Mercy Seat

A stunning work of fiction maps a toxic, triangular love affair against the topography of Wales during a 1984 miner’s strike

Attempting to escape his childhood and youth in the South Wales valleys of the 1980s, Luke drifts to a seaside town and into a marriage and fatherhood for which he is unprepared. The arrival of a stranger—his wife’s troubled sister, Christine—will change each of their lives forever. Drawn into the unspoken, destructive mystery at the heart of the two women’s childhoods, Luke finds his own understanding of himself and others unraveling. His confession is a compelling story of passion, loss, regret, and the need to find redemption from the haunting power of the past.