David Adams Richards says Mercy Among the Children, his novel exploring the light and darkness of life in Miramichi, N.B., “was a book that I wrote in six months and put my heart and soul into.”
The majority of Richards’s work is set in the Miramichi area, where he grew up.
Mercy Among the Children, which was read by members of CBC New Brunswick’s Books and Backroads book club in McAdam, tells the intergenerational story of a working class family through the eyes of the son, Lyle Henderson.
Readers in six small communities in rural parts of the province took part in book clubs this summer as part of CBC’s partnership with New Brunswick Public Libraries. In McAdam, readers got a taste of the familiar.
In the novel, Lyle’s father, Sydney, pushes a friend from a rooftop as a boy and immediately vows never to hurt anyone again if the friend survives. His friend then instantly rises and walks away, laughing.
As Sydney grows up his vow of turning the other cheek leads him to be taken advantage of by other townspeople who perceive his peaceful nature as a weakness. Witnessing this, Lyle decides to take a stand to protect himself and his family.
Members of the book club had mixed feelings about Sydney. Some believed he was a good person, while others thought he was self-centred and blind to the harm his actions were having on his family.
“At first I thought he was a bit of a coward because he wouldn’t stand up for himself and he wouldn’t protect his family,” said Carla Wright.
“But then, as it went on, you actually had a little respect for him because he showed a lot of self-restraint to be able to stick to his word. He never once wavered from that, which most people would do.”
Members of the McAdam book club discuss Mercy Among The Children with CBC host Colleen Kitts-Goguen at the McAdam Public Library. (Cindy Grant/CBC)
Library manager Julian Christie was also frustrated by Sydney’s actions in the novel.
“If it only affected him, he could be a saint I think, but because it was having ripple effects on his family, he’s not thinking of others as much as maybe he should.”
LISTEN | McAdam book club discusses Giller Prize-winning novel, Mercy Among The Children:
Information Morning – FrederictonBooks and Backroads: McAdam
This week – our Books and Backroads book club is discussing a classic novel by New Brunswick author and now senator – David Adams Richards.
“I think he probably was a really good person, and he was shocked when he pushed that kid off the roof and thought that he killed him,” Agnes Campbell said.
Overall, McAdam readers described the novel as dark and heavy, but said they saw elements of their own communities reflected in the characters’ actions, which they appreciated.
‘Moments of tremendous, tremendous goodness’
Christie said the book had “an overwhelming feeling of poverty and despair.”
The characters filling the pages of the novel, like many of Richards’s books, are mostly working-class people.
Richards hopes readers will appreciate that his characters are intelligent even though many don’t have a formal, academic education.
“We must try to overcome, especially if we have our goals set on an intellectual life, believing that intellectuality is going to make us superior to those who work with their hands,” he said.
David Adams Richards, seen here fishing in New Brunswick, hopes readers will see themselves in the pages of his novel. (Submitted by David Adams Richards)
He said the themes of the book came from “a lifetime of viewing both good and bad and how people who, at times, are thought to be terrible also have moments of tremendous, tremendous goodness in them.”
Overall, he wanted the characters to show “the tremendous gift we are given in our spirit” and said that “throughout the novel, all of these characters in some way have it.”
When asked whether he believes it’s important for New Brunswickers to read books written by New Brunswickers, Richards said, “I’m not going to insist that they do, but I think that they can find a wealth of enjoyment in doing so.”
He said New Brunswick not only has great writers, but that readers will also see themselves in the pages of New Brunswick books.