The Mercy Seat - Softcover

Askew, Rilla

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140265155 ISBN 13: 9780140265156

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 1998

Synopsis

A FINALIST FOR THE PEN/FAULKNER AWARD

An epic story that takes place on the dusty, remorseless Oklahoma frontier, where two brothers are deadlocked in a furious rivalry

Fayette is an enterprising schemer hoping to cash in on his brother's talents as a gunsmith. John, determined not to repeat the crime that forced both families to flee their Kentucky homes, doggedly follows his tenacious brother west, while he watches his own family disintegrate.

Wondrously told through the wary eyes of John's ten-year-old daughter, Mattie, whose gift of premonition proves to be both a blessing and a curse, The Mercy Seat resounds with the rhythms of the Old Testament even as it explores the mysteries of the Native American spirit world. Sharing Faulkner's understanding of the inescapable pull of family and history, and Cormac McCarthy's appreciation of the stark beauty of the American wilderness, Rilla Askew imbues this momentous work with her tremendous energy and emotional range. It is an extraordinary novel from a prodigious talent.

About this title

About the Author

Rilla Askew is the author of Strange Business, a collection of stories, and of the novel The Mercy Seat, nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association Award and winner of the Western Heritage Award and the Oklahoma Book Award. She divides her time between the San Bois Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma and upstate New York.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0140265155
• ISBN 13: 9780140265156
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 448