Events & News

NEW BOOK COMING SOON!

News & Events

August 3, 2021 - United States

Christy Ann Conlin’s new book, The Speed of Mercy, will be published in the United States on August 3, 2021, by House of Anansi.
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March 23, 2021 - Canada

Christy Ann Conlin’s new book, The Speed of Mercy, will be published in Canada on March 23, 2021, by House of Anansi.
Order here

A Celebration of THE SPEED OF MERCY April 24, 2021

Visit eventbrite.ca for tickets

THE SPEED OF MERCY

How East Coast folklore inspired Christy Ann Conlin’s latest novel, Q Interview with Tom Power, March 2021

There’s something magic in Nova Scotia writer Christy Ann Conlin powerful new novel “The Speed of Mercy”, Toronto Star, March 2021
Conlin skillfully guides the reader into this ramshackle assemblage of women who eventually become a community… She also navigates cannily through the seams between genres: there are elements of cult horror and conspiracy thriller here, threaded through with Maritime Gothic and a hint of magic…It’s a singularly powerful piece of work.

Ottawa Review of Books, March 2021
Conlin accomplishes an impressive balancing act with this book: The Speed of Mercy is simultaneously a page-turning mystery and a deliberately paced, often poetic, meditation on inclusion, ageing, and womanhood. It also reads as a kind of paean to the author’s home province, a novel in which the Atlantic Canadian setting feels like as much of a character as the many memorable humans that populate its pages.

Chatelaine Magazine, March 2021

Globe & Mail, March 2021
Christy Ann Conlin’s The Speed of Mercy paints a stunning portrait of secrets, trauma and female worth. Conlin’s writing is nothing short of brilliant & her ability to create charactes who are flowed, mercurial & magnetic is effortless.

Quill & Quire, March 2021
With this, Conlin beautifully emphasizes the unfair burden placed on victims to find their own justice and the fundamental lack of support they are offered. Written with the intrigue of a thriller and executed with the mystical grace of poetry, The Speed of Mercy is a fierce and thoughtful novel about trauma, healing, and the tender covenant made between survivors.

The Coast, March 2021
The prolific Nova Scotia author’s newly released novel promises prose that’ll jolt you out of winter hibernation–while delivering the salt water-sprayed scenery Conlin fans know and love. Described by her publisher as “capturing the unbearable cost of childhood betrayal and what happens when history is suppressed, our past is forgotten–yet finding the truth can change the future,” the story shreds your preconceptions about older women and reminds you of mercy’s power. More deets on the book are available here.

Celtic Life, March 2021
They are very usual women of all ages who are oven overlooked and completely marginalized. But they are ones who are the unlikely heroes in the book. The ones who see what other people don’t see. They are the ones who see the clues, and they are also the ones who see the danger. I felt an incredibly loyalty to those characters. They brought me back to sacredness and reverence. I would look at the ocean and I would think of them… The book has already received positive feedback, including a glowing review from Scotiabank Giller Prize shortlisted author Alix Ohlin, who called it “gripping, suspenseful and lyrically written.

Open Book, March 2021
Coming off the success of her 2019 short story collection (not to mention her two widely-praised novels that preceded it), Christy Ann Conlin is back this season with The Speed of Mercy (House of Anansi Press). The novel explores the ripple effects of a childhood betrayal in Conlin’s signature setting, the fictional Jericho County.

Delving into memory, the nature of truth, and how the past folds forward onto the future, it’s Conlin at her best, creating unforgettable, complex women characters who feel real, dark, and deeply connected to the east coast setting. When a young woman’s arrival sparks the unravelling of two Nova Scotia families’ secrets, readers will find themselves gripped by the atmosphere, mystery, and emotional truth that Conlin seems to effortlessly pull through every page and scene.

The Miramichi Reader, March 2021

The Annapolis Valley author on her new novel The Speed of Mercy, Tidelines Podcast with Tara Thorne, March 2021