly apart.
One night Mary Pat’s teenage daughter Jules stays out late and doesn’t come home. That same evening, a young Black man is found dead, struck by a subway train under mysterious circumstances.
The two events seem unconnected. But Mary Pat, propelled by a desperate search for her missing daughter, begins turning over stones best left untouched—asking questions that bother Marty Butler, chieftain of the Irish mob, and the men who work for him, men who don’t take kindly to any threat to their business.
Set against the hot, tumultuous months when the city’s desegregation of its public schools exploded in violence, Small Mercies is a superb thriller, a brutal depiction of criminality and power, and an unflinching portrait of the dark heart of American racism. It is a mesmerizing and wrenching work that only Dennis Lehane could write.
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Community Reviews
What’s it about?
This story is set in 1974 in South Boston- against the backdrop of school desegregation. Mary Pat Fennessey was born and raised in the housing projects of Southie. She is one tough lady who is determined to fight desegregating the schools. However, once her 17-year-old daughter Jules goes missing she has much more to be concerned about.
What did it make me think about?
Hard to imagine that this all happened in my lifetime.
Should I read it?
This is almost more social commentary than mystery. It is such a tumultuous period in our history and it is easy to forget. This is a book about racism, segregation, love of family, institutional poverty, and how dangerous it is to feel superior.
Quote-
“Call them gooks, call them niggers, call then kikes, micks, spics, wops, or frogs, call them whatever you want as long as you call them something- anything- that removes one layer of human being from their bodies when you think of them. That’s the goal. If you can do that , you can get kids to cross oceans to kill other kids, or you can get them to stay right here at home and do the same thing.”
Mary Pat Fennessey is the fictional protagonist in this heated story. She is an Irish American woman who has lived her whole life in the housing projects of Southie. She has already experienced plenty of loss in her life (2 husbands and her only son). Mary Pat and her daughter, Jules (a high school senior) know who really call the shots in Southie; Marty Butler, kingpin of the Irish mob and his cronies. Mary Pat is okay with that until the night Jules doesn't come home. She was out with friends and Rum, a boy Mary Pat believes is one of Southie's biggest idiots. After a few days missing and no leads on Jules' whereabouts, Mary Pat starts handling things her way: asking questions, making others uncomfortable. On the same night that Jules disappears, a young black man is found dead in the subway station under mysterious circumstances. The cops don't believe it was an accident; Marty is telling Mary Pat to go home and get on with her life. Are they 2 events related? Mary Pat will stop at nothing to find out the truth about her daughter. She accepts her own role in perpetuating the same destructive behavior that is repeatedly told to children in Southie.
This is a crime thriller set against the desegregation of Boston city schools with an unflinching look at American racism. It is dark, powerful and sometimes hard to read this depiction of violent period of time. I really liked Mary Pat (duh
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