Ann Tatlock

 

Dear Readers,

17 year old Eve and her family are moving from the sanctuary for mobsters, gangsters and bootleggers, St. Paul MN, to the safety of her Uncles Cy’s prosperous lodge in Ohio.  Her father has lost his job, so when his brother offered him a job helping at the lodge the family really didn’t have a choice but to go.

For Eve the move offers a chance to get away from the place where she saw a man gunned down in broad daylight.  For that reason she is more than ready to move away to a place that holds good memories from summer vacations spent on Marryat Island.

So starts Sweet Mercy by Ann Tatlock, a coming of age during the depression, while prohibition is in full swing, where the guy sitting next you in the pew on Sunday could easily be running moonshine the rest of the week, and where the lines of right and wrong sometimes blurred just a bit.

I am amazed at the stuff I learn about in fiction that history classes in school never taught me.  I had no idea that St. Paul was a haven for criminals in the 20’s and 30’s.  I also had no idea that many of the people that were bootleggers were actually driven to do their job because of the depression and it was one of those jobs that was available.  They needed the money for their families to survive.  

Once again Ann writes a sweet story, no pun intended, that can while away the time in such a gentle manner that you may not even notice that several hours have past.