The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner

This book caught my eye because I have always been fascinated by the subject of the Salem witch trials. This is a story about a young woman, Lauren, who has been hired to transcribe a diary that was written by a young woman, Mercy, who was accused in the trials. This starts a journey for Lauren to discover who she is and to examine how she feels about her life of privilege.

One of the great lines from this book ~~ "When you only do what is expected of you, you never learn what you would've done had you chosen for yourself." ~~ is exactly what Lauren is struggling with.

The Shape of Mercy is very well written and I found myself caring for both Lauren and Mercy from the very beginning. We also meet the owner of the diary, Abigail, an older woman who reveals in one of their transcribing sessions ~~ "He was the man I should have married." Lauren is determined to find out what she means by that statement but she also wonders if she, herself, in too concerned with what she 'should' do. 

I enjoyed this book immensely and will be recommending it to my friends! 

The author's website says she writes "Fiction for the Restless Reader". I am pretty sure that I am a restless reader and I know that I am going to be reading more of Susan Meissner's books! 

http://www.susanmeissner.com/

~~ I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.