Ugh. I *tried* to like this book, I really did. The subject matter (the south both in the 1800s and today, the Denmark Vesey uprising, racial tension) is both fascinating and current and appealed to me on many levels. Sadly, however, the writing felt laborious, the descriptions of Charleston and the people were overly flowery and went on and on (and on). And I rolled my eyes more than once at the stereotypically written southern ladies. In the meantime, I never felt that I got to know the protagonist at all and I cared for her not a whit. I usually love a good mystery but this time not only did I see the answer a mile away... I couldn't care less about it. I gave it two stars and not one because clearly there was some effort put into this and, again, the plot had potential... But it was never reached. Just meh to the nth degree. ( )

Known for its history and beauty, Charleston, South Carolina, is one of my favorite places in the United States. My favorite Charlestonian of all time (besides my wife) is Denmark Vesey, who led a failed slave revolt in 1822. He left my church in Charleston (Second Presbyterian Church) to help found Mother Emmanuel AME Church – the same church that hosted a horrific Bible study in 2015 that ended when a white racist murdered nine people. Yet the race riots that he sought to provoke never happened; instead, the families, the church, and the city responded in love and forgiveness. All this captures Charleston in a nutshell: great history, scarred by human failures yet triumphant in virtue.

This book alternates back and forth between storylines – one modern, one older. In one vein, it tells the tragic story of the 1822 revolt, including the skilled but enslaved blacksmith Tom Russell, and these old-time affairs engage with one family’s modern ones in 2015. Faulkner’s oft-quoted line makes an appearance in this book as a theme – “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” This novel dives deeply into issues of race, so deeply that I had to take a two-day break to process before finishing. Jordan-Lake reminds us that our histories, presents, and futures are all “tangled” – that is, intertwined with each other. Such human entanglement is true whether through DNA, historical interactions, or movements of the heart.

In this narrative, Kate is a Harvard PhD student in history who was recently placed on probation. Her mother recently died, and her father, long absent from her life, is also deceased. Kate came to Charleston to understand her mother’s hidden yet haunting past. She becomes entangled in a series of suspenseful dramas that eventually all come together. The uniting of themes almost strains credulity, but they sure make for a good story! Much Charleston history is shared – the “tangled” story of Draytons, Rutledges, Maingaults, and Pinckneys, family names that span the skin-color divide (both because of naming newly freed individuals as well as because of horrific rapes). The history is respectful to the gothic-ness of southern history in that it is truthful about painful issues but also appreciative of the cultural beauty subsequently created. Anyone looking to confirm simple stereotypes about southern racism, ignorance, or bigotry will be disappointed by this tale’s complexity.

Of course, this book spins good yarn that keeps the reader engaged in suspense until the end. There are detailed issues that the author did not write perfectly – for example, the area code of Charleston in the 1990s was 803, not 843 – but most readers will not catch those details because of the intriguing storyline. This tale presents a newer type of Southern Gothic, in the vein of Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy, and William Faulkner. It plumbs the depths of the region’s Christian religion to show simultaneously the depths of its historical bondage and the heights of its forgiving hope. In an era when America is discovering how to talk constructively about race in light of fraught history, this book deserves to be on the reading lists for those interested in the conversation. ( )

A Tangled Mercy is a historical fiction book that follows a young girl's journey to Charleston, South Carolina, searching for her roots. After her mother, Sarah Grace, dies, Kate Drayton has many questions about her mother's past and Sarah's obsessive research on a slave named Tom Russell, who died in 1822 during the real-life Denmark Vesey revolt. Unrealistically, Kate accidentally meets all the major players in the story the day she arrives in the city. As the author flips back and forth in time, she tells Tom and Kate's story in alternating chapters, and we soon learn that they are indeed connected. The details of slavery in 1822 are heart-wrenching, and the accurate description of the massacre that occurred at the Mother Emanuel Church in 2015 tells us that racial tensions are still all too real in the south. Dripping with authentic southern charm and culture—sometimes overly so—this book is an engaging story of discovery, letting go, and acceptance. ( )

A compelling mystery told in alternating time periods (2015 and 1822). In 2015, Kate goes home to Charleston, SC, after her mother's death to unlock unanswered questions from her family tree, and to continue research into the Denmark Vesey almost uprising of 1822. Thanks to Joy Jordan-Lake for illuminating a piece of American history that I was unaware of, and needed to know.

I received an advanced e-ARC from NetGalley. ( )

It all come together at the end. However, the plot seems a bit trying at times, it did not flow as smoothly. ( )