Mercy Street: A Novel  

by Jennifer Haigh (HarperCollins, 2022)

Jennifer Haigh’s latest novel is set in and around the fictional Mercy Street abortion clinic in Boston.  The story revolves around four main characters.  Claudia, deeply committed to women’s reproductive rights — but less committed to the various men who wander in and out of her life — is an intake counselor at the clinic.  Timmy is her affable pot dealer, whose product helps her deal with the stress of her work.  Anthony, a young man disabled by a construction accident on the Big Dig, regularly gathers with other Catholic pro-life activists to protest outside the clinic.  Victor, a former long-haul trucker, is a right-wing misogynist and racist who connects with Anthony online and formulates a frightening plan. 

These individuals’ lives collide in unexpected and revealing ways over the course of the brutal 2015 Boston winter, the beginning and end of which bookend the novel. 

Haigh, who as a young woman volunteered as a hot-line operator at an abortion clinic, drew on her experiences in crafting this novel.  Most powerful for me were its portraits of the astonishingly diverse group of women who seek care at the Mercy Street clinic, and the varied reasons they give for their choices.  Claudia’s sometime boyfriend, Phil, says to her: “Look, I’m on your side.  You know I have no problem with abortion, assuming there’s a good reason.”

“There’s always a reason,” Claudia replies.  “Define good.” 

When Phil has no answer, Claudia makes her point.  “Who gets to decide?” 

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade, this question could not be timelier. 

--Anne Lawrence