Small Mercies - Dennis Lehane - ★★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Dennis Lehane

GENRE: Historical Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: April 25, 2023

RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: A historical fiction novel showing the interplay of race and revenge. Set against true events. Flawed characters, somewhat offbeat writing style, steady pacing. Thought-provoking. A stark, true-to-life portrayal of racism. Definitely recommended. Go in blind.

Plot Preview:

1974. Mary Pat Fenessey has always lived in “Southie”, the Irish-American enclave in Boston that sticks to traditions. Things are currently heated up in the locality, not just because of the unusually hot summer but also because of the city’s decision to desegregate its public schools. One night, Mary Pat’s teenaged daughter Jules doesn’t return home. The same night, a young Black man is found dead, struck by the subway train. Two events that are unconnected, and yet change Mary Pat’s life forever.

The story comes to us in the third-person perspective of Mary Pat and a couple of other key characters.

After many years have I had the pleasure of reading a 300 page book within 24 hours. The credit goes to author Dennis Lehane, whose gripping narrative in this taut historical fiction work kept me coming back for more.

The book begins with a historical note on the city’s decision to integrate its public schools. This is essential to understanding the political and social environment in the book, so don’t skip it.

The story doesn’t enfold the way you think it would, so it is best to go into this book blind. The plot contains several twists and turns along the way, not like a thriller but in the way human nature gradually reveals its deeper layers and flaws.

For a book focussed on the Black vs. white narrative, the characters in the book come in shades of grey. I found it interesting that only the white characters in the story get a chance to be the third-person narrator. The Black characters, like the Blacks of the era, are othered and mostly silenced. This decision creates a major difference to our experience of the plot. It constantly makes us question our own thinking and prejudices, especially when the two races cross paths.

The author’s writing style when it comes to conversations is a little offbeat. Most of the dialogues contain a crisp and concise back-and-forth repartee. At first, I thought this was indicative of a particular character’s speaking style, but the same structure is employed for all characters. An interesting writing choice, which takes some time to get used to but soon proves to enhance the tension of the story.

Though the desegregation of public schools seems to be the central event in the plot, it’s soon clear that the integration is just a background. What’s on display is the internalised racism of ordinary people, a thinking so prevalent that people don’t even realise its flaws. If you need one reason to read this book, it is for the way it makes you think. Racism in all its dirty shades exists even today, and is probably much greater than just a Black vs. white debate. This story makes you question the dominant narrative, and makes you wonder at the idiots fighting for race, religion, caste, or ethnicity when we all bleed the same inside.

The book stays true to the 1970s even in terms of language, so there are plenty of offensive words. Perhaps a bit too many, though I do understand how they elevate the impact of the writing by showing us how normalised these harsh slurs were in the minds of white Americans. There are also plenty of American slang words, some of which went over my head.

The plot gets a bit too unhinged in the final couple of chapters, which is the only reason I couldn't rate this higher. But even keeping this in mind, the book doesn't lose its significance.

Overall, I am glad I went into this book without reading any review or even the blurb. The plot took me by surprise with its exploration of human thinking and racial divisions. This is my first book by this author, and it won't be the last.

Definitely recommended to historical fiction fans looking for a thought-provoking narrative.