Joan's Picks: Small Mercies and Home Before Night

Small Mercies by Denis Le Hane.

I love Denis LeHane’s writing. Many readers will remember Mystic River but my own personal favourite is The Given Day which was set in Boston, as is this new one. Mary Pat is a hardworking nurse in a retirement home, living in the Projects. She had two husbands – one died and one left; heroin killed her son after he came back from Vietnam and her daughter Jules is worrying her sick. When Jules goes missing Mary Pat is desperate and determined to do whatever it takes to find her, even if it means crossing the local crime boss. She’s not scared - she’s a mother who’s been wronged and she will stop at nothing to get the answers and see justice. 

There’s huge atmosphere in this book – it’s set in 1974 during a sweltering heatwave and against the backdrop of a federal court decision to forcibly integrate local area schools, with white kids being bussed to Black schools and vice versa. The rage, the impotence, the heat and the violence are palpable and provide the perfect background for Mary Pat’s anger and determination. 

Home Before Night by J.P.Pomare - Kiwi writer who is building a big reputation. 

Set in Melbourne during COVID, as the third wave of the virus hits, all inhabitants of Melbourne are given until 8 pm to get to their homes. Wherever they are when the curfew begins, they must live for four weeks and stay within five kilometres of. When Lou's son, Samuel, doesn't arrive home by nightfall, she begins to panic. He doesn't answer his phone. He doesn't message. His social media channels are inactive. Lou is out of her mind with worry, but she can't go to the police, because she has secrets of her own. Secrets that Samuel just can't find out about. Lou must find her son herself and bring him home. 

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