The Miracle of Mercy Land by River Jordan was an unsual story, not the type I normally read. The story captivated me within the first chapter, and I had no choice but to keep reading. At times the story was hard to follow -- jumping between times and places and characters -- but there were so many twists and turns and intriguing scenes that I kept working through the times of confusion to see where it went.
"I was born in a bolt of lightning on the banks of Bittersweet Creek." This is the first description we get of Mercy Land. Although Mercy has spent seven years in the "big" Bay City, working at The Banner as Doc Philips' go-to girl, who she was and where she came from continue to play a big role in who she is becoming. As the story progresses, the pieces fall together about who Mercy, Doc, John Quncy, and Aunt Ida are and how their lives impacted each other in ways not all of them were aware of. The mysterious book -- that might be described as the main character of the story -- seems to drive the story in kind of a supernatural way. The story explores the question of what we would change if we could -- and whether that would be a good thing. The "lesson" that seems to come through as the story reaches its climax is one of choices -- how we are each ultimately responsible for our own choices, and that is much more important than anything we might do to try to change the outcome of anyone else's life.
This was not my favorite recent read, but I did enjoy it and would recommend it to others. It is definitely a thought-provoking story.
(I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.)
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