One of the finest writers of her generation (Brad Watson), and author of three previously acclaimed novels, Elizabeth H. Winthrop delivers a brave new book that will launch her distinguished career anew. An incisive, meticulously crafted portrait of race, racism, and injustice in the Jim Crow era South that is as intimate and tense as a stage drama, The Mercy SeatThe Mercy Seat is a brutally incisive and tender novel from one of our most acute literary observers.