The Mercy Step

By: Marcia Hutchinson

Narrated by: Marcia Hutchinson

Longlisted for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction

Named one of the best New Novelists for 2025 by The Observer.

Bradford, December 1962.

A precocious Mercy makes her reluctant entrance into the world, torn from the warm embrace of her mother’s womb, to a chaotic household that seems to have no place for her. Her siblings do not understand her, her mother’s attention is given to the Church, and the entire family lives at the whims of her father’s quick temper.

Left to herself, Mercy finds solace in books, her imagination, and the quiet comfort of her faithful toy, Dolly. But escapism has its limits, and as the grip of family, faith and fear threatens to close in, Mercy learns she must act if she wants a different future; one where she is seen, heard, and her family set free.

The Mercy Step is a sharply-witted and tender portrait of a young girl’s quiet rebellion, and her refusal to be broken.

©2025 Marcia Hutchinson (P)2025 Recorded Books

The vivacity of the story

Really enjoyed listening to this in an authentic Caribbean voice! So real and poignant. Mercy takes us on her 11 year journey in life with such veracity

Brilliant story, brilliantly narrated

This could have been dubbed Mercy in the Middle. Told from the perspective of Mercy the middle child in a first gen UK/ Jamaican family, it is as entertaining as it is startling. A captivating, one of a kind (truly) coming of age story. Hearing it read in the author’s voice was definitely a treat.