Mercy

Paperback

Toni Morrison 저자(글)

Vintage Books USA · 2009년 06월 04일

책 소개

'Toni Morrison writes with a fierce possessive poetry and sympathy that proclaims her as an exciting star in the firmament' Guardian On the day that Jacob, an Anglo-Dutch trader and adventurer, agrees to accept a slave in lieu of payment of a debt from a plantation owner, little Florens' life changes. With her intelligence and passion for wearing the cast-off shoes of her mistress Florens has never blended into the background and now at the age of eight she is taken from her family to begin a new life. She ends up part of Jacob's household, along with his wife Rebekka, Lina their Native American servant and the strange and melancholy Sorrow who was rescued from a shipwreck. Together these women face the trials of their harsh environment as Jacob attempts to carve out a place for himself in the brutal landscape of the north of America in the seventeenth century. 'Ms. Morrison's versatility and technical and emotional range appear to know no bounds' Margaret Atwood
Set in America in the 1680s, 'A Mercy' reveals what lies under the surface of slavery. At its heart, this is the ambivalent, disturbing story of a mother and a daughter - a mother who cuts off her daughter, to save her, and a daughter who may never exorcise that abandonment.
Toni Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. She is the author of many novels, including The Bluest Eye, Beloved (made into a major film), Paradise and Love. She has also received the National Book Critics Circle Award and a Pulitzer Prize for her fiction.
Now available in paperback - currently longlisted for the Orange Prize. On the day that Jacob, an Anglo-Dutch trader and adventurer, agrees to accept a slave in lieu of payment of a debt from a plantation owner, little Florens' life changes. With her intelligence and passion for wearing the cast-off shoes of her mistress Florens has never blended into the background and now at the age of eight she is taken from her family to begin a new life. She ends up part of Jacob's household, along with his wife Rebekka, Lina their Native American servant and the strange and melancholy Sorrow who was rescued from a shipwreck. Together these women face the trials of their harsh environment as Jacob attempts to carve out a place for himself in the brutal landscape of the north of America in the seventeenth century.
On the day that Jacob, an Anglo-Dutch trader and adventurer, agrees to accept a slave in lieu of payment of a debt from a plantation owner, little Florens' life changes. With her intelligence and passion for wearing the cast-off shoes of her mistress Florens has never blended into the background and now at the age of eight she is taken from her family to begin a new life. She ends up part of Jacob's household, along with his wife Rebekka, Lina their Native American servant and the strange and melancholy Sorrow who was rescued from a shipwreck. Together these women face the trials of their harsh environment as Jacob attempts to carve out a place for himself in the brutal landscape of the north of America in the seventeenth century.
On the day that Jacob, an Anglo-Dutch trader and adventurer, agrees to accept a slave in lieu of payment of a debt from a plantation owner, little Florens?life changes. With her intelligence and passion for wearing the cast-off shoes of her mistress Florens has never blended into the background and now at the age of eight she is taken from her family to begin a new life. She ends up part of Jacob? household, along with his wife Rebekka, Lina their Native American servant and the strange and melancholy Sorrow who was rescued from a shipwreck. Together these women face the trials of their harsh environment as Jacob attempts to carve out a place for himself in the brutal landscape of the north of America in the seventeenth century.
The long-awaited new novel from the Nobel Prize-winning author of Beloved.

작가정보

저자(글) Toni Morrison

자신이 소설을 쓰는 작가라고 명확히 인식하기 전까지 출판편집자로, 영문학 강사로 살았다. 대학 시절에 만난 교수와 결혼했으나 둘째 아이를 임신했을 때 이혼했고, 그 후 홀로 아이들을 키웠다. 모리슨이 남긴 유명한 말 “당신이 읽고 싶은 글이 있는데 아직 쓰인 게 없다면 당신이 써야 한다”는 그가 스스로에게 새긴 주문이자 각오였으리라. 일을 마치고 돌아와 두 아이가 잠든 깊은 밤, 그리고 일하러 가기 전 푸른 새벽에 소설을 썼던 모리슨은 1970년 마흔에 첫 소설 《가장 푸른 눈》을 발표했다. 푸른 눈을 갖길 원하는 검은 피부의 소녀 이야기. 그 후 발표한 두 번째 소설 《술라》는 흑인 여성들의 우정을 이야기한다. 세 번째 소설 《솔로몬의 노래》는 남성이 처음으로 주인공을 맡은 작품으로, 흑인이지만 흑인 정체성으로 살아간다는 것이 무엇인지에 대한 답을 찾아가는 여정을 다룬다. 그리고 《빌러비드》를 쓴다. 노예추적꾼에게 잡히자 어린 딸이 노예로 살기보다 죽는 게 낫겠다 결정하고 그 자리에서 딸의 목을 칼로 그은 실제 노예 여성 마거릿 가너로부터 영감을 받았다. 1992년 《재즈》를 발표했고, 이듬해에 흑인 여성 최초로 노벨문학상을 받았다. 1931년 미국 오하이오주 로레인에서 태어났다. 하워드 대학교에서 영문학을 전공한 후 코넬 대학교에서 ‘윌리엄 포크너와 버지니아 울프의 작품에 나타난 자살’이라는 주제로 석사학위를 받았다. 그 후 하워드 대학교에서 영문학을 가르쳤다. 1964년부터 1983년까지 랜덤하우스 출판편집자로 일하며 아프리카 작가의 문학을 소개하는 데 힘썼고 앤절라 데이비스, 무하마드 알리 자서전 등을 만들었다. 2006년 프린스턴 대학교수 퇴임 후 소설 집필에 매진하며 《자비》 《고향》 등을 썼고, 2015년 열한 번째이자 마지막 소설 《하느님 이 아이를 도우소서》를 발표했다. 이 밖에도 문학비평집 《어둠 속의 유희》, 산문집 《경계에서는 무슨 일이 벌어지고 있는가》, 사진 에세이집 《기억하라: 학교 통합을 향한 여정》 등을 썼다. 2019년 8월 5일 뉴욕에서 88세를 일기로 타계했다.

기본정보

ISBN	9780099502548 ( 0099502542 )
발행(출시)일자	2009년 06월 04일
쪽수	176쪽
크기	131 * 194 * 12 mm / 127 g
총권수	1권
언어	영어