Finding Mercy by Michael Landon Jr. and Cindy Kelley ~ Book Review

Book Two in this story starts with bounty hunters chasing Mercy as she still tries to figure out her past. Heading south to where she believes she might have come from she is having to dodge not only the bounty hunters but try to pick up clues as to who she might be. After running across a portrait of a military man something in her memory is finally sparked and she goes in search of who it might be. Finally a clue that leads her to a large rice plantation has her meeting her family but still not recognizing them or knowing them. But even as she tries to fit into her past life more questions arise as to who and what kind of person she really was. And then there is still the nasty little detail about the bounty hunters that just won't give up.

As Mercy is thrown back into her life with a party being thrown for her return by her family, the confusion and mystery continues for her. The black woman who raised her and whom she was supposedly very close to can barely tolerate being in the same room with her and Mercy doesn't know why. She is appalled by the treatment and living quarters of the newly freed slaves who are now employees of the plantation. The attitude of her brother and step Mom towards the black servants saddens her and yet on the flip side they are surprised that she is not harder on the staff. As the young woman she was slowly comes to light, Mercy must reconcile the unrecognizable person she was with the person she is now. Does she want to go back to being that young woman from before the war and reclaim her old life or will she take steps to right the wrongs of the past and embrace who she is now?

Loved the sequel to Traces to Mercy. What a great story these two books were. I appreciated how the story wove the story of the north and the south viewpoints into it. The immediate results of the civil war on both the plantation owners and the freed slaves was something that this book really brought out to me. I hadn't really paused to think of what those newly freed people would do when on paper they were free but the attitudes were still the same towards them. I thought that the inner struggles that Mercy was having were very well written and felt myself hoping for the best for her and wishing she would quit making impulsive choices. I rooted for her through the set of two books and couldn't wait to see how it all played out for her. This and the first in the series, Traces of Mercy, was an excellent read. It'll be a keeper on my bookshelf.

Reading Challenge Goals Met: Book I own but haven't read yet; Book by an author I love but haven't read yet

Review linked to Semicolon Saturday Review of Books