Literary fiction with beautiful prose and an poignant backstory.

Mal (2021) a 30 year old, black, podcaster from California, travels to her mother's home province of Nova Scotia to investigate a 'cold case' for her podcast. She feels the need to unearth some evidence of the old crime as the perpetrators were never brought to justice. Mal's podcast is about mental health, and this crime involves people who suffer from mental illness. Mal wants to determine the connection between a Nova Scotian community called Mercy Lake and a criminal group based in New York who have, for years, hidden under the name "The Sodality Group". Sodality has taken an ancient religious men's group and perverted it to become a sadistic, almost cult-like group who prey upon young girls.

“The Annapolis Valley isn’t a woke place, as you say, my darling. It’s sort of lost in time, and that’s not always a good thing, you know, a place where there is a lot of misremembering.”

Stella (age 12, 1980) - who has heterochromia and a very high IQ, lived her life up until now in Ohio. After a tragic car accident in which her mother perished and Stella herself suffered traumatic brain injury, Stella's father brought her back to his childhood home in Nova Scotia. It is summer, and the grieving Stella meets up with a young local girl named Cynthia Seabury. Cynthia lives with her grandmother, Granny Scotia, in a grand old house. One day Stella witnesses something that she will never forget, and she will forever feel guilty for not speaking up about what she witnessed.

Stella (2021) is now in her fifties and living at the Jericho County Care Centre for people with brain injury and mental illness. Stella has not spoken since she was thirteen years old. Stella has one true and steadfast friend at the Jericho Centre, an elderly woman named Dianne.

Stella is in danger, and Dianne (and Mel) try to protect her. Stella is weaning herself off her many medications and is starting to regain some of her memories...

As a resident of Nova Scotia, I am well acquainted with this book's settings. The western Annapolis Valley is a very picturesque locale, and the author did a fine job of description. The place names of Seabury, Mercy Lake, and Bigelow Bay were all inventions of the author, though some places like the North Mountain and the Bay of Fundy are real.

This was a slow paced, literary mystery with an unsettling, menacing vibe throughout. The prose was almost poetic in its stark beauty. With characters that are believable, the reader empathizes with them in a visceral way due to the fact that the author gives a voice to people who are marginalized by society.

There are several themes running throughout this novel, namely ageism, betrayal, trauma mental illness, female resilience, and crimes against women.

This is very much a feminist novel. The women are given centre stage and the men all seem to be either untrustworthy, threatening, or condescending.

This slow-paced novel does meander from its course on occasion, but overall it is a thought-provoking story of trauma, healing, and female friendship laced with some elements of conspiracy thriller. Recommended.

Death? Poetic writing? Darkness? Mystery? This one's a solid thriller option. I'm giving in 3.5 stars. It's pretty fast paced (hehe with speed in the title I would hope so! Okay enough bad jokes...). It's a bit hard to read during these current times when we're still actively going through a pandemic. But I do appreciate Christy-Ann Conlin going for it. Lots of psychological angst in this book if that's your cup of tea.

This book was like a fever dream. The whole time I was like “what the heck is going on?” The idea of secret societies was cool, but not written well enough for this book- barely mentioned. Focused more on the one main instance than any worth reading background. It’s 430 pages of random stuff. The ending “wrapped up” in like the last 10% of the book but there were still loose ends. Then there were like random splashes of magic that didn’t add up- the magic would have been cool to focus on.
Check content warning- SA/ grooming descriptive

The ARC that I read had multiple lines where there was no spacing- made some parts hard to follow.

Special thanks to Netgalley and House of Anansi Press Inc for this digital ARC.

Growing up in Nova Scotia I was super excited to read this book. Going into it I was expecting something else, I was looking forward to the mystery and deep character development . Instead I found the pace a little slow for my liking and I didn’t get to learn about or love the characters as much as I would’ve wanted to. I think that I am perhaps not the target audience for this one.

Set in Nova Scotia, this is the story of Stella’s before and after. Early into her days she was involved in a fatal accident that changed her life. The novel flips between before and after, sometimes leaving the reader a little confused.

The author definitely tried to create a story unlike anything else, and while there were some witty and entertaining parts, Stella’s story is pretty heavy, and includes a lot of characters I didn’t really connect with.

3/5 for me. If you’re looking for something outside your wheelhouse, this may be a good read for you.

This novel features dark secrets set amongst two timelines and main characters with an empowering feminist message. Fascinating and empathetic, this novel will hold your attention, break your heart, and haunt you afterwards.

Outside of Middle English and historical texts, I’m not really one to appreciate flowery, descriptive language. So, the appeal of the seamlessly poetic writing style that Conlin has achieved in The Speed of Mercy, while I respect it, is not really my cup of tea. However, I could see this novel finding support through the homage and respect it pays to more classical storytelling.
If I were asked to sum up Conlin’s writing style in The Speed of Mercy, I would call it lyrical. The entire narrative reminded me greatly of classic Grecian odes and Renaissance tragedies because of the heavy use of inner monologue. Yet, the method of the monologue was more expository, and had a flow about it similar to a classical play where the theatre of the mind has to be engaged through descriptive dialogue that references the current setting and events as well as detailed backstory through memory. My problem here is that I don’t really think this works in terms of a contemporary novel.
In my opinion, the writing style became a distraction. Given that this is meant to be a suspense thriller, there is this predetermined need for the reader to try and piece together what is going on. This becomes incredibly difficult when you add in this type of drawn out writing style with the time lapses, inebriation, and memory issues that occur throughout the plot. While the narrative obstacles add flavour to the mystery, the difficulty of the writing style has no real pay off if you are not particularly fond of exposition. Which, I am not.

I missed my chance to read this, but it sounds so great, so I've purchased a hard-copy to read in the future!

The Speed Of Mercy by Christy Ann Conlin



Dark family secrets, the lore of the sea, and a tender friendship between women al converge in an unusual and surprising story set in Nova Scotia.

I didn’t enjoy this book. It was not exciting. It was like a journal of these young girls’ life’s. It was confusing going from back to present times. In their lives.

Ever read a book that you didn’t hate but didn’t love either? I have struggled to find the words to describe how I feel about this book. I found it to be very slow and boring at times. I found the book to be much more graphic and sad than I was expecting. There were a few characters that we begin to learn about but they’re storyline just dwindled. It’s not a bad book just not for me!

This book switches from the character of Mal and the character of Stella while also switching from the present (now) and the past (then). This creates a beautiful interweaving of plots that moves the book along very fast and is such a fun read. Overall, this was an utterly amazing book!! I gave it 5 stars — my first five star rating since the year began! This is such a great book because it intertwines beautifully. Switching different POVs and different time periods at first made everything hard to follow, but slowly everything started clicking into palace. I really loved how everything connected and it was very satisfying to read how everything came together. I loved the descriptions of the world too— the author creates beautiful images and metaphors to truly make an encapsulating reading experience. I loved the character’s voices— they were all so unique! The friendship between Dianne and Stella was very special to read, but the relationship between all the women in the book were powerful in their own ways. The book kept me reading and at the end I could not put it down! Overall, i really loved this book and any fans of intertwining stories, powerful women, and mystery will love The Speed of Mercy!

This story was engrossing and thoughtful. I was pulled along throughout the story and didn't want it to end. Great characterization and dialogue.

Christy Ann Conlin is a Canadian author I had not yet read, so I was interested in reading her new book. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. It is an odd book which I think needs revision.

The book alternates between two timelines: 2021 and 1980. In post-pandemic 2021, Malmuria Grant-Patel (Mal), a podcaster, travels to rural Nova Scotia, to an area two people disparagingly describe as the “Georgia of the north.” Her intention is not to visit her mother’s birthplace but to uncover what happened at Mercy Lake years earlier: she is told “there was a link between a place called Mercy Lake in Nova Scotia and a group in New York that hid under a cloak of business, billions and blackmail – money and power providing an impenetrable shield for traditions, beliefs and rituals going back hundreds of years. A company called Cineris International. An old family named Jessome, in New York. . . . The woman was terrified. What they did to her went way back. There were others, lost in time.” Mal tries to talk to Stella Sprague, the sole living survivor of a fire that burned down the Mercy Lake Lodge where this secret group used to meet.

Stella is now 54 years of age and living in a care home. She suffers from memory loss and has been mute since a traumatic event 40 years earlier, an event she doesn’t remember but identifies as HA, the Horrific Affliction. She reminisces back to 1980 when she and her father moved to Nova Scotia after her mother’s death. Stella becomes friends with Cynthia, the daughter of her father’s best friend, Franklin Seabury, a wealthy businessman. Stella learns things about her father’s family that she had not known, but she is also uneasy around Cynthia and her father. It is obvious that the Horrific Affliction occurred soon after Stella’s arrival in Nova Scotia, but will she be able to remember what happened?

Events often require the reader to suspend disbelief. For example, Mal learns about a cult at Mercy Lake because she casually uses the word mercy in an interview with a woman from Nova Scotia who “then dropped her story out of the blue”? Two days after that conversation, Mal receives a threatening phone call warning her not to investigate when no one knows her intentions? Mal has no difficulty finding Stella, but those who might feel threatened by Stella haven’t found her in 40 years? Every woman Mal and Stella encounter is creative? Why would one survivor with incriminating evidence not go to authorities but leave it with Stella whose memory is untrustworthy: “we kept the memories for you, until you could hold them again”?

And then there are the contradictions. Stella turns over a postcard forty times, hoping it will jog her memory, that it “might break the spell, what she couldn’t remember” and then five sentences later we are told “Stella didn’t want to remember.” We are told “Mal was not the sort who scared easily” but she seems frightened most of the time. Mal “wanted to go home” but six sentences later, “Mal was not going home now.” A character says, “”What you need to focus on is your own safety, Mal. Right now we have to find Stella and Dianne, especially if some crazy person is following women around.’” So what is Mal supposed to do? A character is told, “’your father owes my dad money. And now your grandfather’s debt is your father’s debt’” and she asks, “”What? What do you mean they had to pay them back? With what?’” So often I was left shaking my head.

Vagueness is also an issue. Mal discovers very little about Sodality. When it is mentioned – described as a fellowship or a “weird men’s group” or a cult – very little real information is given. That’s the same problem with the Offing Society. And then there are unexplained events. A woman drives “without the seat belt, surprised it didn’t work, that it was jammed, but not worrying about it.” Is that supposed to suggest something about what happens? Why does young Cynthia behave as she does, keeping secrets from Stella and keeping secrets for her? What are we to make of Cynthia’s comment that “’my mother can sort of see the future, [my father] says. That’s why he needs her to spend time with him.’”

The novel does touch on some important subjects. For instance, if offers several examples of how women, especially older women, are dismissed. The repeated message is that old women should not be underestimated. The treatment of the people with mental health issues is examined; often those suffering are not seen as victims but blamed for their situations.

The book has potential, but as I said at the beginning, it needs revision. When I received the digital galley I was informed that the book would be released on March 23. Now I understand that it won’t be released until August 3. I’m hoping that date change means that revision will be done.

Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

I'm beyond words, this book will hook you in within the very first page. I love reading novels that make you forget you are reading. Highly recommend!

I found this book intriguing, exploring the fields of mental illness and the impact over a lifespan. It’s a sophisticated story that emphasizes the “cults” of men and struggles of women against male dominance. Sometimes it’s hard to tell exactly where the story begins as it’s written in two time periods—then and now. But the rhythm of the time transitions leads us to understand the “Horrible Accident” which leads Stella back to Mercy Lake and the “Horrible Affliction” which explains the now story where Stella is in the mental health system.
The book is intense, magical, infused with reality and imagination and sometimes it is hard to discern which is which. But Stella, although a victim of horrendous abusive crimes continues to put the pieces of the puzzle together. We find women helping women, struggling and winning—each one not just a victim or a journalist or a nurse but women uniting to help Stella from then become a more complete Stella of now.
Also impressive is the use of real mental health theories of the past such as the Kirkbride Plan—the idea that architecture and landscape could assist a cure. Also of note is the incorporation of real artists into the story line, even to the inclusion of a child’s book, Charlotte Sometimes” to help lend truth to fiction. An amazing read.

*special thanks to House of Anansi Press and NetGalley for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!

3 stars
This was much more sad, tragic, and graphic than I was expecting.
But it was also pretty enthralling and beautifully written. The way the tension was slowly, but surely built was great!
It’s written in the ever popular dual timeline, which I’m starting to get sick of... but I think it used that style properly.
Beware of many difficult subjects going into this, because this book touched on basically all of them.
I think what hindered me from giving it more stars, was it was a bit too slow at times, and the way some of the characters were written left me wanting more.

I’ve heard her other novels are equally gothic and mysterious, so I’ll have to check them out!

The Speed of Mercy follows two intertwining storylines: that of Mal, a young woman who is investigating a mysterious secret society she discovered while doing an interview for her podcast, and Stella, a woman who has lost both most of her memories and her voice. Despite being introduced first, Mal's story ultimately takes a backseat to Stella's journey toward memory and confrontation with buried trauma.

I was excited to read this based on the description of the book - a feminist-leaning mystery with diverse characters! - but ultimately found myself disappointed. The pacing was strange; the first parts of the book spent a great deal of time building a setting and an atmosphere, but not developing the plot or the characters very deeply. Even the atmosphere falls a little flat; the characters are repeatedly warned of danger, but it was not until over halfway through the book that I actually began to feel the presence of any danger. With the exception of Stella (and perhaps Dianne), most of the characters felt underdeveloped, more like plot devices than fully developed people. The mystery was at once frustratingly opaque and very easy to make (correct) guesses about; some of it remained confusingly unexplained even at the end of the book.

The author seemed to favor short sentences and sentence fragments for the most part, though this began to vary more as the story progressed, toward the end of the book. Sometimes this was used to a great deal of effect - especially when modern-day Stella was attempting to remember her past, the fragments felt very much like flashes of her memory - but sometimes it felt repetitive. In general, I felt like the writing itself was the strongest part of the book, rather than the story or characters.

Ultimately, despite wanting to like it, this book was not for me. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this in exchange for my honest review.

The author has constructed a tale of caution about reaching the age of "13 years old" for young girls and predatory males who rape them while claiming it to be a "cult ritual." All this is revealed in the story of a head trauma middle-aged woman with a huge memory loss from a car accident. The author uses a back (Then) and forth (Now) tactic to provide the backstory. As the female characters are developed using this method, each woman has one or more memories of the past events while the head-traumatized main character painfully explains how she has coped for forty years with the huge gaps of memory loss (seashells lining the shelves of her mind) and the painful gradual recall as parts of her past are revealed to assist her with survival (seashells falling off the shelf and breaking open). A shocking scene of a rape is "managed" by one character and a ritual cult gang rape is implied as the precursor to the drowning of a young female relative of the main character, explained by one male character because she didn't cooperate with the men of the cult. All the male characters are flawed with few if any redeeming qualities. The related women are descendants of “Old Country” witches, some with WICAN knowledge and some with WICAN power and knowledge.
I lightly recommend this book for YA with the caveat that it exhibits unbalanced biased and stereotyped gender characters.

I was pretty excited for this book, but I have to say I was very disappointed
I finished this book 6 days ago, and when I sat down to write this review, I had completely forgotten what the book was about.
For me this book can be categorized into two sections - incredibly slow story lines and dialogue, and sexual abuse, with very little substance in between.

Definitely not for me.

I enjoyed reading this book. The author went back and forth from different times interlacing the characters and their stories beautifully. This book shows how mercy can save us and bring peace to our lives.