Lidia Jorge - Mercy

Comment: This book was published in 2022 by Portuguese author Lidia Jorge, a well known writer who writes literary fiction. This book is the result of a request by her mother, who stayed at a nursing home for a while until her death and this is an interpretation of things she said and wrote, which her daughter then turned into a book. Misericórdia could be translated as "mercy".

I saw that this at the library and remembered that it had been praised by both critics and readers and I thought, why not. Although this is a famous writer here, I had not read anything by her before, probably because I got this idea her style would be complicated. In a way, it was so, but I still found this book to be easy to read, in terms of writing style.

The plot tells us the story of Maria Alberta, a character based on the author's own mother, who has been in the same position of needing to stay at a nursing home, as it often happens in the contemporary Portuguese society, for the social division of work vs family life means most families cannot have family members in the house all day, as it certainly happened decades ago. Thus, the quick development of the social work "business" of having, needing and paying for a nursing home.

Most families also cannot afford to do it differently and, thus, many people need to go into one of these places,which is both a blessing - they have care pretty much 24h a day - and a torture - locked in a place without having the means and often the health, to stay in their own houses. This is especially difficult to people from low incomes, or whose children cannot afford to have private care, meaning that there is quite a dissonance for these people's lives, many still aware but without mobility or unaware and in need of even more specific care.

Reading this book was interesting because there is this idea most people have of what happens in places like these. Some are good, others aren't, but it's quite a psychological trauma, I'd say, for older citizens - everyone is going there too at some point! - to adapt to a life in which they aren't in their house anymore and the helpers very likely aren't enough to be there for everyone, unless more were to work but financially that is unbearable. Thus, a conundrum which only expensive private places often can solve.

Anyway, a lot could be said about the logistics of this "business" but when it comes to the book, the author focused on the narrator's experience which is both funny and heartbreaking at times. So many situations she sees and deals with and so many things out of her control, I think this was a good story due to this, the idea of thinking about such a life, such a way of looking at life. I think that, apart from the musings and reflections, the events are recognizable and interesting.

I am also assuming this took place at a nursing home more alike to those we would find in a big city as opposed to smaller rural areas. My grandparents were in a quieter area and they were always well treated  and some of the scenes of the book aren't as similar, but the idea is there. To be fair, the people staying at the nursing home depicted in the book were also well treated, but it is common knowledge this is not always so, and older people are certainly more fragile and vulnerable.

I'd say that the element I wasn't as fond of in this book was the constant poetic/literary descriptions and sentences. Yes, the author is known for this, but I kind of expected a more realistic and exposed scenario of what was happening at the nursing home. Yes, Maria Alberta is a fascinating and erudite person, but I wanted less musings about life and more descriptions of the everyday routines at the nursing home, more interactions with others... I feel this was included but was almost secondary.

Still, I understand why so many readers found this provoking and interesting.... it does give us food for thought, and some allusions were quite a hit, but I think this was a bit too literary if I can say so.

Grade: 7/10