Sweet Mercy

by Ann Tatlock
Carver County Library paperback 311 pages
genre: Christian historical fiction

Set during the Great Depression, this is a story of a teenager who strives to be the "good girl" she thinks her parents want. Her older sister Cassandra was a wild child, drinking, partying, and hanging out with the boys.

Ugh. Can't write a synopsis. Loved the book! Tatlock is a wonderful writer. Even seemed almost too innocent and pure, but it was realistic for the era . . . and in response to trying to be unlike an older sibling who went astray. Eve's black and white view of everything was part of what made the lesson of mercy come home in this book.

Link, Marcus, Jones, Annie and Moses, bootlegging, bands, raids . . . It was very fun to go see The Belmont Hotel show right after reading this.


Added 4 Dec 2013:
I had made some notes on a card after our book club discussion. Not much came of it . . .
- Al Capone - end of life conversion to Christianity? I didn't find anything that indicated he had repented and turned to Jesus before he died. I am not willing to invest a lot of time and energy looking, but I spent some time searching online and didn't come up with anything. There was an interesting story about what happened with his body and publicity hounds, though.
- Five and Twenty Law? Doesn't seem as though this was a real phenomenon. In the book, it sounded completely legit, but I can't find evidence of a law like this anywhere. Again, I didn't search exhaustively, but it certainly doesn't show up in the many keyword searches I tried.
- MN History Center? They have a new exhibit on Prohibition and I really want to go! I wonder if I should try to get Louie to go with me, or get the book club ladies to go.
- Killer who repented to Chuck Colson? Again, couldn't find it. In his many years of prison ministry, he probably heard lots of criminals repent and turn their lives over to Jesus. But in my looking online, I couldn't find a story that stood out. I think someone at book club had mentioned this.